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Whats the difference?...Between 300tdi disco & 300tdi Defender axl


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Need some new axles for my 90 & ive seen disco 300tdi & defender 300tdi axles knocking about.

Is there a difference?

Also whats the difference between a r380 & transfer box for a disco and defender???

Thanks in advance!

I`ve got 300tdi disco axles on my 90, I used a high tensile bolt, some washers and spacers to get the rubber fixing off and the 4 bolts fixing on, for the rear axle that is. For the front axle as my 90 is 92 I had to change radius arms as well as bushes different width

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What is the difference, as in running wise?

i.e. one transfer box would mean higher top speed, the other would be ?

That basically is the difference, the disco transfer box will give a higher top speed, giving better high speed cruising with less revs.

But at the expence of increasing the gearing at the bottom end as well meaning it would be more difficult to pull away.

Big tyres also increase the gearing, the effect of big tyres and a disco tranfer box means you might struggle to pull away on a slope.

Since I assume you intend to use the vehicle off road then the lower gearing of the defender transfer box would be the way to go.

The discovery gearbox has the gearstick in a different place, it will bolt up with no problem but the gearstick would end up in the middle of the centre seat. It can be changed out for a defender gearstick as the guts of the box are basically the same but this involves opening the box up and swapping the bits over. Much easier to just stick with a defender box. I expect most reconditioning places wouldn't be to bothered about getting a disco gearbox as an exchange for a defender one though so long as you tell them in advances.

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no it wont.

You might get away with using a 300series discovery V8 bellhousing, but you'll need to mess around with the spigot bearing as the TDI is 22mm and the V8 is smaller,18mm or so.

The TDi shaft is also slightly a different length, but i'm not sure in which direction.

I have a 300series V8 housing bolted to a R380 defender TDi box for my 90 conversion, so i can measure the protrusion of the input shaft. You'd need to measure your current input shaft though to see how it compares...

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will what fit the R380?

The LT77 bellhousing?

If thats what you mean, then yes it will bolt on, but its an inch longer so the inputshaft wont line up.

If you want an R380 you've got these options:

  • Get a Discovery 300series V8 Gearbox, and have it rebuilt with a defender tail housing.
  • Get a Discovery 300series V8 input shaft and bellhousing, and have your current box rebuilt, with the V8 input shaft.
  • Use a Disocvery 300series V8 Gearbox complete, and deal with the shifter being in the wrong place.
  • Get a Discovery 300series V8 Bellhousing, and attach it to your Defender TDI R380, modify the spigot bearing and hope the shaft length is correct. (i'll measure mine shortly and you can compare with a real V8 gearbox)

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Thanks for that.

Use a Discovery 300series V8 Gearbox complete, and deal with the shifter being in the wrong place.

- How much in the wrong place are we talking?

Get a Discovery 300series V8 Bellhousing, and attach it to your Defender TDI R380, modify the spigot bearing and hope the shaft length is correct.

-Modify the spigot bearing- how the heck is that done?

Whats my best option do you think? i have never messed with gearboxes/bell housings before but im not a complete tool :blink:

I dont have a great deal of cash so sending it off to someone to rebuild etc.. isnt an option :(

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i'm not sure exactly where it pops out, but the disco selector housing puts the shifter behind the transfer box lever, and pretty close to the front edge of the seatbox

As for the spigot bearing, it will depend on how much room is available in the end of the V8 crank. You'd either have to machine the crank out, or if your lucky simply swap the bush for a larger one, or machine the input shaft on the gearbox down (at which point you probably need to remove the shaft and it would be easier to simply fit a proper V8 inputshaft instead!)

The cheapest option is likely to be to use the disco box complete and make do with the shifter. I'm sure someone will have a photo of where a disco stick will pop out when fitted to a defender.

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