Hey John, 

Most US 4 speeds are 4.86 (same-same), but I'm pretty sure you meant that we
didn't get the 5 speeds with the 4.83

Cheers, 

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
John Anderson
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 12:26 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: 5sp

And of note there, any of those 4 speeds with 4.83's would be wonderfull
choices for�a van with more power, just we never got those.� Weddle used to
build them for a price, but the price was high, and I have no idea if the
R&Ps are still available and if they still can.� You do see whole boxes on
ebay.de not uncommonly, but buyer beware, and shipping $$$.� And also as I
alluded previously it is worth noting that the 5 speed is NOT like the
syncro tranny with the reduction shaft assembly to get that 6.03 G gear.�
The low gear is just tacked on the end with R, in the "standard" meshed
between pinion and output shafts manner but being out there as a tack on
uses a syncronizer setup that is not as good as 2-5, hence shifting isn't
quite as bad as G on a syncro, but isn't quite as good as a 4 speed
depending on your POV, but it is syncronized, not a crashbox unless you want
it to be 8-(� Hence the lowest 1st in a 5 speed is I believe just a 4.11,
which
 as has been mentioned ain't that much lower than stock.� There are great
ratio spreads available in stock 5 speed boxes, even up to a .78 overdrive.�
The 4.11 only seems low to us in the US as it was always I believe coupled
to a 5.43, and as any diesel driver knows, even 1st in a 4 speed coupled to
a 5.43 is plenty damn low if you swap in a gas engine unless you put 30"
tires on the beast, which is just why sandrail guys crave them on the cheap.
�
John
�
> It's important to note that there are many different ratios for the T3
> 5-speed transmissions.�