gear ratio options for amc 20

It's a 1980 CJ7 that I picked up in Virginia Beach, VA last month.  Wonder if that was a swap axle or a factory option??  Thanks for the help guys!

-Brian

Class Guy wrote: Poland might be a good thing.  Poland was a center for manufacture and has a history/culture of high quality steel and machined products.  The repop Shelby Cobra bodies, frames and suspension parts are being manufactured in an old WWII Polaish fighter plane plant.  Poland is better than China; the Chinese make up their own definitions for what we consider to be standard metal alloys.

Ultimately, the quality of the part is determined by the company that makes it, not the country. Places like China and Poland offer cheap labour and fewer environmental regulations, but they do not mandate poor quality. North American companies who choose the contract out to "low cost geography" (and most do) absolutely have the ability to dictate minimum quality, but many choose a lower cost over good quality mainly because the majority of their idiot customers shop by price alone.

Conversely, companies that still manufacture in North America face higher labour costs and tighter enviro regs. In order to be competitive, they have to cut their costs somewhere. Lower quality alloys are a good place to start.

The consumer has expectations of the place of origin and is more willing to accept crap from China than the US because everybody knows they build crap in China. Companies use this attitude to their advantage. The name Mattel comes to mind as a good (bad) example. So in a weird sort of way it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

OK, rant over, back to the original post. What engine is in your car? A 3.31 is the lowest (highest numerically) gear I would go with a stock 290, otherwise you might find it running out of breath. Save the 3.54 for a 343 or 390.