actually, the first year the Sportage was sold in the US was '94, on the west coast only, then '95 in the central US and slowly over the '95 year, across the rest of the US. they were going it slow because production numbers weren't very high at first.

this is great news about the level of interchangability. had i known this, i may not have swapped the rear axle, granted, now that i have, i have a higher level of availability, but nonetheless, it still has cost me an extra 5-600 bucks.

as ron said, provided i have the time, i will start dismantling the rear axle friday night and, hopefully, have the LSD ready to put into the front 3rd member by saturday morning. i will post pic and news about whatever result i get. this will mean a couple things that have been mentioned, either in my phone call with ron, or in this thread- that the Miata Torsen Type 1 LSD (which may have a better lock-up than the Eaton LSD) will fit. it also means the variation in parts ARB would have to make just got cut in half. now, i am anxious for you guys to see a locker, and to be honest, it may be a possibility for me too, once i get my full-tube Kia buggy plans going, instead of welding the diffs as i had previously decided.