Need more traction ???

[Brooklyn Tow]

It's been a while since rotating....Matt, I do back the cars in the yard with the same angle.

Even so, anyone ever heard of this?

 

[shortcircut65]

im suprised no one has picked up this ball:
maybe to many burnouts without the locker locking?):h sorry, had to do it.
wierd, nonetheless

 

[MNovak]

I know this is kinda late, but I have a '79 model K10 that I put a 14 bolt full floater under and put 8 hole rotors on the front axle to convert to a stronger set up for the 454 and SM465 4 speed. The rear has a Detroit locker and it is as bullet proof as a spool. It doesn't require the fluid additive, has steel dog clutches that unlock ONLY going around corners-sometimes a little noisy, makes clunking noises, but you get used to it. All you have to do is maintain equal air pressure in the rear tires for proper operation, after that both rears wear at exactly the same rate. It doesn't matter how fast you go, it always stays locked except around corners, then relocks at speed when going straight. I would recommend one of these to anyone wanting a dependable, long lasting traction aid. Oh, and it pulls even with one tire OFF the ground, you won't get that from the G80, I've had one and it was almost worthless to me with the 36" tires I ran at the time. It just couldn't take the load. If I couldn't afford the ARB air locker, which wasn't available when I did mine, then the only choice for me would be the Detroit Locker. Mike

 

[JeffsJeep04]

...Oh, and it pulls even with one tire OFF the ground, you won't get that from the G80, I've had one and it was almost worthless to me with the 36" tires I ran at the time. It just couldn't take the load. If I couldn't afford the ARB air locker, which wasn't available when I did mine, then the only choice for me would be the Detroit Locker. Mike

Sounds like your G80 was broke. When working properly, they will lock up with one tire off the ground. It's a matter of RPM difference. Once one wheel goes so much faster then the other, it locks solid. I think it's 200 RPM, but I could be wrong. It's not the strongest or best design, but it is YEARS better then most factory limited slips. Detroits are nice, but they are susceptible to grenading when an axle shaft lets go. I've actually seen lunch box style lockers hold up better in a good carrier when it comes to that. For sheer brawn when it doesn't have to be dealing with a ton of shock load like rock crawling, you can't beat a detroit though. I'd go with one for heavy towing.

 

[MNovak]

Sounds like your G80 was broke. When working properly, they will lock up with one tire off the ground. It's a matter of RPM difference. Once one wheel goes so much faster then the other, it locks solid. I think it's 200 RPM, but I could be wrong. It's not the strongest or best design, but it is YEARS better then most factory limited slips. Detroits are nice, but they are susceptible to grenading when an axle shaft lets go. I've actually seen lunch box style lockers hold up better in a good carrier when it comes to that. For sheer brawn when it doesn't have to be dealing with a ton of shock load like rock crawling, you can't beat a detroit though. I'd go with one for heavy towing.

Maybe it wasn't a G80, but GM's version of it that came in the 1/2 ton 12 bolt the truck was originally built with in '79. It looks like the same unit going by the pictures I've seen. It never worked good from day one, one tire or the other would always spin, but hardly ever both at the same time. That 200 RPM difference sure did cause a big jolt if and when it finally did catch and that jolt is what kept it tore up if I had to guess why, that is other than my heavy right foot. I tore up 2 of those and 2 sets of gears during 4 seperate mishaps with that rear end before the pinion came out the back and broke the housing, thus the 14 bolt. I then tore up a set of gears in that after about a year, that's when the Detroit went in it along with a fresh set of 4.10's. The only pieces of drivetrain I never got was the NP 205 transfer case and the stock 10 bolt front. I even broke the transfer case adapter housing in half doing 4 wheel burnouts on pavement. Big blocks are fun, but hard on the drivetrain. I shocked the crap out of the Detroit all the time and never hurt it. I used to work at a gravel pit, so it was constantly getting a work out there and doing a lot of river running in the Brazos river near the pit. We even pulled people on tubes in the river a time or two. That smashed the dust cover between the back of the oil pan and the flywheel into the flywheel, what a racket that made. I'm really surprised that truck is still around after the way I mistreated it all those years. Mike

 

[red]

the G80 in the 10 and 12 bolt axles was notorious, unreliable and very easy to break. the G80 in the 14 bolts are much, much better and will actually work like they are supposed to.

the detroit is still the king of the non-selectable lockers. burnouts, mud, rock crawling, its the most reliable to go with if your looking for a locker. the majority of drivers wont need or have any use for this kind of traction all the time. in a long wheel base fullsize you wont notice the ratcheting around the corners (had a 'lunchbox locker' in my old 79 k5 blazer), hear it yes but wont feel it unless your pulling a trailer and do a hard turn.

ideal setup if you want the most traction while still street driveable is a set of selectable lockers front/rear, or on a fullsize (because of the wheelbase length) a non-selectable locker in the rear and a selectable up front (if you have locking hubs that you can disenguage you can use another non-selectable up front with no on-road effects).

 

[Detroit Dan]

My 97 has a G80 "gov-lock" made by Eaton. Like Red said above, they have a real bad rep in the smaller housings, but the 14 bolts are pretty strong. I have been abusing the crap out of mine for years, I run 33 inch mud tires, plow a lot of dirt road and gravel, carries a lot of weight and I'm not afraid to spin the tires. I have a pretty heavy right foot too. With 173k hard miles plowing and towing and stomping on it for fun, I can't say anything bad about this rearend. If it were breakable, I would have broken it by now. The only thing I can think of that has let mine live where others have died (in 14 bolt configuration) is that it's a diesel which means my rpms are always half what a gasser would see.
I always thought it was a Detroit locker because that's what I had experience with in the military cucv 14 bolts, but I was wrong.
Some people say you don't need an additive, but in my experience I do need it. I have a slight leak and when the oil gets a little low, at a certain point the locker stops working. On ice it will ratchet around, top it off and it works again. Also, I changed the oil to Amsoil once, and they told me I didn't need additive because it was all in there, but the locker didn't work; full of new Amsoil it just didn't work right, added a tube of additive and it started working right away.