Limited slip ? Dumb people

[great white]

Well that's a lot more of a complete answer than what I posted!
'Q' though. Didn't the 10 bolts have G60's & the 14b's have G80's?

Only ref I can find to an RPO code G60 is for an aux spring.

The G80 is simply the rpo for "gov lock".

They axles come as a unit assembly to the plant from the supplier IIRC....

going by 10 bolt/14 bolt is a bit of a sticky wicket.

10 bolt is pretty safe, there was really only one type in the gmt400 in teh 1500's.

14 bolt is a little different animal an can get a touch confusing.

2500's could be had with a 14 bolt axle, but in both semi and full floater config.

The semi floaters is what many often refer to as a "light duty 2500" or a "heavy half" although GM dropped that moniker in the early eighties. In a nutshell, it's a 1500 with a heavier rear axle and springs to make it a "2500". The front diff is still the smaller 8.25 unit. The semi loater rear axles were also available in the six bolt rim pattern, making them popular swaps on 1500's looking for more rear beef. It literally is a bolt in swap....

The full floater 2500's also had 14 bolt covers, but they were the bigger ring gear units. These trucks were "real" 2500's and had the 9.25 front diff. Easily identified without even climbing under the truk because the hubs sticking through the rims had a removeable cover on them to remove the axles shafts with the wheels still on the truck if needed. The shafts carried no weight of the vehicle whatsoever and thier only task was to transmit torque to teh wheel, whereas the semifloaters axleshafts rode on an outer bearing and supported the weight of the vehicle as well as transmitted torque to the wheel, much like the design of a ford 9" rear axle....

 

[sewlow]

Great info!
Familiar with the semi & full floater rears. Same as what were in the square bod 3/4t trucks I've owned.
The square bod 1/2 tons I've had with posi's had the Eaton style.
The gov-locks have confused me over the years. Right now, I have two of them. Just the carriers. But they have different carrier bearing sizes. One will not fit into either of the 10b's in the trucks I have now.
I was told that the large bearing carrier was a G80, & that the small bearing one was called a G60!
Lol! Just goes to show that even info NOT on the internet could be wrong too!

 

[McMuscle3]

Ok it's g80 so what's that mean? Lol

 

[1997chevydriver]

Your rear diff is bad and should be replaced

 

[great white]

Ok it's g80 so what's that mean? Lol

It means your rear axle has a gov lock style center carrier assembly.

 

[am92]

Ok it's g80 so what's that mean? Lol

Your rear diff is bad and should be replaced

It means your rear axle has a gov lock style center carrier assembly.

All of this...if you have the original axle still in there and it's not locking up then the clutches are probably worn out. To fix it you'll need to get a new limited-slip carrier like this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aub-542087/overview/make/chevrolet/year/1992/model/k2500

 

[great white]

All of this...if you have the original axle still in there and it's not locking up then the clutches are probably worn out. To fix it you'll need to get a new limited-slip carrier like this http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aub-542087/overview/make/chevrolet/year/1992/model/k2500

Friction material isn't the problem in the G80, it's the "toothed actuator" that breaks off:

You must be registered for see images attach

The friction material usually never gets a chance to wear out.

What happens is you start to spin, the little wieghts on the splined shaft (visable at bottom) swing out under centrifugal force, engage the shaft on the toothed ring and then the clutches lock up. It's been a while since I've had one apart, but that's the jist of it.

The problem with the G80 is the teeth are light and when too much torque hits them all at once (ie: a spinning wheel grabbing solid pavement or sudden traction) they shear the teeth and/or shaft and then all hell breaks loose inside the center section. The sudden shock load of slip grab slip grab has also been known to shatter the carrier case. If you look at the picture, you can see where the space for the mechanism itself can cause a weak spot in the carrier case compared to the other solid sections.

If you're lucky, you loose diff lock up and never have any other issues. If you're unlucky, shards go flying around the diff and genrerally just make a royal mess of things or pieces fire out from under the truck.

I've seen them let go on rock climbs, on slippery rooted trails, in mud holes and in one case, dry pavement from a dead start. Guy punched the throttle with big meats, loud bang and the sudden smell of gear lube. Shot parts right out through the diff cover.

Look again at that little toothed shaft. Now think about 150-200hp (or more), 300-400 ft/lbs of torque (or more), a 7000 lb vehicle and hitting that shaft all at once with all that and two 9 inch contact pads of rubber on asphalt opposing it. I think it's often a miracle they hold out as long as they do they way some guys use thier trucks....

But, that is the 99% failure method of the G80 (made by eaton for Gm IIRC) gov lock assembly; the wussy little teeth.

Now, all that being said; my G80 in my 14 bolt FF has 435,000 kms on it and it still works as advertised......each time, every time.

The G80 was inended to get stock trucks rolling in a daily driving scenario when one tire has a loss of traction and then disengage. Hense, disengaged above 20 MPH by design. It was never intended to deal with the torque of 36 inch tires, rock climbing, deep mud holes or drag race starts.

When used within it's limits, it does it's job. If you go outside it's design limits, it will fail just like every other component that's taken outside it's design limits will.

If it is gone though, replace it with a stronger unit. Don't repair/replace it with another gov lock unit becasue it's obvioulsy already not up to the use you have for it.

That's just the nature of hot rodding baby!

Drive it till it blows, build it stronger and then drive it till it blows!

 

[McMuscle3]

I I could get a rear end from a junkyard cheaper then that, that makes me sad.. Haha it. Drives fine, just when my wheels were spinning dad told me only one read and front was spinning on the ice. But I noticed before the rear spins the other kicks in. I think it's a crappy system gm did

 

[am92]

Friction material isn't the probelm in the G80, it's the "toothed actuator" that breaks off:

You must be registered for see images attach

The friction material usually never gets a chance to wear out.

Oh gotcha, I was just regurgitating information I had heard before...

 

[great white]

I I could get a rear end from a junkyard cheaper then that, that makes me sad.. Haha it. Drives fine, just when my wheels were spinning dad told me only one read and front was spinning on the ice. But I noticed before the rear spins the other kicks in. I think it's a crappy system gm did

Suggestion: if you haven't changed the diff fluid since you've owned the truck, I would right now. See if any metal shavings/chunks come out. If theres none, you're probably good to slap it back together and keep driving it. If you do get some out, flush it until you get no more and then you can probably put it back together and drive it as an open axle. Leave metal bits in there and, well.......

You must be registered for see images

May happen, may not. Who knows?

I just woudn't want it happening at the worst time, which is about the only time things go wrong for me....the worst possible time.

It's also entirely possible you're axle isn't roached. It doesn't take much to get the rear wheel spinning above 20 Mph where the gov lock releases and you're an open axle again. You probably wouldn't even know. I know when I'm tuggin someone out of the ditch the last thing I'm usually looking at is the speedometer.

Change the fluid anyways. It's cheap and the worse thing that can happen is you have fresh gear oil in the axle....

Oh gotcha, I was just regurgitating information I had heard before...

No worries.