10 bolt detroit locker, will it fit?

[yakmastermax]

I found a detroit locker for a gm 8.5 10 bolt rearend. 30 spline. 3.42 gears. the guy selling it was going to put it in a grand national. will this fit my 83 K5? will it fit in both the front and rear? could i change out the ring and pinion or are they integral to the locker? eventually i would want to leave the 3.42 ratio.

thanks all!

 

[6.2Blazer]

The 30-spline will not fit the stock axles of an '83 since they will have 28 spline shafts. It could be a good opportunity to upgrade the rear axle shafts...assuming you wanted to spend that much money on a rear axle. The gears are not integral to the locker.

 

[yakmastermax]

Thanks! not nearly enough money to upgrade axles and i only want the locker for getting out of snow on occasions and camping so i can't justify beefier axles.

 

[wheeler]

If I'm not mistaken later Chevy trucks had 30 spline axles cheap. Just saying if it were me, and I could get a Detroit cheap/close to free and it was 30 spline I would go to a junkyard and get some newer 30 spline axle shafts and swap them in. Might be worth it, or keep your eye out for a used lunchbox style locker, should be cheaper and much easier to install.

 

[yakmastermax]

how do Detroits perform with normal driving? if i got the locker i think i would just put it in the front to save it for when SHTF.

 

[6.2Blazer]

how do Detroits perform with normal driving? if i got the locker i think i would just put it in the front to save it for when SHTF.

The above post is correct that GM went to 30-spline for the rear axles of 88-later trucks so there are a lot out there, but I do not know for sure if the lengths were the same.

However the 30-spline FRONT 10-bolts were only used from around '88 or '89 through '91 on K5's and Suburbans and are fairly rare.

 

[454Sub]

30 spline fronts are pretty rare, but 30 spline rears are a dime a dozen, drop that diff in and pick up some used 30 spline axles which are cheap and enjoy

 

[yakmastermax]

do i replace my entire rear axle or just the "axles" inside the tube. i'm not even sure of the terminology.