mud hungry
1/2 ton status
when I was taking apart the glove box there was the factory sticker there and it said a locking differential with 3.08 gears. what kind of "locking" do they mean?
CK5
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85 K5 with a locking 10 Bolt.
- Thread starter mud hungry
- Start date
ShiftyK5
1/2 ton status
Probably a gov-loc....... ?
mud hungry
1/2 ton status
How strong is the gov-loc?
ShiftyK5
1/2 ton status
Never run one myself but they say on here they arent very reliable... prone to grenade so to speak. they work off centrifugal force. the wheel with no traction spins and causes the clutches to start locking up..... giving you somewhat of a locker... at least thats how i see it working in my brain. never seen one apart or anything.
i just always hear about the gov-bomb
i just always hear about the gov-bomb
Thunder
3/4 ton status
You have a Gov lock. It is a Locking diff. How strong? It is a 10 bolt. Gov locs can handle up to 33' tires no problem. Many here think of them as weak but they really are not that bad as long as you dont have a heavy right foot.
GM has millions of them on their trucks. been using then since the early 1960s and still use them on their new trucks.
The main problem with gov locs is when they get worn. When the clutches get worn. They allow too much wheel spin before they lock up.Then when they lock up all that torque will break things like carriers, or break off the parts that cause it to lock up causing catastrophic failure.
I have tried a couple of diferent lockers in the rear my K5. A Lockrite and detroit.
I went back to a gov-lock because I just like it. It has great manners on the street. Goes great in the snow and ice, and does what I want it to do off road. But I also have a lockrite no spin locker in the front so I really dont have to put a lot of strain on the gov lock. For me it is the perfict combo.
If a gov lock is working properly the wheel without traction should spin no more than 1/2 a revolution before locking up. If you get more wheel spin than that it needs a rebuild.
GM has millions of them on their trucks. been using then since the early 1960s and still use them on their new trucks.
The main problem with gov locs is when they get worn. When the clutches get worn. They allow too much wheel spin before they lock up.Then when they lock up all that torque will break things like carriers, or break off the parts that cause it to lock up causing catastrophic failure.
I have tried a couple of diferent lockers in the rear my K5. A Lockrite and detroit.
I went back to a gov-lock because I just like it. It has great manners on the street. Goes great in the snow and ice, and does what I want it to do off road. But I also have a lockrite no spin locker in the front so I really dont have to put a lot of strain on the gov lock. For me it is the perfict combo.
If a gov lock is working properly the wheel without traction should spin no more than 1/2 a revolution before locking up. If you get more wheel spin than that it needs a rebuild.
mud hungry
1/2 ton status
I have a 97 chevy silverado 1/2 ton, will the 10 bolt from the K5 fit under the p/u or is there diffences with the perch width. would there be any other complications. The diff. in the p/u is open diff. so having the possibility with some sort of locker apeals to me. I don't know what the gearing is though. Either way one way or another would it be worth the effort either to switch axles or gearing?
While I believe that most factory parts, including the "Gov-bomb", are fairly reliable, I think mine was somewhat worn when I got the K5. It was probably 19 years old at the time. I started having severe rear-end 'popping' and grinding not long after some snow/ice driving in mid-town Atlanta.Thunder said:
I must admit, I was probably abusing it. Peachtree Rd in Atlanta is a major street. It's not often that the power is knocked out on Peachtree. It's even more rare that you can drive sprint-car-style @ 60mph sideways on snow/ice at 2am while on that street.
I think the constant slipping and locking caused catastrophic failure of my G80.
