Gov Lock Posi... Are they really that bad?

[Metal Twister]

Just wondering if Gov Lock posi are really that bad for moderate wheeling. Ya know ya always hear the horror stories on the net about every product ever made. I understand that it is human nature to want the best of everything but Im wondering if Gov locks have gotton a bad rap or are they really weak?

Any positive reports on Gov locks?

 

[sweetk30]

14ff is the best as far as most say. other wise tick tick tick BOOM

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Aside from being failure prone, which they certainly are especially with bigger than stock tires, they simply don't work like other lockers.

In the rocks you'd probably be better off with an open diff than a gov-lok, spinning the tires enough to get the gov-lok to lock up will cause all kinds of bad things to happen (other than breakage, you can dig holes, get off line, etc.). You can't crawl if you need a tire spinning 10 mph to engage the thing.

As for mud and general use that a stock truck will see, I feel they are pretty good and generally better than a posi.

 

[George_Pimpdaddy]

The 10 bolts ones are considered to be weak especially when bigger tires are added. That being said the gov lock in my 14FF has never let me down with my 35"s and alot of abuse.

 

[blazinzuk]

Chris hit the problem, you have to get one tire spinning a certain speed before the gov lock will engage. For trail riding, snow, mud, anything you need wheelspeed for, they are good enough. But if you are getting into something technical they are useless you never get enough wheel speed to get them to lock and if you do it usually messes you up

 

[Blue85]

The big plus to the Gov-lock is that it's 100% streetable. It works well in snow, ice and mud. It is not a rock-crawling diff, but neither are limited slips. So given that the only no-compromise choice for rocks & street is a selectable locker, the price of the Gov-lock (sometimes free) starts to look pretty good.

If you pay attention to all of the gov-lock carnage stories, most are referencing the 10-bolt axle. So yes, this is known to be weak. In the larger 9.5" and especially 10.5" axles, the gov-lock is breaking far less. They are all entirely different differentials - they just use similar mechanisms to actuate them.

 

[sponsoredbydad]

So say one was going to be mostly in sand/dunes where momentum is the key a gov loc would be ok?

 

[sweetk30]

plane and simple. easy way to break any gov bom is wheel speed on 1 tire then slambs in to lock and ingages the second wheel.

and this is even worse on 1 tire on loose ground and 1 on hard ground like blacktop.

i love my gov loc in my 14ff for plowing snow and street use with good results off road also . used 1 in my old mud truck with built 400sbc and 38 " tsl swampers. not a 1 problem.

took it out for a detroit before i blew it up and liked detroit. but hated the full time traction of the detroit on the street in the winter time snow/ice fun. wished my gov loc was still in there .

i even installed a brand new unit i had in my plow truck after my orignal 1979 unit just plane wore out. good to go after that and back to great winter time driving.

so depends how you plan to use it and were you use it and with what axle you will have it in.

 

[Metal Twister]

When I opened up the 12 bolt rear end on my 77 Blazer I found brand new gears in it with no ware marks. The Gov Lock is obvously warn. So any failure before I fot it couldnt of been a result of the gov lock. It does have me concerned a bit. This is a Gov Lock Correct? Is the same Gov Lock used in the 10 bolt as the 12 bolt?

 

[sweetk30]

gov loc yes.

same open carrier style up to 14semi float.

14ff goes to full carrier incased unit. pic posted of 14ff unit.

 

[Metal Twister]

gov loc yes.

same open carrier style up to 14semi float.

14ff goes to full carrier incased unit. pic posted of 14ff unit.

Not a member as of yet so the pics cant be viewed. While Im sure membership is well worth it, at this time $25.00 cant be spared. Maybe down the road sometime... Thanks for the effort and information. It is appreciated very much!

 

[496truck]

same open carrier style up to 14semi float.

Just to clarify...
same type, yes
same size, no

If you were looking for a replacement gov loc, one from a ten bolt will not work in your 12 bolt.

 

[Blue85]

I tested out my 14b S/F gov-lock last night- I can lock it by spinning one tire by hand. about 1/4 of a revolution and it locks up tight. It doesn't seem like you could get much momentum on a tire to break stuff when the diff works that well.

 

[sweetk30]

I tested out my 14b S/F gov-lock last night- I can lock it by spinning one tire by hand. about 1/4 of a revolution and it locks up tight. It doesn't seem like you could get much momentum on a tire to break stuff when the diff works that well.

true to someone who knows its there AND how to use it.

just joe. shmo. will blow it up as he tries to spin his way out of a sticky spot and not knowing how it works and BANG.

 

[ccarley]

I'm glad I changed my diff fluids last week, as I found a gov-loc in my rear axle.

I can appreciate how it operates, but like has been said, if you don't know it's there, and you start "romping on it", I can see how things will break pretty quickly. So far I've been lucky, we had only tried to spin tires in the mud a bit, and before I knew it was in there, I was thinking that my 35" BFG A/T's were getting way more traction than I thought they would LOL. Now I know that little guy is back there, I see why I was getting excellent traction in the slick stuff.

Has anyone tried a gov-loc in the front? It seems like if you are not crawling, and just using it in the sand, mud, snow etc. lightly, it would work better than a Detroit.

Clay

 

[Blue85]

Has anyone tried a gov-loc in the front? It seems like if you are not crawling, and just using it in the sand, mud, snow etc. lightly, it would work better than a Detroit.

Clay

I have thought of it several times since function is great and you can just about get them for free. There are a couple of guys who have run this setup, which should be great for small tires. One of them was saying that it just didn't work right in the front, but I can't remember why (or who it was). Seeing how quickly they can lock, I would fear it locking when it shouldn't in tight/fast corners.

 

[496truck]

The beauty of the gov lock is that it unlocks at a certain roadspeed, like 25 mph or something like that. So, when driving in the snow at 30 mph it acts like an open diff.

For street driving in snowy conditions and MILD off road, I would have no problem using one in the front diff.

 

[ccarley]

Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad at all then.

I don't want to go hardcore at all with my Suburban; it's too big, and the 10 bolts are just too small. Really, they are like toothpicks holding oranges with my 35's right now.

The most we do is fire-roads, maybe some work in the sand, and of course, snow for sure. I'm not going to the rocks or driving fast if I go in the sand.

Thanks for the thoughts, I'll be looking for another next time I'm at the junkyard

Clay

 

[sweetk30]

The beauty of the gov lock is that it unlocks at a certain roadspeed, like 25 mph or something like that. So, when driving in the snow at 30 mph it acts like an open diff.

For street driving in snowy conditions and MILD off road, I would have no problem using one in the front diff.

not true on the unlock speed thing.

mine stays locked all the time i am driving if engaged. and takes a stop then backup to unlock most of the time if it dosnt unlock when stoped.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I think a lot of the bad rap for Gov-locks is because there are so many in 10-bolts, and any rear 10-bolts are on the borderline of breaking even with stock tires.

The Gov-lock in my early-80's S-10 Blazer worked great even at 130,000 miles. Locked quickly under any circumstance and never had any occurrences of one tire spinning mildly then the Gov-lock engaging with a bang.

The one in my '90 K5 (which I bought in '94 with 49k on the clock) never worked that great and would engage with a bang at high wheel speeds and eventually exploded.

My '03 2500HD (bought new) has a Gov-lock and it has always worked great even at over 100k on the clock. I can pull one wheel into the wet grass of a ditch with the other on dry pavement, hit the gas, and you can hear the tire on pavement chirp immediately.......no one tire spinning and then engaging. Never been in a situation where only one rear tire was spinning, though no severe trail or rock use obviously. The truck has been stuck several times with a trailer in tow, does some snow bashing, and spent an entire afternoon doing muddly hill climbs at a friends farm.