worth it while doing a gear swap Honestly

[brans87]

Got a open 14 bolt FF. going to be doing gear swap within next month. Don't want a Detroit Lock since drive on street some and we get ice storms.

Would be worth it to find a used G80 for a 14 bolt FF 4.10 down for thick 4.88 gears?

 

[skunked]

I'd rather have a G80 over an open diff in the snow. For a 14B anyway....

 

[blazinzuk]

I don't like the G80 on ice. It kicks in hard and then you slide.

On my blazer on 38s I hated me Detroit on ice. But didn't make it undrivable. When I got got 39.5" Iroks I didn't mind it all all. Same road in very similar conditions my Iroks were way better than my swampers.

On ice I hated those swampers. 38x15.5x15 radials. Worst tires on ice. Any snow on the ground their performance increased substantially.

I actually thought about putting an open diff in for winters. Till I got the Iroks

 

[RubberFloorMat]

I had a G80 put me into a concrete retaining wall on ice.

Not a fan.

 

[skunked]

Never had a problem with the G80 in my 2003 HD. Maybe I had the right rubber on it......I also drive my 02 tahoe with a gov-lock in the snow frequently without issue. However my open diff 97 tahoe brings the suck.

now a detroit, fck that.

 

[sweetk30]

i have had swampers to general grabber m/t to bfg at ko2 on the same basic truck with a gov-loc rear 14ff and love it over a detroit for dd use and snow belt use were i live .

when its ice nothing is ever 100% and tires are more key than anything on ice .

 

[shady]

Just do a trutrac....

First winter would be the same learning curve as the others. I haven't driven one in snow yet but they seem to be the ticket for anything that sees more road than rocks

 

[runamok151]

I was going to suggest the trutrac too, or eaton or powertrax,. Everyone complains about the g80 allowing too much wheel slip before engaging. There are other options. I ran a powertrax for years. It was perfect for a DD/ mild wheeler. Always felt I had good traction off road and never had a problem w/ it in wet or snowy conditions on road.

 

[6.2Blazer]

I have always liked the Gov-Lock in my '03 2500HD that I bought new and now has around 130k on it. It was my daily driver for 10+ years in the midwest so lots of snow and ice over the years. I've also trailered with it many times in winter conditions, including getting stuck in an unexpected freezing rain storm for 40 miles (cars were literally spinning 360's going 25 mph down the interstate). It will lock almost instantaneously...if you pull one side over in the ditch on wet grass and hit the gas it will squeal the other side tire that is on the pavement. I also had good luck with the one in an '83 S-10 Blazer I had in high school as it acted the same way and engaged quickly. On the other hand the factory one in my '90 K5 always had a delay and would let you get one tire spinning quite a bit for engaging. The K5 was only 4 years old with under 50k on the clock when I bought it so shouldn't have been worn out. I did swap to a TrueTrac in the K5 when the factory rear end blew up years later. It did behave nicely on the street but did to make the rear end wash out quicker than factory.