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I just ran through the RPO's on a used truck I picked up and it shows it has the eaton G80 locking rear differential. Anyone out there have/had one and knows the positives or negatives?
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I have had experience with 3 Chevy's with them and 2 without. They work great and for me if a truck doesn't have the G80 locker it is a deal breaker. I have done a little bit of snow driving and have heard others say a locker can get you in trouble in the snow, but I have not experienced that (see recent thread here about that). They work exceptionally well for mild off road/farm use. I'm not a rock crawler/mud bogger, so I don't know if they are lacking in that arena.
Last edited by K1500; 10/19/13.
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The G80 in the Gm's is an aweosme locker.
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My current 2500HD Dmax has one and I have owned 2 other trucks with them. If there is a down side to them I have not found it. I firmly believe there have been a few times they saved my bacon.
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I just ran through the RPO's on a used truck I picked up and it shows it has the eaton G80 locking rear differential. Anyone out there have/had one and knows the positives or negatives? Just do a google search on the Gov-lock locking diff... It is quite possibly the most hated locker in the off road world. They are known for coming apart inside the diff due to being made of cast metal instead of nodular iron. The mechanics behind how it works make it a ticking time bomb if you put any heavy use on it off-road. It'll probably last if you just occasionally go off-road or don't pull anything or if you don't run an oversized tire...They aren't really re-buildable without a $200 tool, so if it ever gives you trouble, put a real locker like a Detroit or an ARB in and don't look back.
Last edited by Jamison; 11/01/13.
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I just ran through the RPO's on a used truck I picked up and it shows it has the eaton G80 locking rear differential. Anyone out there have/had one and knows the positives or negatives? Just do a google search on the Gov-lock locking diff... It is quite possibly the most hated locker in the off road world. They are known for coming apart inside the diff due to being made of cast metal instead of nodular iron. The mechanics behind how it works make it a ticking time bomb if you put any heavy use on it off-road. It'll probably last if you just occasionally go off-road or don't pull anything or if you don't run an oversized tire...They aren't really re-buildable without a $200 tool, so if it ever gives you trouble, put a real locker like a Detroit or an ARB in and don't look back. That's interesting. My '04 diesel has a G80. It tows occasionally. The daily driver tune for several years has been 750/1350 and I'm not easy on it....never a problem with the diff. A couple years of dragstrip runs at 900+hp/1700tq and still no broken gear. I know several guys who make more power than I do and race their trucks a lot more than I race mine......those differentials just don't have problems. I know guys who sledpull competitively with built engines....no problems. I know guys who do a lot of heavy towing....no problems ever. A lot of guys run big tires and enhanced power.....they don't have problems either. And I've never on any diesel forum heard of anyone breaking one of those differentials either towing or offroad. But after reading your post I guess mine's gonna break any time.
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^^^ That. I've had zero problems with the G80 in my truck and I've NEVER hesitated to tow anything or drive off-road. It it ever breaks I'll fix it rather than replace it with something different. If you don't drive like Ivan "Ironman" Stewart in a Baja 500 it might help it last longer. 
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I just ran through the RPO's on a used truck I picked up and it shows it has the eaton G80 locking rear differential. Anyone out there have/had one and knows the positives or negatives? Just do a google search on the Gov-lock locking diff... It is quite possibly the most hated locker in the off road world. They are known for coming apart inside the diff due to being made of cast metal instead of nodular iron. The mechanics behind how it works make it a ticking time bomb if you put any heavy use on it off-road. It'll probably last if you just occasionally go off-road or don't pull anything or if you don't run an oversized tire...They aren't really re-buildable without a $200 tool, so if it ever gives you trouble, put a real locker like a Detroit or an ARB in and don't look back. That's interesting. My '04 diesel has a G80. It tows occasionally. The daily driver tune for several years has been 750/1350 and I'm not easy on it....never a problem with the diff. A couple years of dragstrip runs at 900+hp/1700tq and still no broken gear. I know several guys who make more power than I do and race their trucks a lot more than I race mine......those differentials just don't have problems. I know guys who sledpull competitively with built engines....no problems. I know guys who do a lot of heavy towing....no problems ever. A lot of guys run big tires and enhanced power.....they don't have problems either. And I've never on any diesel forum heard of anyone breaking one of those differentials either towing or offroad. But after reading your post I guess mine's gonna break any time. Just passing on info...don't shoot the messenger. Hit ANY real offroad website like Pirate and you will see what I mean. Gov-locks are known to have weak construction and I have personally seen a couple grenade on the rocks. I don't think you guys understand the kind of usage I am talking about, though. Towing your boat and driving down a logging road doesn't qualify...There is a guy in my club that runs one in his Duramax 2500 Z71 (750/1100)and tows his Jeep to runs with it and it performs fine for that kind of duty. Put it on the rocks with that kind of torque turning 40+ inch tires and you WILL find its weakness...
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[quote=Ackman] Put it on the rocks with that kind of torque turning 40+ inch tires and you WILL find its weakness... Or run into a mudhole where you've got the tires spinning fast so they'll clear, then bouncing out of the mud and having a tire grab a rock.
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[quote=Ackman] Put it on the rocks with that kind of torque turning 40+ inch tires and you WILL find its weakness... Or run into a mudhole where you've got the tires spinning fast so they'll clear, then bouncing out of the mud and having a tire grab a rock. My daily driver - medium - tune is 750/1350. Without traction bars it jumps around pretty bad under hard acceleration. The Caltracs were off for a couple weeks...... I raced a guy on the street and it got to bouncing real bad. After settling down the tires burned for about 30' before a U-joint sheared. The differential is fine. I know people who tow often and heavy. A couple tow real heavy....like about 29K gvw....highway, mountains, dirt roads to remote camp areas, etc. They work the crap out of their DMax's. The G80 in these trucks isn't troublesome. After 6yrs of abuse one guy has a bit of clutch wear, no breakage. Most DMax's come with these and they don't break towing or with big tires. Hell, you think drag racing isn't hard on drivelines? Boost launch a 5,500-7,000lb truck and go 10's or 9's? Lots of people do it, I know several. Those rearends hold up fine, they just aren't troublesome. My jeep guy neighbors beat the crap out of their rigs in rocks and mud. Stuff breaks. They run high dollar custom drivelines. And what they do isn't the same as using a pickup truck.
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[quote=Ackman] Put it on the rocks with that kind of torque turning 40+ inch tires and you WILL find its weakness... Or run into a mudhole where you've got the tires spinning fast so they'll clear, then bouncing out of the mud and having a tire grab a rock. My daily driver - medium - tune is 750/1350. Without traction bars it jumps around pretty bad under hard acceleration. The Caltracs were off for a couple weeks...... I raced a guy on the street and it got to bouncing real bad. After settling down the tires burned for about 30' before a U-joint sheared. The differential is fine. I know people who tow often and heavy. A couple tow real heavy....like about 29K gvw....highway, mountains, dirt roads to remote camp areas, etc. They work the crap out of their DMax's. The G80 in these trucks isn't troublesome. After 6yrs of abuse one guy has a bit of clutch wear, no breakage. Most DMax's come with these and they don't break towing or with big tires. Hell, you think drag racing isn't hard on drivelines? Boost launch a 5,500-7,000lb truck and go 10's or 9's? Lots of people do it, I know several. Those rearends hold up fine, they just aren't troublesome. My jeep guy neighbors beat the crap out of their rigs in rocks and mud. Stuff breaks. They run high dollar custom drivelines. And what they do isn't the same as using a pickup truck. You have convinced yourself that the Gov-lock is good for you and that is all that matters.... My point is that other people have not had had your golden experience.
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[quote=Ackman] Put it on the rocks with that kind of torque turning 40+ inch tires and you WILL find its weakness... Or run into a mudhole where you've got the tires spinning fast so they'll clear, then bouncing out of the mud and having a tire grab a rock. My daily driver - medium - tune is 750/1350. Without traction bars it jumps around pretty bad under hard acceleration. The Caltracs were off for a couple weeks...... I raced a guy on the street and it got to bouncing real bad. After settling down the tires burned for about 30' before a U-joint sheared. The differential is fine. I know people who tow often and heavy. A couple tow real heavy....like about 29K gvw....highway, mountains, dirt roads to remote camp areas, etc. They work the crap out of their DMax's. The G80 in these trucks isn't troublesome. After 6yrs of abuse one guy has a bit of clutch wear, no breakage. Most DMax's come with these and they don't break towing or with big tires. Hell, you think drag racing isn't hard on drivelines? Boost launch a 5,500-7,000lb truck and go 10's or 9's? Lots of people do it, I know several. Those rearends hold up fine, they just aren't troublesome. My jeep guy neighbors beat the crap out of their rigs in rocks and mud. Stuff breaks. They run high dollar custom drivelines. And what they do isn't the same as using a pickup truck. 1) You have convinced yourself that the Gov-lock is good for you and that is all that matters.... 2) My point is that other people have not had had your golden experience. 1) No.... I've not convinced myself of anything. My truck has the 11.5" 14bolt rear. It's the limited slip G80 option. And it's not gov-lok. 2) The op asked about the G80 option, didn't mention what truck. The self styled ex-purts on here jumped all over it. But G80 has different versions with different vehicles. Funny....... several people with lots of G80 experience - not just with the diesel version - have had good luck with them, think they're great.
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I had one in a 1982 10 bolt that eventually quit working after 100K miles or so. At that time there was a rebuild kit but I never got around to it. It never grenaded or anything like that, just didn't lock up. Had one in a 1992 10 bolt which worked great as long as we had it. My 2005, same as Ackman's, after 125K it still works great as well. The G80 is not for rock crawling no doubt about that.
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G80s are very cheap to free from guys dumping them to install Detroit Lockers or ARBs.
Guns don't kill people, drivers with cell phones kill people.
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G80s are very cheap to free from guys dumping them to install Detroit Lockers or ARBs. Depends on which G80 it is. That's a factory designation for limited slip. Which actual differential it is depends on what it's going into.
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the G80 is made by Eaton. they all share the same design.
Guns don't kill people, drivers with cell phones kill people.
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the G80 is made by Eaton. they all share the same design. G80 is the factory designation for limited slip option. What gets put in depends on the truck. But hell, think whatever you want. doesn't matter.
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then maybe you could show us a G80 made by anyone else but Eaton..
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then maybe you could show us a G80 made by anyone else but Eaton.. It's not about who makes it. It's about there being different units under the G80 designation. Not all G80's are the same piece.
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The G80 is not an Eaton Detroit Locker, nor is it an Eaton Truetrac. it is THIS ONE the part number will vary depending on which diff it is used in.
Guns don't kill people, drivers with cell phones kill people.
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