Jump to content

No G80 Differential! :(

NFSGamerUSA

Recommended Posts

NFSGamerUSA Enthusiast

NFSGamerUSA

Posted
Posted

Well, I just realized my K1500 doesn't even have the G80 differential. :D I plan to do some mild off-roading eventually, will this greatly impair my truck's capabilities? That's the whole reason I got a 4WD truck in the first place. :thumbs: Anyway, would it be worth it to buy a G80 rear end for my truck, or maybe the Detriot Truetrac or Auburn Pro that I've been reading about? My truck is primarily for on-road use, but I like to have real 4WD when I need it.

 

Also, would getting a good locking differential such as those mentioned above outweight just getting a set of off-road tires such as BFGoodrich Mud-Terrains? Actually, a set of tires would probably be more expensive than a differential, wouldn't they? I'd still like to know the answer to that, though. :lol:

 

Thanks! :D

GMSea97 Enthusiast

GMSea97

Posted
Posted

peterson 4wheel magazine just did a article on traction vs travel, they made a good point about the locker. It can put you into alot of off-road situations you rig is not ready for. In my personal opinon a locker isn't worth a @#$% if you have crappy street tires. If you don't have good tires what is the difference between spinning one wheel or two. I would go with the good tires first, but a locker would be a future mod for sure. I recently upgraded to a g80 and I have noticed a world of difference. I no longer need 4 wheel drive in areas I did before. I also have decent tires too. An ARB airlocker may be a route to take also, I have heard alot of good things about them. You may even be able to pick up a whole used differential with the proper gears and everything for a few hundred bucks. I would go with the tires first though.

NFSGamerUSA Enthusiast

NFSGamerUSA

Posted
  • Author
Posted
peterson 4wheel magazine just did a article on traction vs travel, they made a good point about the locker. It can put you into alot of off-road situations you rig is not ready for. In my personal opinon a locker isn't worth a @#$% if you have crappy street tires. If you don't have good tires what is the difference between spinning one wheel or two. I would go with the good tires first, but a locker would be a future mod for sure. I recently upgraded to a g80 and I have noticed a world of difference. I no longer need 4 wheel drive in areas I did before. I also have decent tires too. An ARB airlocker may be a route to take also, I have heard alot of good things about them. You may even be able to pick up a whole used differential with the proper gears and everything for a few hundred bucks. I would go with the tires first though.

 

Right now I have 265/75-16 Michelin LTX M/S tires, which seems to be a popular choice for general use, and they seem to have done pretty well with everything I've done considering they're meant for road use. I'm sure some nice M/Ts would be quite a bit better, but I haven't run into any situation where the tires were an issue.

 

I went off-roading today for the first time at a popular local spot and it did fine, but I did run into one situation where a locker would have been nice. It was an up-hill diagonal bump and I didn't have good traction on the front left and right rear tires, which of course received all of the power. I managed to manuever out of it, though.

John Boelte Enthusiast

John Boelte

Posted
Posted

I just took the Mud Terrain (not BFG brand) tires off my Suburban (4X4) and put on BFG ATs. The difference in the noise and ride is HUGE! I just put 260 miles on the truck today going to Cincinatti; it was a pleasant trip. My point is that if you do the majority of your driving on the road, you may regret the MTs. You may want to consider either "settling" for aggressive ATs or get another set of rims with MTs for the days you want to do some serious off roading. If your current tires have a reasonable amount of tread, getting some black steel rims and MTs may be rather attractive.

NFSGamerUSA Enthusiast

NFSGamerUSA

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I just took the Mud Terrain (not BFG brand) tires off my Suburban (4X4) and put on BFG ATs. The difference in the noise and ride is HUGE! I just put 260 miles on the truck today going to Cincinatti; it was a pleasant trip. My point is that if you do the majority of your driving on the road, you may regret the MTs. You may want to consider either "settling" for aggressive ATs or get another set of rims with MTs for the days you want to do some serious off roading. If your current tires have a reasonable amount of tread, getting some black steel rims and MTs may be rather attractive.

 

Actually, now that I've "found" this off-roading spot I think I'll be going more often. I don't care much about the noise, but more about the ride quality, I suppose. I do have the plain 4x4 model and not the Z71 model, so I do have a softer ride already with the smaller shocks. Most all of my driving is around town (very rarely do I do any freeway travel in my truck), if that makes a difference. I don't plan on getting new tires too soon, as the current Michelin LTX M/S tires have a lot of life left and it'd be a waste to get rid of them. I guess I could just keep them after having them removed, though, couldn't I?

 

So you guys think I should get tires first? I didn't seem to have any traction issues with the current tires despite the fact they're meant for on-road use. I think in the situation I was in (see my previous post) was because of not having a locker rather than tires, as the two tires with traction weren't moving, just the two without. Even with my tires I think the locker would have kept that situation from happening. What is you all's take on that?

 

Thanks for all of the help so far! It will be a while before I get this stuff done, I just wanted to know for future reference.

John Boelte Enthusiast

John Boelte

Posted
Posted

I would agree that tires wouldn't have made much difference; a locker would have made a great deal of difference. Save up your money for the locker! :lol:

NFSGamerUSA Enthusiast

NFSGamerUSA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yeah, if I were doing more mudding, I'd definitely get the tires first, but I think in my situation where I'm going over obstacles and such a differential might be better. Plus I can wear out the tires more evenly. :D

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Brendan C
      2026 6.6 L5P oil cooler leaking oil at 4,000 miles

      By Brendan C · Posted

      New to diesel trucks. I happened to find my oil cooler leaking oil externally with only 4,000 miles on the truck. I didn’t realize this was an issue until I started researching it. Dealer is going to replace it under warranty but I’m wondering if there’s anything GM is working on to fix this issue. I’ve heard the oil filter used is the same as they use on their V6 motors and that’s what is causing the problems. Should I switch to a bigger filter or keep using the OEM recommended? 
    • Vu1can
      Seems to be Missing a lot of Updates

      By Vu1can · Posted

      So, GMCustomerService:  Judging by the Update History pictured above, is this truck missing any updates that it actually needs. If it's just for the infotainment system, the radio is working fine and no trouble with SeriusXM. and Android Auto is working fine wirelessly with my phone. Some months ago, an update notice was sent to my truck. I approved the update and it finished saying that the update was successful, but it seems that whatever that update was, it didn't actually get installed - at least not if I'm to go by the Update History shown above.   So, again, are there any updates that this truck really should have? I've checked with my dealer but they're reluctant or commit to anything and if I want them to check, they require a $200.00 fee just to check it out and then I'd have to pay for the actual update(s).    Ignorance is bliss, and if none of the updates goes to fixing any mechanical discrepancies, I'll just leave things as is.  
    • CNH-320
      Electrical Problem - solved

      By CNH-320 · Posted

      Hey everyone, I recently had an issue with my 07 2500HD GMT900. My DRL’s stay on at all times. Right front turn and right mirror turn signal indicator stay on solid at all times. By “at all times” I mean the only way to make them go off is disconnecting the battery. I tore the headlight assemblies out, tried disconnecting the harnesses to eliminate bad wiring at the harness, I unplugged the headlight switch, no change and the mirror turn signal still stayed on. My first thoughts were : Bad bulb and/or socket somewhere, under hood fuse panel bad, bcm bad, tail light or trailer wiring problem, or some random short to power in the harness.  Possibly a bad ground but unlikely. I had a big clue in the fuse panel, it had a burnt smell. I started pulling every fuse that had to do with DRL or right turn/park lamp. Nothing made the right directional turn off but pulling the DRL2 fuse made the DRL’s go out.  After studying wiring diagrams, I found that both problems had that fuse panel in common, the bcm also controls both problems but knowing the fuse panel had a burnt smell I removed and disassembled the fuse panel and found a little corrosion on the printed circuit board.  I ordered a new fuse panel from Amazon for like $260. When it arrived I installed it, and put everything back together, the problem was fixed. I figured the fuse panel needed to be replaced anyway so that was a logical place to start. Hopefully this story helps someone in the future. Regretfully I didn’t scan for codes before I did everything.
    • 2022LtTbZ71
      Service 4wd, ESC light, traction control light on, Service charging system (vehicle may stall)

      By 2022LtTbZ71 · Posted

      That stinks. I’m sitting on the side of the road right now with the same issue. Never had an issue before taking it in for the ground strap recall. Now I’m outside of warranty and they’ll probably want $200 just to diagnose what they already “fixed”. 
    • jagabom (Esquire)
      Passenger seat

      By jagabom (Esquire) · Posted

      I wonder kind of nuts and bolts they will come up with next? Jim

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...