new Chevy Colorado
- Thread starter haven
- Start date
Jalopnik has posted the dealer order guide (all 30 pages of it) for the Colorado here. Auto-locking rear diff is available on all models. Manual trans only available on 2WD work truck models.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/230076039/Colorado-Order-Guide
http://www.scribd.com/doc/230076039/Colorado-Order-Guide
CodyY
Explorer
Yeah but it is the g80 "gov-lock". Basically useless and borderline dangerous on wet roads.
4x4x4doors
Explorer
My 91, 99, 01 S-10 Blazers had the G80 Gov-lock. There was a world of difference in the three of them. My 08 Colorado also has it and it is a vast improvement over any of the other 3. Whether the difference is age/miles or an actual manufactured difference, I don't know but none of the four had anything that would resemble "borderline dangerous on wet roads".
superbuickguy
Explorer
I suspect you're thinking of the detroit locker - which is not a gov lock, the gov lock is a limited slip which will put up to 40% (generally more like 20%) of the power to the non-spinning wheel. The G80 option of old (and I'm pretty certain the minitrucks had a different order code) is nothing like the s-10 limited slips, and nothing like the limited slip in the Colorado. (G80 was a limited slip made by Detroit, the limited slip in the 8.5/8/6 axles was made by Auburn, and the limited slip in the Colorados were made by Eaton). It's why my H3 has electric lockers front and rear... 50% to each wheel, no slip (means you can go sideways across a hill if you're looking for a bit more entertainment/pucker factor in your off-road excursions)
CodyY
Explorer
Nope, I know exactly what the G80 code is. I pulled up the build sheet above and on page 5(?) it says RPO G80 "automatic locking differential". The same RPO issued for the same diff in the Silverados for the last umpteen years. I had it in my 95,97,03,04,05,&08 Silverados. And it sucks just as bad in the 08 as it did in the 95. This tells me the Colorado will not have the 7.5/7.625 axle, but the 8.5" 10-bolt that the half tons have had for decades.
The Auburn LSD for the 7.625" 10-bolt is the same unit that came in 4th gen SS Camaros and WS6 birds, and it's mediocre at best. A very similar unit is in use for the 5th gen Camaro. Also, not THAT great, incredibly difficult to adjust differential action and horrible about inducing throttle-off understeer. On our Grand-Am and WorldChallenge 2010's we swapped to the OSGikken units with VAST improvement in drivability and lap times.
Gov-loc is NOT a limited slip, and it's also NOT a Detroit locker. None of the three function similarly in any way/shape/form aside from allowing the wheels to spin at different rates. And the H3's e-lockers are so far off base I'm not sure why you even brought it up.
The G80 has left me stuck in wet grass repeatedly, even in my own back yard. The right rear spins up and the BAM! the left rear decides it needs power, digging Terra Grapplers into the soft soil. Same thing on the boat ramp. Same thing on muddy roads. Same thing on gravel. Same thing mid corner turning left across 6 lanes of traffic in the rain. Mid-corner with a small amount of controllable wheelspin, then CLACK!! you go for a ride, THUNK!! it decides to unlock and grip again.
Noisy, unpredictable, easily broken, non-adjustable, and even worse in a right-hand drift (yeah, I still drive like a 17yo on occasion). I plan on getting a new Colorado for a daily; and if it's a keeper, it'll get a Tru-trac out back and probably an Eaton E locker up front.
It's been my experience that the G80 works nothing like advertised.
1stDeuce
Explorer
Cody, it is certainly worth saying that the G80 is not friendly to "hooning". 
It sounds like your experiences are due to basically driving it like you stole it. But for us more tame drivers, it actually does a fair job of helping you along, and it is getting better as time goes on. In my '98 ZR2, I heated the spring on the governor to relax it so it would engage earlier. That helped a lot with offroading, as I didn't have to spin up one tire very fast to get it to lock. (downside is that it somtimes locked in parking lots, but tires were cheap back then...) That truck was a stick, so once I throttled it enough to lock, it would launch over whatever I was trying to climb... Not ideal for sure! After heating it, I could just bump the throttle and go. I think the G80 works much better with an auto trans. I have a Duramax with the allison now, and the gov lock works really smooth. Of course, I don't mash the throttle in turns on rainy roads either, unless I'm LOOKING to go for a ride...
Doesn't really matter in the end, since the Colorado is going to come with traction control, and that will take all your fun away unless you turn it off.
For a truck with limited suspension flexibility, the G80 works much better than an auburn or other limited slip when the going gets really rough. You just have to go easy on the skinny pedal and not "floor it" to get through stuff unless you want it banging in and out and doing all sorts of weirdness.
It's really not a bad diff for most of us, and it's the only "automatic" locker offered by the OEM's. (It WILL send 100% of the torque to the wheel that wasn't spinning once it locks in, unless you break it, and then you only get a stiff LSD effect after it engages. I'm sure yours were broken. The G80 in all three of the trucks I've owned will spin the tire with traction with no problem once it's locked, even if it's on pavement and the other tire is on ice. You just need to be ready for the fact that when you do that, the rear of the truck is going to go sideways. but that's a locker thing, not just a G80 thing.
Chris
It sounds like your experiences are due to basically driving it like you stole it. But for us more tame drivers, it actually does a fair job of helping you along, and it is getting better as time goes on. In my '98 ZR2, I heated the spring on the governor to relax it so it would engage earlier. That helped a lot with offroading, as I didn't have to spin up one tire very fast to get it to lock. (downside is that it somtimes locked in parking lots, but tires were cheap back then...) That truck was a stick, so once I throttled it enough to lock, it would launch over whatever I was trying to climb... Not ideal for sure! After heating it, I could just bump the throttle and go. I think the G80 works much better with an auto trans. I have a Duramax with the allison now, and the gov lock works really smooth. Of course, I don't mash the throttle in turns on rainy roads either, unless I'm LOOKING to go for a ride...
Doesn't really matter in the end, since the Colorado is going to come with traction control, and that will take all your fun away unless you turn it off.
For a truck with limited suspension flexibility, the G80 works much better than an auburn or other limited slip when the going gets really rough. You just have to go easy on the skinny pedal and not "floor it" to get through stuff unless you want it banging in and out and doing all sorts of weirdness.
It's really not a bad diff for most of us, and it's the only "automatic" locker offered by the OEM's. (It WILL send 100% of the torque to the wheel that wasn't spinning once it locks in, unless you break it, and then you only get a stiff LSD effect after it engages. I'm sure yours were broken.
The G80 in all three of the trucks I've owned will spin the tire with traction with no problem once it's locked, even if it's on pavement and the other tire is on ice. You just need to be ready for the fact that when you do that, the rear of the truck is going to go sideways. but that's a locker thing, not just a G80 thing. Chris
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CodyY
Explorer
It sounds good on paper, I've just never had it work like that.
95% of the time those trucks pulled daily duty and tow/work vehicle. All of them were 1/2-ton 2wd. Either "sport trucks" or "pre-runner-ish" depending on my mood when I bought wheels and tires.
I get most of my kicks on an enduro bike, but getting in/out of the riding areas can be challenging at times. And a little wet-weather backroad hooniganisim, mostly in the misty rain because, well tires ain't cheap.
95% of the time those trucks pulled daily duty and tow/work vehicle. All of them were 1/2-ton 2wd. Either "sport trucks" or "pre-runner-ish" depending on my mood when I bought wheels and tires.
I get most of my kicks on an enduro bike, but getting in/out of the riding areas can be challenging at times. And a little wet-weather backroad hooniganisim, mostly in the misty rain because, well tires ain't cheap.
superbuickguy
Explorer
Interesting response.
1) what does a 7.625 have to do with anything? they don't put them in mini or full size trucks... I have a limited slip in my 75 Corvette, but it's still not related. I also have a limited slip and a all-gear limited slip for a GTO in my rafters...
2) I said the same thing about the gov lock - and to be clear, I have that very locker in the rear of my 83 Chev 4x4 pickup.
3) Not sure how you equated my comment about how a limited slip works by comparing it to an e-locker that works like a spool in that way... but whatever.
I do bikes too, I built a CR 500 af out of a 2004 CRF 250.
CodyY
Explorer
I really wish it would for me.
nmatcek
Adventurer
That being said, if it shells I'll be replacing it with an arb air locker.
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