I am looking into lockers, and iv heard rumors that 3rd gens axles cant handel the constant strees of a locker with daily driving. any one have any coments?

 

3rd gen rear ends, or any 7.5" 10 bolt rear is weak just because of it's 7.5" ring gear. The weakest link is the small spider gears in the diff, but by going to a locker you bypass that weak link. The only problem is the tiny ring gear and 28 spline axles aren't much stronger than the spiders and they will let go in short order. If your building a drag car that will run faster than low 13's you need to look into a completely different rear end. The 9 bolt rears that were installed in these cars is nice step up, but no match for a mid to low 12 second car. If you want to get serious you need to look into a 9" or 12 bolt

 

Stay away from the Gov-Loc that is for sure, and there are mixed feelings about the Power-Trax. I had a Gov-Loc but sold it to a 4X4 guy. It worked awesome, but they are weak. So rather than chuck a bunch of money down the drain if (more like when) I broke it, I sold it and got a used Torsen. It is a much better choice for the street than the Gov-Loc or a Power-Trax in my opinion and has no spider gears. Any other "Real" locking diff will probably be very noisy and jolt the rear end around corners, it may be very hard on the suspension and a nightmare to drive, but there are some who like them and have no trouble with them. It would depend on what you are primarily going to use the car for, if it is mainly for strip duty then the locker would suit you just fine, if it will be mainly for the street I would go for a Torsen or traditional Posi.

Either one of the above mentioned "Lockers" (Gov-Loc or Power-Trax) will break way before your axles do.

I upgraded my weak 26 spline axles to Moser 28 spline alloy units and added an aluminum rear support cover (girdle) and used 3:73 Richmond gears. Very nice setup and a lot stronger than stock. But like mentioned in the other reply, if you plan on running slicks or sticky street tires, any kind of traction control, and you are making more power than stock, you may want to look into a 12 bolt or 9 inch.

 

I HAVE a 400+ hp 350 that will be put in shortly, i just dont wanna have that power, and have a one wheel burnout. where do you suggest i get a posi from? i just wanna get the power to the ground... some what.

 

With that amount of power I would look into a 12Bolt or 9 inch. But if you do just want to beef up the stock 10bolt, I would get a Torsen, and use an aluminum support cover.

I got my Torsen used off eBay for $150.00 and it showed very little wear.

You can get a new Torsen (TrueTrac) from here;

http://www.ringpinion.biz/product_in...de5117d8451d3d

or you can contact Moser and see if you could get one from them. Moser does not list one for the 7.5-7.625 10Bolt on their website, but they are a vendor of the TrueTrac so they may be able to get you one.

http://www.moserengineering.com/index.html

 

i read that all 3rd gen firebirds came with a torsen rear...??? if not. what are they?? thanks- matt

 

I do not believe the Torsen came around until the 4th gens.

It is a diff with a set of worm gears instead of spiders. The way that they work creates a lot of friction on the worm gears while under torque from the engine causing both wheels to spin.