I bought an 82 chev 3/4 ton recently and was disapointed to experience an open diff and nearly get stuck in the easment next to our driveway while jockeying vehicles around to shovel the wopping two inches of snow.
How embarrassing.

What sort of low budget options do I have to make/convert this beater into something a little more sure-footed in the snow this winter as well as the odd mucky trail...? (besides tires)

thinking along the lines of posi or limited slip but I can't afford to replace the diffs.

Rear end is a gm 14bolt iirc

 

if your not hot rodding and doing massive burnouts, just put a stock g80 in there.

 

Put 8-10 sand bags in the bed of the truck.

 

What's a g80??

Sandbags are a given


I poked around eBay for "14bolt" and found all sorts of stuff like spool, mini spool, locker, ect... But the price varies a lot on them and I don't know which option would be the best.
Anywhere from 200-1000US...

200 I could swallow but not 1k on a 1200 truck.

I've heard of people welding something in the diff, but I was told it's a big no no.....any opinions?

 

If you have the 10.5" 14 bolt(has bolt-in pinion gear), then you can purchase a Detroit Locker pretty cheap. It's a simple replacement of the side & spider gears, and works very well. Known to be extremely durable.

If you have the 9.5" 14 bolt semi-floater, you have to replace the entire carrier, at a higher parts cost, and more labor.

 

I was told it's a semi floater because you have to pull a c-clip out of the center section in order to pull the axles. (just going off of what I was told)

 

Not really a cheap way to do that one, unless you get a good deal on something used. If you can install it yourself, that would save you alot of money too.

 

That's not what I wanted to hear
I'm probably better off spending money on my car then lol

 

pros and cons of a spool or welded gears, great off road, (basically its always locked) its very strong but for driving around on the road it would be horrible, every corner would chirp because both tires are spinning at the same rate. this is the cheapest option but would not recommend it with snow

a posi would be great for snow and road use and descent if that off road, it is essentially open when no power is applied (going around corners) and will or should lock up when power is applied to make sure both tires spin at the same rate

a locker would be optimal, but its also the most expensive, it gives you an open differential for street use and you choose when you want to have it locked, so if your stuck in your driveway run you can lock it and get out of there


hope this helps

 

Thanks Venom for the break down.
Unless I run across a REALLY good deal, I'll probably back burner this idea as it sounds more costly than I had hoped.

Too bad it didn't have LSD from the factory like most of the newer vehicles have... Of course it's too bad had tahoe didn't come with a 6L option either. = \