AAM axle, Should I, or Shouldnt I?

[Alphacowboy]

I recently purchased a set of AAM axles out of a 2003 Ram CTD 4x4 2500 QC. The truck came with an auto transmission. Should I, or Shouldnt I look at putting these under my 2000 Dodge Ram? I have conflicting opinions on this. Some say go for it, that they are good axles, others say, they are junk, dont bother. I have a hard time believing they are complete junk if Dodge ditched Dana for them. Anyway, couple reasons I am thinking about doing this are...



1. )D80 rear needs new bearings, pinion bearing and seals (blew up the spiders a year ago, and only replaced the gears, didnt have the $$$ for bearings and seals at the time, so it has gotten a little worse)

2. )D80 rear needs new brake shoes (AAM axle has disk brakes, in good condition)

3. )D60F needs hub assemblies, ball joints, axle seals, and I dont know if its the hubs, but has a nasty vibration in 4wheel drive under acceleration, plus, I found a crap load of water in the oil last oil change (hasnt been drivin in water even close to that deep??)

4. )AAM axles have good brakes on them. Have 3:73 gear ratios which I like better than the 3:55 I have now since I run 35" tires usually, and I didnt want to go to the 3:92 or 4:10 ratios for the D80, especially for how expensive the gear sets are! Axles only have 27k miles on them, compaired to my 124k on my stockers.

5. )For the most part, complete bolt in part, only thing I may have to play with is getting the rear disk brakes figured out.





So, what do you third gen guys think? Should I do it? are you happy with your axles so far?

 

[Slow Six]

I like my AA diffs so far but then I have never had problems with any of them. A little TLC goes a long way.

 

[steved]

We already discussed this a while ago I believe...



... as for the quality of the axle, if they were really that bad you would be seeing a bunch of issues with them on this forum... I really haven't seen any evidence that they are any worse/better than the dana axles...



My only concern would be getting the driveshafts to match up since they use flanges (the front is easy... dodge still uses a spicer double cardan joint!), whether you currently had CAD or not, and if you would need to convert the braking over to use the disc brakes on the rear...



You will be giving up a little strength because you should have a 10. 5AAM (was behind an auto) and it is really equal to the D70, not the D80...



steved

 

[nickleinonen]

You will be giving up a little strength because you should have a 10. 5AAM (was behind an auto)

unless it was a late 03 with the 305/555 engine. if was an HO, it will have the 11. 5"

 

[TowPro]

The limited slip works much better in the AAm then the Dana, at least for me it does.

 

[steved]

The limited slip works much better in the AAm then the Dana, at least for me it does.

The AAM LSD is almost non-existant in my 11. 50... can't tell most times if it is posi or an open diff... I actually had to pull the cover to make sure DC didn't short change me...



The powerloc in my D70 worked 1000 times better than this AAM LSD, of course anything short of a open diff would also be better than the AAM LSD.



As for the 11. 50... I thought in 2003 they were reserved for those trucks with manuals... the 48RE hadn't even been intro'd yet had it??



steved

 

[BHolm]

As for the 11. 50... I thought in 2003 they were reserved for those trucks with manuals... the 48RE hadn't even been intro'd yet had it??



steved

I had two, still have one, 2003's with the HO, 48re and 11. 5 rears. If you had the SO engine you still got the 47re and 10. 5. I bought them both in the spring of 2003.

 

[JRG]

Mine is the 11. 5 also.



The AAM is also 3. 73, most Dana owners wished they could have something between the 3. 55 and the 4. 10- ala 3rd gen.



IMHO a no brainer----why not would be the question.



JRG

 

[TowPro]

I have had 2 Dana 80hb's (11. 5's), then the AAM. all Limited slip, all 2wd. and the AAM works best.

Maybe the Dana 70 had a better clutch back then the Dana 80?

 

[Alphacowboy]

it was a 305HP engine.

 

[GWBourne]

The AAM LSD is almost non-existant in my 11. 50... can't tell most times if it is posi or an open diff... I actually had to pull the cover to make sure DC didn't short change me...



The powerloc in my D70 worked 1000 times better than this AAM LSD, of course anything short of a open diff would also be better than the AAM LSD.



As for the 11. 50... I thought in 2003 they were reserved for those trucks with manuals... the 48RE hadn't even been intro'd yet had it??



steved

mine works GREAT. no problems at all.



as for the AAM axles, like said before i have not read of any problems with them on here. i love Dana axles, but i like AAm's as well. the only thing i see advantageous of the Dana over the AAM is ratio options. the problem could be solved SOME day... .



it would cost you more money to get the Dana Axles up to par i think. if you have them, keep them. i also dont know if the AAM's will bolt right in. it may have been covered already... dunno though...

 

[FLynes]

I agree with steved, I can't really tell whether the posi works or not, compared to my 97 2500 D60 posi. Other than that, I have no complaints about the AA.



Frederic

 

[JohnCooper]

If you had the SO engine you still got the 47re and 10. 5. I bought them both in the spring of 2003.

I bought my 2003 California SO in May of 2003. It has a 48RE and the 10. 5 AAM rear axle.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I liked the rear end in my '03 HO better than the Danas in the 4 2nd Gens I've owned. It was smooth, and put the power to the ground through both rear tires.

 

[JasonBrown]

You say you already have the AAm axles, and from the sound of it the Dana's need mega work. Of all of the problem threads you read on here, I cannot recall reading anything about axle problems. You already have the AAms, they're paid for. GO FOR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CIverson]

Just do it. If not give them to me

 

[Big MAK]

I can't see a downside to putting on the AAM's.



fwiw I'm happy with mine.



Gets you a disc brake upgrade and a gear ratio you like... I hope the swap goes smooth!

 

[Alphacowboy]

thanks guys, axles hopefully are on there way to Iowa as we speak!

 

[jray]

The Biggest down side to the AA swap is that nobody is making quality ball joints for these axles yet. Brakes are way better. Quality brake pads for the AA's are expensive. Sounds like a good swap. Good luck.

 

[ACoffel]

Go with the AAM axles. The 11. 5 rear seems to be a great axle and should be at least

as strong as the dana 80. The 9. 25 front is reverse rotation which is an advantage over the dana 60 , even though the ring gear is a half inch smaller. The biggest

weakness lies in the front unit bearing arrangement. Do a Dynatrac front hub conversion and add some greasable axle u-joints and you will have a dependable set

of axles.