American Axles vrs Dana

[SteveH]

American Axles vrs. Dana -

Anyone know any good or bad on the American Axles Steve L. mentioned in his article? Dana is sure a good name, is there any reason for the change for the 03's?

Steve H.

 

[mopars1]

Steve, the reason I have been given is Dana would not do anything about the noise from the front axle in the Grand Cherokee after DC made some changes to quiet down the noise in the interior of the vehicle. Before the upgrade was made to the noise level in the interior you could not hear the gear noise inside the vehicle. Supposedly there was a battle about the whole deal and DC said goodbye to Dana Corp.



David

 

[Rockcrawler]

American is no slouch

American is the company that has been building the beefy GM axles like the 14-bolt rear which is considered to be somewhere between the D70 and D80 in strength.



I don't know anything about what they are making for Dodge but can vouch for their ability to make a good axle. I like the Dana's too and will miss them.

 

[rjrkihap]

14 Bolt

The 14 Bolt Full Floater is a 10. 5 inch ring gear similar to the 10. 54 inch ring gear on the Dana 70 but only has a 30 spline axle shaft vs. the 35 spline Dana 70. That has been the sore spot for the 14 Bolt Full Floater. It is considered stronger than the Dana 60 but not quite as strong as the Dana 70. The new 11. 5 inch American is a whole new story. That is the rear end GM is using under their HD 2500 and 3500. It's suppose to be as good or better than the Dana 80. It's also the rear end we are getting next year.



Ron

 

[Bad340fish]

I think DC has had problems with Dana all accross the board. We all know how the limited slip unit sucks a fat one for one. They had recals on some Dakotas because the axle tubes were coming out that would ruin a roadtrip!!

Clark

 

[SteveH]

I can't find the American Axles website. Do they have one that anyone knows about? I have the limited slip Dana now in my 97 1 ton and haven't had any problems with it that I know of. Hopefully the American Axles has a bullet-proof limited slip that will be going into the DC.

Steve H.

 

[kmiller]

Speaking of Diffs

Anyone know who will make the limited slip diff? Will it be AAM like the axle? They show several limited slips and lockers. Sure would like to see something like the new E-Locker from Eaton.

 

[TKemper]

Here's their website http://www.americanaxle.com/technology/tech_prod_dl_rearaxle.html

 

[Peter Campbell]

Ignore the following- I read the chart at the website incorrectly- thay are standard type construction>>>>> Looks like the 290 mm units (11. 5") are going to be "banjo" units. Just like (way back machine here ) the 8 3/4" units on some of the automatic high performance dodge cars in the late 60's and early 70's. So gear changes will be a matter of getting a different carrier ( "pumpkin" ) for the rear with a different gearset. Sweet except I will be ordering an '04 4WD 3500 SRW manual HO prior to the EPA ruining the engine. It would be tough to change the front ratio.

 

[rjrkihap]

Third Member

Peter, are you saying the new 11. 5 AA axle's are setup with a drop out 3rd member like the ford 9in?



Ron

 

[Peter Campbell]

Naw I read the chart on the website wrong. - updated the post and left the incorrect info with the warning. It is the last single unit style. The next one down is the "drop out" style. It would be cool to have the "banjo" though -it is not happening.

 

[SteveH]

I e-mailed American Axles (formerly GM Axle Division) and they promptly answered my questions. Here is the note from them:

(QUOTE)

Thank you for your interest in American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM). You are correct, AAM will be supplying the front and rear axles for the redesignd Dodge Ram Pickup 2500 and 3500 series. The Axles in these vehicles will be available with AAM's Tracrite GT limited slip differential. The attached link to our web site describes the features of this differential.



http://www.aam.com/technology/tech_prod_dl_diff.html#TRGT



Please let me know if you have any other questions, and thanks again for your interest in AAM.

John Nyquist

Director of Marketing

I believe the AAM1150 is the number of the differential they will be using in the limited slips.

Steve H.

 

[1tuffram]

any opinions on how the AAM1150 axle compares to Dana 70 and 80's? I don't know the specifications for the Dana's.

 

[kmiller]

Tracrite GT

Glad to finally see some info. on the limited slip. Now, How does it work? Went to the link and read "... allows the driver optimum control of the gear-mesh separating forces. "????? Whatever are they talking about? Driver control of a limited slip? Torque biasing - How much? Is this the type that 2. 5 or whatever the bias ratio times zero still equals zero. I. e. if one wheel is in the air you have a major problem?



Now, if someone could find out the width of those new 17" wheels, especially on the 3500 DRW. Do they stay at 6", match chevy at 6. 5", or maybe King of the Hill at 6. 75 or 7" In some of the pictures the tires look about the same and some they look a little more filled out, maybe just the new profile. Why not 235/75 R18? Maybe DC needs to give a reason to trade to the next generation.

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

At my old work we used Isuzu NPR trucks specially the HD model that where rated at 14kGVW. These trucks have pretty much a chevy powertrain, ie 350cu in small block and and GM 4L-80e trans. I don't know for sure who makes the rearend in those but i can tell you it is a complete piece of grabage. Get stuck in the snow one time and try to rock your way out and the rearend will be toast and you will be set back 2500$ bucks when you get the repair bill. The rearends in these trucks went out at least once every winter. Not to mention the rest of the truck was a complete and total POS

 

[RobG]

I'm glad to see that they'll be using the same rear end in the new RAMs that GM is putting in their HD trucks. I was looking at the sticker on a loaded up Duramax dually today and it's rear axle rating is 8550 lbs. That's 1050 more than my Dana 80 and 400 lbs. more than whatever Ford puts in the F350 DRW (a real Dana 80 I think).



This is important to me since the camper I had been wanting (the new Lance 1161) is waaaaaaay too heavy for the wimpy little quasi-Dana 80 I have. It'd put me 500 lbs over the axle rating, and then I'd be at least 1000 lbs. over it once I hooked up my trailer.



Pity.



Rob

 

[rjrkihap]

Rob, I think the Dana 70 is rated at 7500 pounds and the Dana 80 is over 8000 pounds (somthing like 8250ish). Correct me if I am wrong.



My 3500 4x4 Quad Cab is rated at just a smig under 4000 pounds cargo capacity. If I went for the 4x2 it would have been over 4000 pounds.



Ron

 

[RobG]

That's not what the sticker on my door says... says 7500# for rear axle. I sure wish it was more.



Rob

 

[Bill Stockard]

RobG,



I'm with you on the rear axle. I need more rear axle capacity and more GVWR for a Lance 1161 too. I'm curious how Dodge gets up to the 12,000 lbs. GVWR on the '03 3500s.



Bill

 

[KCJackson]

My prediction: 9000 rear GAWR (spring load). DC wants to be best in class, so they can't go backwards on GAWR, especially with a tow rating of 23,000 GCWR. Ford's rear capacity is 8250 (springs)/9750 (axle). GM is 8600/9000. Dodge could easily be 9000/10,000.



Front 4x4 axles are another story. That crap GM IFS is only good for 4800. The 2002 Ram and Ford Super Duty both run 5200. I would guess the 03 Ram would be at least 5300 and possibly 5500.