Different rear axle in the SRW & DRW 3500?

[HardcoreDiesel]

I was at the dealer placing the order for a new 2007 and I noticed the rear axle center housing is different between the single rear wheel and the dual rear wheel 3500's. Has it always been this way on the 3rd gen trucks or is something new for 2007? I also noticed the exhaust manifold has been changed. My 2006 and the 2007 I looked at today have slightly different castings near the turbo flange. The good part is the new version looks stronger but the bad part is it will be harder to tap the hole for the pyro now!

 

[Dieselnerd]

They have been the same except as I recall the DRW was slightly wider.

 

[macdaddy]

Wider, larger brake calipers and brakes, and spindles.



Both have 11. 5" ring gears though.



Mac

 

[HardcoreDiesel]

Here is a pic of the rear axle I am talking about... the center casting has a more rounded look than the previous AAM axle

**Click on photo to enlarge**

[/IMG][/URL]#ad

 

[HardcoreDiesel]

And here is a pic of the new exhaust manifold I mentioned in my 1st post... notice the new casting with the two raised ribs right where you would put the pyro probe.



**Click for larger photo**

-

 

[JRMora]

Here is a pic of the rear axle I am talking about... the center casting has a more rounded look than the previous AAM axle

**Click on photo to enlarge**

[/IMG][/URL]#ad

I wonder if we're going to see some increases in GVWR soon with these trucks. Looks like they are beefing up the housings. Maybe finally we'll see some relief... .

 

[HardcoreDiesel]

It definetly looks more heavy duty with the extra ribs cast into it. Maybe they wanted something a little bigger for the new chassis cabs and they are putting them in the 3500 dually also?

 

[Dieselnerd]

I don't see the big difference in the rear axle. Am I missing something? I just took the picture out into the garage and compared it to mine and it looks the same. Ribs and all. I have an '05 3500 SRW.

 

[MChildress]

I was looking at an 07 at the rodeo this last weekend and observed two sensors mounted in the exhaust pipe just behind the cat. I guess its somemore of the EPA crap.

 

[Thump]

The DRW should be narrower to accomodate some of the extra width of the inside wheel? That has been my experience when searching out junkyard axles for buggies.

That axle looks pretty much identical to my 03 DRW. I'll have to check again during daylight, though.

 

[2broke2smoke]

we noticed the difference between my friends '03 and the wifes '06 ... but the wifes '06 srw is exactly as pictured above

 

[pwr2tow]

The picture is identical to my 05 and my 06 except the 05 was a little narrower than my 06 due to being a dually.

 

[rbattelle]

Axle looks identical to mine (SRW) too. Macdaddy, I'm pretty sure there is no difference in brakes between the SRW and DRW. There was a rumor that the bores were slightly larger on the DRW, but no one's been able to produce any documentation to reflect that.



Didn't know the front spindles were different... that's interesting. Are they simply longer?



Ryan

 

[MBergman]

The axle housing on the 07's has additional ribs cast into it. I had to order a complete replacement axle last week and the part number superceded to the new style. It's HEAVY.

 

[HardcoreDiesel]

Ok... before everyone starts thinking I am crazy here. This is the rear axle under my 2006 3500 SRW truck. If you look closely you will see the shape of the axle center housing in my previous post has a more rounded look to it. The guts are probably the same but there was definetly a change in the past year to the center housing casting.



**click to enlarge**

[/IMG][/URL]#ad

 

[rbattelle]

AH HA! Yes, now I see the difference, MSHudson. You got good eyes... I'd probably never have picked up on that. The '07 is beefier.



Ryan

 

[2broke2smoke]

Ok... before everyone starts thinking I am crazy here. This is the rear axle under my 2006 3500 SRW truck. If you look closely you will see the shape of the axle center housing in my previous post has a more rounded look to it. The guts are probably the same but there was definetly a change in the past year to the center housing casting.



**click to enlarge**

[/IMG][/URL]#ad

the wifes '06 srw 2500 looks like the previous photo ... not like this one