No more AAM 11.5 in 05 for 2500 SRW

[ACF]

Hi new to the forums here... ... . have been looking for months and finally became a member. Looking forward to passing some hopefully useful information to you all... . that will come later. For now I just ordered my second 3rd Gen and I see that you can no longer get the AAM 11. 5 with the 2500 in 05..... what gives? My old (well... 2004) 3rd Gen has the 11. 5 with 3. 73's behind the 48RE. According to the official Dodge website when you go to build and price only the AAM 10. 5 comes up as an option now in the 2500 series. Does anyone have any more info on the matter? Thanks



BTW the limitled slip in the current 11. 5 I have now is worthless... ... anyone know if it is any better in the lighter duty 10. 5?

 

[Yo Hoot]

Bet it's a mistake. . or doesn't address the diesel option.

 

[ACF]

No more 11.5 for 05 in 2500

I hope it is a mistake myself, but it does include the Cummins option. When you click the Cummins as an engine option it is the only axle choice that you have.

 

[Eric_77]

I bet they are making a bigger distinction between the 2500 and the 3500 SRW so have dropped the 11. 5 from the 2500 options.

 

[1Tufdsl]

I saw that on Dodge's website as well but it's a mistake like Yo Hoot said. I saw several '05 2500's on the dealers lot the other day with 11. 5's.

 

[ACF]

1Tufdsl I hope you are right as the 11. 5 is a beast! Now if only they would put a limited slip worth a nickle in it. I was in the woods the other day and on the slickest of mud the rear was acting as if it was open. Reminded me of the old Track-Lock I had in a 88 Wrangler... ... junk. Anyone have any input?

 

[nickleinonen]

my LSD works well i think. not quite as good as the G80 eaton unit in my pop's silverado, but pretty well. .



neat looking diff though if you look at the pictures in the service manual... no real spider gear set in there. just 6 pinions and 6 brake/clutches... [3 per side]

 

[Yo Hoot]

my LSD works well i think. not quite as good as the G80 eaton unit in my pop's silverado, but pretty well. .



neat looking diff though if you look at the pictures in the service manual... no real spider gear set in there. just 6 pinions and 6 brake/clutches... [3 per side]

No clutches..... all gears. Torsen design.

 

[ACF]

I was never a fan of the Torsen design. . (have seen them for years on Hummers/4wheelers)..... they last longer than clutch packs true but never really work that well. GM's is good... . but violent when it engages. I love ARB's and have them in my other rig... . the big Ram however hardly ever goes off-road and it would be a wast of $$ to install ARB's in it. Besides they have none for AAM's yet... ... correct me if I am wrong. Just wish they had put a better limited slip in such a great rear end.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Maybe the 6 speed 2500s still have the 11. 5??? Remember how the Dana 70 was used on automatic 2500s in 1994-02 but manual trans Rams had the Dana 80.

 

[rbattelle]

No clutches..... all gears. Torsen design.

With all due respect, both you and Nick are correct. It is basically a Torsen design, but there are pinion brake shoes. Okay, they're not called "clutches", but they are friction surfaces. It's impossible to have a "limited slip" differential without either clutches or these brake shoes (you can't build a mechanism that allows two shafts to be bound together with slip that doesn't have friction, be it fluid or mechanical). The helical side gears generate a force parallel to the axles. That causes them to push against the aforementioned brake shoes generating friction and binding the axles together. I've got an outstanding article at work about how it works, but I think it's an SAE paper so I can't post it here (copyrighting).



Please, if I've said anything wrong someone correct me. I mean absolutely no disrespect to anyone, and I'm not an expert in differential design.



-Ryan

 

[JCleary]

The bummer about Torsens is that they require some resistance on both tires to work properly. They are AWESOME for pavement-oriented racing, especially in high horsepower front wheel drives.



The problem occurs when one wheel slips too much. A few instances would be: Rally racing- lift a wheel and lose your forward drive. Parked with one wheel on ice- lose your forward drive. Extreme articulation- lose forward drive.



So basically, it functions well in most low traction situations, just not in extreme situations, where most people need them to work the most.



I have had Torsen diffs in my 1/8 scale nitro buggies, and they are the best thing since sliced bread.



With a normal open diff (center and front diff), you can limit slip by adding thicker diff lube, up to 100,000 wt. At that point it will give you great acceleration, but steering will be terrible. Run light oil, like a 3000 wt, and you have great steering, but weak acceleration.



The Torsen allows great steering with zero to low throttle, and locks up when given a good shot of power. Best of both worlds.



I think that is what they were aiming for with the AAM.

 

[av8r]

Eaton Gov-Loc

I was never a fan of the Eaton locking diffs used by GM. They have a habit of exploding governs when used on ice or low friction surfaces. They act like an open diff until BANG the governor explodes often ruining the gears and bearings. :{ Especially prevalent on the larger 10. 5 14-bolt. Much happier with a Detroit locker in a 14-bolt GM.



I've been super happy with my Loc-Rite in the Dana 70/80 hybrid in my '94. Very similar design to the Detroit. Replaces the spiders in the open carrier.

 

[LesStallings]

I've read that slightly applying the parking brake will lock the slipping wheel and shift the power to the one with traction.



TRUE??