When was the switch made? Any reliability/performance issues with the AMM? Are there any lockers available for the AMM?

Thanks,

Joe

 

03 was the switch. There were a couple of posts early about a problem here or there, but otherwise they seem to be fine.

Probably best to follow the no towing first 500, towing under 50 for next 500 thing.

As far as lockers, I think there are a couple of options out there, but I don't have a link. Maybe someone else will chime in.

 

AAM has had more than there share of problems with the 11.5 rearends with 3.73 gears.I had the complete axle assy replaced in my late 03 6 speed after 1 attempt to rebuild failed. The axle now has some slight roaring of the R&P gears at 35K miles, only not as bad as the first unit. I previously owned a 99 2500 with the Dana and feel that it was a much better unit. Do a search you'll find plenty to read. Don't mean to scare you but Dodge will do anything to save a buck at your expense.There have been several post here recently due to failures, with pictures.

 

The DANAS got to be a real headache.Lots of failures.D.C.had SEVERAL chats with Dana and several if its not corrected WE(D.C.)will go with another vendor.Dana said their work force had lots of retirement happening's and the NEW employees were causing a quality problem.This went on for about 36 months.Things did NOT get better and so now you have AAM.At dealer level we saw LOTS of Dana problems.

 

ah see i always thought chrysler was mad at dana for all their grand cherokee CHRYSLER SPEC'D aluminum dana 44 problems. they were getting many "loudness" complaints in the second gen grand. Some were defects because they were aluminum centersections ( not so sturdy), others were complained about because they had quieted everything else down and the NVH travled easily through the unibody cabin.

 

There was a lot more then a noise traveling through.More like one after another just plain roaring and specs from one end of the spectrum to the other.Some of the 2500/3500 stuff also.Some days we had 5 plus a day to overhaul or replace.Day in day out.Out of 35 or so techs 20 plus did axel repair weekly.Dana even tried suppling us with factory remans.They wern't any good eaither.We had complete assemblys stacked ceiling high in the parts dept.

 

I have seen lots of 70's blow up, but the 80's seemed to hold together pretty good. The Grand Cherokees were just a disaster.

 

The AAM 11.5's are tough.

 

I've had both. No problems with either. But why is the service interval on the AAM so short?

 

I can't believe how often they want it serviced- and with synthetic,yet. Just gives them the ability to deny a warranty claim, if all the servicing hasn't been done.

 

My truck has the AAM 11.5 in it. Fromt he factory it had a little howl on decell around 40mph. Inside the axle the diffo uses side bearing adjusters instead of shims ot locate the diffo in the housing and adjust the wear pattern on the gear. After about 5000 miles I opened her up and adjusted the diffo to decrease the freeplay a little bit and ever since shes been real quiet.

Today I was dropping the fluid again to switch to 75-90 instead of 85-140 in both diffs. I noticed that my rear diffo cover had some dents in it from the inside out . About ten thousand miles ago I had heard a strange sound for a few seconds at hwy speeds. It made the sound twice and never again. I never gave it much thought until today. It turns out that I lost the locking clip and 8mm bolt that holds it to the diffo cap on one side.

The amazing part is that it got chewed up by the rear diff and is completely gone with the remains attached to the magnet. I'm sure I've shortened the live of my diff but it looked perfect inside. I sealed her back up and filled it up Its nice and quiet still and I beat on my truck pretty hard.

 

The 15000 mile fluid change is a hold over from the Dana axles. Dodge probably makes enough money off what they charge to cover any problems that happen.

 

not to get off topic here, but can any one tell me if the axle u joints are the same from the dana's as the aam axles????
i have an 03 with the AAM axles, and the front u joints are shot in the front axles, and i can't seem to find the part numbers for my u joints.
i just figured that they were pretty close in size, maybe they are the same u joint????
so far i have had good luck with my AAM's, no noise , and one front leaky axles seal, thats about it.
i have seen Dana's leaky well before the mileage i have.

 

Rear driveshaft 2 Piece precision (takes 3) Precision #351
Front driveshaft Cardan H joint (takes 2) Precision #232
Front driveshaft @ front axle (takes 1) Precision #235
Front Axle U joints LEFT AND RIGHT (takes 2) #464

All the U Joints listed above are PRECISION brand and are GREASABLE!!

Precision can be had at your local NAPA auto parts or online at napaautoparts.com or rockauto.com (ROCK AUTO IS WAY CHEAPER!)

THE NUMBERS LISTED ABOVE ARE FOR A 6 SPEED. YOU CAN GO TO ROCK AUTO AND THEY HAVE THE NUMBERS LISTED FOR THE AUTO's THEY ARE ONE SIZE SMALLER!

You can buy all the U joints for your truck for about $150 total!!!

 

AAM 11.5 IS USED IN THE 2500-3500 SERIES DODGE AND CHEVY TRUCKS SAME AXLES HOUSING. 200K WITH A FEW PROBLEMS NOTHING MAJOR. THE PICS I POSTED ASKING ?s ABOUT THE CARRIER, AAM SAYS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THAT. THE NEW ONE SETTING ON MY FLOOR LOOKS LIKE THE PICS I POSTED.