AAM only offers the GT or open differentials in 11.5.
I called and left a voicemail with the sales & marketing dept. and was called back today. He told me that they have tried to work with Dodge on the rear ends, but Dodge is not cooperating with the issue. He said that the GT with the Dodge setup is supposed to be a little better when you apply the e brake. He thought this was about ridiculous! If you're trying to get somewhere, applying brakes kind of defeats the purpose! This guy told me that Dodge is very hard to deal with. Several aftermarket suppliers have told me the same thing. DeeZee running boards offers quick brackets for Ford & Chevy. When I called and asked if they offer one for the Dodge, he told me that Dodge is nonresponsive in assisting them in manufacturing this bracket. We are limited in stock size tires we can buy, called BF Goodrich and they don't have the TA in the stock size, said there was not enough requests for it. ARB was supposed to have had an 11.5 air locker out this spring and via emails & phone conversations I have had this project is put on hold because Dodge is noncooperative.
For every aftermarket part you can buy for a Dodge, you can buy 10 for a Ford or Chevy. Don't get me wrong, I love the Dodge trucks. This is my 6th one. My point is, if you are looking for something for your truck, you have to call/email/call/email the manufacturer and let them know what you are looking for. And while you're at it, contact Dodge, because that will be my next email/call to let them know that they need to be a little more cooperative in working with suppliers. The list goes on, but I won't. Just let someone know.

 

Why does the aftermarket company need to work with dodge? Couldn't they just find their own Dodge and build off of that? Not trying to argue or start anything, I'm just curious. I've always wondered how companies come up with aftermarket products and such for trucks. Like the new Mustang. Not 6 months after it was released there were supercharger set ups, new suspensions, shifters, exhausts, intakes, brakes, everything.

 

I thought GM and Dodge use the same AAM 11.5" axles?? With the same gear lockers.

MikeyB

 

Let me start by saying that I own two Dodge trucks and one Dodge Ramcharger. So don't get all uppity when you read the rest of this post...

One thing the manufacturer of an aftermarket accessory will look for is any change to the vehicle made over the course of the production run. For instance, does a truck built in St. Louis have ANY difference to a truck built in Mexico. Is there ANY difference in a 2003 through 2006 truck, if so, what. And how many. Are there any odd-ball applications out there? Were any weird parts left over from the 2002 trucks used on the 2003's? Questions like that can be quickly answered by a vehicle manufacturer that actually CARES about their customers. So yes, it's always good to get vehicle manufacturer support when building any aftermarket accessory. Is it always necessary? No.

And there's a reason why you see 10 aftermarket products for every Ford and Chevy truck to the 1 or 2 for Dodge, consumer demand. In my business the Dodge owner is an oddity and in general dealing with Dodge owners can be a real pain in the ****. Not trying to rain on anyones parade, but some Dodge owners can really suck to do business with. Why? Because we know our trucks better. There's plenty of "crap" available for the 2500HD and F-250/F-350 that I'd NEVER install on my own truck, yet the Ford and GM customers buy it up like crazy. Manufacturers go where the money is and I can tell you that Dodge parts are a niche market. If you want to make money selling a gang load of accessories Dodge is pretty far down that list of vehicles to make parts for.

How do aftermarket companies build products for vehicles so fast? Easy, the manufacturer gives a company a pre-release vehicle for free (or a $1.00) and says build us a show vehicle. Take the Nissan Titan for instance... Nissan gave "us" three trucks before dealerships had them on the lot. They wanted some show trucks built that could be taken around the country to display at industry shows and for feature magazine articles. Other manufacturers attend industry only trade shows and take high resolution pictures (with a ruler or tape measure stretched out against the vehicle) to design parts. As an example, a company can create running boards for a vehicle they never have in their R&D facility from a few pictures. They will dimension it out on computer and build from there. The small tweaking that's necessary on the actual production vehicle can generally be done quite quickly.

With all of this said, designing a locker for this vehicle would not be terribly difficult. The center section should be the same on the Dodge as it is the GM (axle tube diameter is different) so one locker should be able to fit both vehicles. I've talked to a few differential manufacturers and none of them see a need for this type of device. That's where we come full circle... CONSUMER DEMAND. You are the consumer, pick up the phone, bang away on the keyboard, do whatever you can to DEMAND the product be built!

 

I espically don't see how Dodge could be holding up AAM from releasing a locker for an axle that AAM makes.

What possible bit of information could AAM be lacking that only Dodge could supply?

What he probably means is that they can't get Dodge to agree to offer it from the factory with a locker so the demand would warrant the effort. I would hope the aftermarket market would be large enough to support the effort though.

 

i dont want to rain on pzm123's post, but i have a fealing he's been atleast some what mis informed, atleast in the case of ARB. they are slated for production, there are prototypes out in the real world in use as we speek. the units for the aam axles are based off the unit for the old gm corprate 10.5" 14 bolt rear pt# rd114. ARB had been trying for almost 5 years to get that product to market. they have gon thru many desighn changes before final relese this last year at sema, the product was finaly publicly available last spring.
other manufacturers are gearing up as well, trachtech (mfg of detroit lockers and the trutrac) were bought out by eaton corperation this year causeing delays duriing the restructoure. calm down, get your pantys out of a bunch, and relax, product is coming.
aperently you have never poped a diff cover off your trck and seen the way its set up.. or have the technical understanding of whats involved in the development of a unit for this axle. Dana aplications were a pice of cake in comparison, there was no pinion suport to get in the way, the carrier didnt taper down dramaticly on one side. this made it ez to put the actuator on the passenger side and avoid the ring gear. cant do that in a AAM axle.

as far as product development, as a member of sema you gain access to much pre production information, specifications etc on new vehicals and otherwise... this is partly how some manufaturers produce product before vehical production even begins. and yes, availability etc has to do with market share. its a proven fact that ford and gm owners are willing to part with there cash more freely than dodge owners, there for accesory mfg's cator to them. and yes as it has been said before Dodge owners are typicly a completely diferent breed... and unfortunatly have a stigma of being a pain in the to work with at times. and yes every thing in my drive way curently was born from mother MOPAR.

just my 2 cents and ill get down off my soap box now..