Employee Benefit Plans Defined Contribution Plans (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Salaried Savings Plan [Member]
Defined contribution plans, maximum company match, salaried voluntary savings plan	50.00%
Defined contribution plans, ARC, maximum employee contribution percentage	10.00%
Defined contribution plans, salaried voluntary savings plan, matching contributions during the period	$ 4.6	$ 3.9	$ 3.9
Annual Retirement Contribution (ARC) [Member]
Defined contribution plans, ARC, maximum employee contribution percentage	5.00%	5.00%
Defined contribution plan, employer matching contribution, percent	3.00%
Defined contribution plans, ARC, contributions made during period	$ 5.3	$ 4.9	4.6
Defined contribution plans, ARC, hourly associates, contributions made during period	$ 2.5	2.6	1.9
Hourly Voluntary Savings Plan [Member]
Defined contribution plans, ARC, maximum employee contribution percentage	6.00%
Defined contribution plan, maximum annual contribution per employee, amount	25.00%
Defined contribution plans, hourly voluntary savings plan, matching contributions during the period	$ 0.1	$ 0.1	$ 0.1

- Definition

Represents the total amount of contributions made by AAM during the period associated with the Annual Retirement Contribution (ARC).

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axl_DefinedContributionPlansArcContributionsMadeDuringPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	axl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the total amount of contributions made by AAM during the period to retirement accounts of hourly employees associated with the Annual Retirement Contribution (ARC).

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axl_DefinedContributionPlansArcHourlyAssociatesContributionsMadeToDuringPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	axl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the total amount of matching contributions made by AAM during the period associated with the Hourly Voluntary Savings Plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axl_DefinedContributionPlansHourlyVoluntarySavingsPlanMatchingContributionsDuringPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	axl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the maximum percentage match by AAM of the contributions of hourly associates to the voluntary savings plan, a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axl_DefinedContributionPlansMaximumCompanyMatchHourlyVoluntarySavingsPlan
Namespace Prefix:	axl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the maximum percentage match by AAM of the contributions of a salaried associate to the voluntary savings plan, a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axl_DefinedContributionPlansMaximumCompanyMatchSalariedVoluntarySavingsPlan
Namespace Prefix:	axl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the total amount of matching contributions made by AAM during the period associated with the Salaried Voluntary Savings Plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	axl_DefinedContributionPlansSalariedVoluntarySavingsPlanMatchingContributionsDuringPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	axl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of employees' gross pay for which the employer contributes a matching contribution to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanEmployerMatchingContributionPercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum percentage of employee gross pay the employee may contribute to a defined contribution plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanMaximumAnnualContributionsPerEmployeePercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanTypeAxis=axl_SalariedSavingsPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanTypeAxis=axl_AnnualRetirementContributionArcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DefinedContributionPlanTypeAxis=axl_HourlyVoluntarySavingsPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: