Carrier Bearing (bad design?)

[o_mccarroll]

I had the carrier bearing blow up on my rear driveshaft two weeks ago. Just got it back today from the dealership (why it took two weeks to fix I don't know, and that's a whole other story ) Anyway, the service manager told me that the angle on the driveshaft at that bearing was too extreme and the carrier needed to be dropped. The truck is not lifted, just 4x4 and with the camper package. It took a while to convince him that the rear suspension is stock. (And he's wrenching on my truck???) He said he can understand how the bearing would give out at that angle and doesn't understand why Dodge would design it that way.



Anybody else heard about this or had problems with this? I'm a little concerned that this may be a problem.



Otis

 

[Cobra]

carrier bearing

My truck 01. 5 ram 2500 has a shudder in 2nd gear. I took it to the dealer and the mechanic said it was the drive shaft shuddering because of the angle. He said it wouldn't hurt anything. Earlier posts on this net have mentioned the carrier bearing, and the drive shaft angle.

 

[GTop]

On my 2001 my carrier bearing was totally destroyed at 8,000 miles. After they replaced the carrier bearing I had to take the truck back two times due to the rear seal at the transfer case leaking.

 

[Dane]

Otis,

I've had trouble with carrier bearings on other trucks ( 1985 Suburbon, 1965 LB Chevy PU)



I don't think it's a Dodge specific problem, rather a design problem in general. Many times what seems to be an out of balance wheel/tire is really a worn carrier bearing. Diagnosing a bad one is impossible short of just swapping in a new one, which may not fix the problem.



I went to a one piece drive shaft on my 65 Chevy and the truck ran smooth as silk. I never had problems with U joints, contrary to what some folks will say.



The main reason I ordered a regular cab Ram was to so I did not have a carrier bearing.



I you are spending out of pocket rather than warranty service, you'll save a bunch by taking the shaft out yourself and having a shop that specializes in drive lines do the replacment of the carrier bearing.