Carrier Bearing maybe?

[JMichelson]

I have a vibration on acceleration. It is most noticeable in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd then it for the most part smooths out. It it only occurs when towing my 8500 lb trailer. Not towing it is barely noticeable. If I do get on it hard empty I can feel it a little. I did a visual check of the u-joints and the carrier bearing and can't really tell if anything is abnormal. Has anybody had a carrier bearing go bad and can describe the what it did. I don't want to just start bolting parts on until I have a better idea what I'm dealing with. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[B.G. Smith]

I have the 06 also but with auto transmission, mine has done it from day one when towing the travel trailer (around 14,000), only at take off and is worse if accelerating harder or up hill. I am at about 93,000 miles now. The bearing you are referencing is mounted in rubber, look at it and see if the rubber is broken or deteriated. bg

 

[cerberusiam]

The stock u-joints were good for about 70k if you towed, less if you used it hard. The center support bearing should go a bit longer but they are not a great item. Could be either\or those 2 items that are going away. The center support going band usually ended up feeling like a bounce in the truck when launching rather than a vibe, the vibrations always ended up being u-joints or harmonics in the DS. The solution is a 5" custom 1 piece DS, toss the flange and the AAM joints.

 

[Hoefler]

Most likely drive line shudder from the pinion angle changing when loaded.

 

[JMichelson]

Thanks for the information. I have visually checked everything and nothing seems amiss. As too the the pinion angle changing, this came on fairly sudden. One day it barely noticeable the next day it was definitely noticeable. What might cause the pinion angle situation to change that quickly. Again nothing seems amiss in a visual inspection of the the drive train. I would concur with B.G. Smith it is worse starting on a hill or under hard acceleration. I can live with the vibration / shudder if it is not headed for a failure of something.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[ranger 393]

I had a similar situation, my carrier was bad, when I dropped the drive haft out I found that the u joint at the Carrier was frozen solid in one direction and fine the other. I replaced both and symptoms went away.

 

[petersonj]

I did a visual check of the u-joints

There is a very effective way to check the u-joints on your truck to see if they are failing. Either the u-joint will feel sloppy because half of the needle bearings have fallen out, or the u-joint will feel tight (as it does normally) because the bearings have seized and have not fallen out.

Since you say that u-joints all feel normal, I am suspecting that one or more posts are seizing, so try this:

After the truck has been parked for several hours, take it for a short test drive. You don't have to go very far, nor do you have to get it up to highway speed. The purpose for the short test drive is that if a u-joint bearing is seizing, it will build heat rapidly and will not have a chance to conduct its heat to the surrounding drive train before you inspect the u-joint.

Immediately after the test drive inspect each post of each u-joint by using your fingers (carefully, as it may be very hot) to compare temperatures. Since you have a three u-joint driveshaft, you will be checking twelve posts. A normally operating u-joint post temperature for this test drive would cold to lukewarm. A seized one will be very hot. Be sure to do your inspection right away, as the longer the truck sets, the heat will spread to surrounding components, thus muddling the test results.

If there is no slop in all the u-joints and there is no temperature buildup during the test drive, then you should look elsewhere for the problem.

- John

 

[cerberusiam]

The driveline wrap is different from a vibe and won't last more than a few seconds on launch or hard shift. The carrier mount shot is different also, almost feels like a dead spot in acceleration and a bump when it happens. A vibration that last thru several gears and rpms is almost always a dry u-joint and they are hard to find visually. Examine each cup on the inside of yoke for black dust or grease around the seal, when you find something you can wipe off that joint is bad. The AAM joints are notorious for doing that and not showing visually or even working them by hand. They have to be under load to exhibit the symptoms. The grease they are using in them liquefies way to soon and the joint is junk.

Spicer joints use a much better grease and will last longer. Once the 2 piece DS's star having problems might as well just bite the bullet go to a 1 piece with better joints.

 

[p-Bar]

I'm at 168k and haven't even touched the driveline

 

[JMichelson]

Thanks for all the information. It was a bad rear u-joint. I finally got it up on jack stands and slowly turned the drive line and found inside cap that didn't look quite right. When I took the drive line out I could not move the u-joint, it had seized. I'm in the process of changing all three rear u-joints. All of them looked questionable. Thanks again for all of your help.
Jeff