Carrier Bearing

[FTotts]

I know it has been hashed and re-hashed but I cant find what I am looking for. How do I know if my drive hsaft carrier bearing is bad? I have a hell of a vibration til about 45 mph then it goes away. I have a bad wheel joint on the left side but dont think it is causing all this. ? The vibration feels like I am funning on the corners of some tires with a real aggressive tread if you know what i mean. I know that a one piece drivehsaft is the answer but it is not in the cards right now.

Thanks

FredT

 

[Hoefler]

I would get the front axle joint fixed first, it will cause your vibration. On your rear drive, if you have 3 u-joints you have a carrier bearing in front of the middle u-joint.

 

[blacksheepdiesel]

The only way to know if the carrier bearing is bad is to remove the drive shaft and turn the bearing by hand. If in doubt, replace it. And while you have the shaft out also inspect all the u-joints. They typically become frozen instead of having play in them.

Godspeed,
Trent

 

[rscurtis]

Remove the rear DS and run the truck in gear, the bearing will make noise if it's bad. I think the consensus here is that the one piece DS is the way to go when the time comes. It also has larger u-joints than the original parts.

 

[04blackcherry]

I had to remove the driveline to find a bad u-joint. Shook like hell on coast down and went away once rolling again. Drove all the way home at 70mph. Get off the freeway and hang on, the worlds coming to an end. Frozen cap on the center joint. Some guys are taking temperature readings on the caps. They don't get much hotter than a good u-joint. Hard to tell that way.

 

[TimothyLong]

Ditto on what blacksheepdiesel said. If you have even the slightest doubt about the u-joints, replace them.