How To: Replacing Carrier Bearing

I'm ready to change mine again, I always hear it

 

Should there be any play in the bearing? I can wiggle mine around...

 

Not in the bearing itself but the rubber around the bearing is soft and allows you to wiggle it. That movement was the cause of some of my vibration. The new ones still allow some movement but the rubber definitely allows more play with age.

 

For those of you with a worn out carrier, don't let it go too long. I did and paid over $330 to have it fixed. The rubber grommet on my bearing was worn out for so long, not only did I need that changed but I also needed my drive shaft straightened and rebalanced. Solved a lot of issues for me I assumed were the transmission.

 

so i too have vibrations at 60-70mph, got under my truck and grabbed the drive shaft, i can wiggle it so much that theres 1/4" gap between the bushing and the metal collar and then all the deflection in the bushing itself, for about a max of 1" movement.

I ordered a Timken CB, but then i got to thinking, if im pulling the drive shaft, should i go ahead and swap ujoints too? i have about 156k miles on the truck, and the previous owners likely did not grease them as it took a few pumps of my grease gun to fill the u joints up. If thats a wise idea, what brand U joints should i get? also what type of grease is best?

 

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ujoint

Great choices here. I used the zerk fitting style but a lot of people like the Spicer sealed joints, especially in bigger trucks/diesels.

 

Certainly not a bad idea to swap the ujoints while you're in there. I would go with Spicer ujoints, just like OEM. Make sure you mark the drive shaft to keep everything phased the way it was prior to the repair. I used a punch to mark the drive shaft and flanges so they all fit back together the same way.

 

changed mine just the other day and after I got new one put on and i was throwing old one out i found a small washer inside up against the inside race (hidden in the old grease). The driveshaft spins freely but i can hear it squeaking and it gets pretty hot. What side does that little washer go on?

 

???

 

i put those washers on the rear side of the bearing, no idea if its correct but i have no issues, i did mine last night. also did the front and rear u joints, vibration free now.

 

Toyota calls them "spacers", there are two. One on each side of the drive flange.
From the support bearing inner race rearward it goes...........race>spacer>drive flange>spacer>nut

 

Great write up OP

 

Ordered up a new bearing and nut today as I noticed a squeaking noise developed over the weekend. I don't have much play and no vibration issues, just a little noise. Would it be alright to hit the trails tonight with a little noise coming from underneath or should I wait until after replacing the bearing?

 

run it.

 

That's what I wanted to hear!

 

Just for the heck of it, grease all 3 fittings on the drive shaft "Double Cardan" joint just to the rear of the support bearing. The "center ball" in the DC can make a squeak identical to a failing SB.

 

I greased up the entire drive shaft last night in hopes that the squeak would go away. All ujoints looked fine and appeared to push grease out. When I gave the drive shaft a tug I noticed the squeak was coming from the center bearing. I couldn't visually find any issues with the bearing, but figured it hasn't ever been replaced so it would be something for me to try out.

 

Hahaa purrrrrrfectttt i was just about to give up looking for this answer ))))

 

Just changed mine today! Thanks for the great instructions!!!

 

A little info to impart. Timken HB31 and the National center support bearing that ironically shares the same part number are both made in or at least assembled in China, and though the bearing itself may be decent and made by a U.S. manufacturer (still doubt that) the rubber surrounding it is crap, feels too soft and I've heard a lot of people say it doesn't last. Unfortunately I've read the replacement oem ones don't last as long either.

I put a National one from oreilleys (they now sell Anchor) under my truck a few months ago, I plan to pull it and take it back before the year warranty is up to maximize my cost

I read one guy had an idea to drill a hole in the rubber and inject it with silicone, I'm thinking about doing this. The rubber is just a pillow or cushion and the bearing is inside. The silicone would need to dry thoroughly before being used though or it would likely squish out.

For those that have questions about acceptable movement in the bearing itself, it should be obvious in the fact if it's bad it will feel like the driveshaft has unimpeeded slop or it will jiggle, meaning the rubber cushion around the bearing is toast, usually the bearing itself inside the rubber lasts longer than the rubber bushing. When the assembly is still good you can push on the drive shaft but it will feel like the driveline is solidly surrounded, no jiggle so to speak.

For those who shim your center support bearing down, my experience is this helped kill my original bearing. It tilted the bearing in the rubber cushion and put added flex inside the housing as the driveshaft was tipped down to improve the angle at the double cardan joint. I left the spacer out and haven't had any vibes. As someone mentioned before, axle shims are the best way to relieve the angle at your pinion and take stress off the double cardan joint.

The last thing I'll offer is I tried to put it a Hendrix motorsports driveshaft support bearing on a custom welded mount I made out of steel c channel. It reuses the stock bearing from the center of the stock center support bearing, you have to tear it apart to get it out. The vibration almost shook me out of the truck at 40 mph, so unfortunately we're stuck with cheap options or paying $150 for oem which is the best option imo, other than going to a one piece drive shaft which I'm not interested in doing