DIY Replacing Driveshaft Center Bearing

I would never reuse any torque and twist in any engine. I have reused in certain other areas that have no stress loading. But hey i play it safe and ARP when I can.

 

This is way better than what I did.

I can see both sides of that coin. If something truly changes and it isn't safe to remove and reuse, it's cheap enough to replace. On the other hand, it's a nut and showed no visible signs of wear or compression. If I'd have known that it was considered a single use part, I probably would have ordered a new one. However, I have no concern about it being reused.

 

Yeah the Yoke was a B**ch to get off. I didn't have a puller, so I used a hammer and a piece of a 2x4 smack one side then the other back and forth for about 50 smacks lol. I reused my nut. It wasn't staked when I took it off so I didn't bother to restake it.

 

The nut is listed as one time use because it is hammered and deformed onto a flat as a locking method as shown earlier in the thread. It could certainly be reused, but for $2 or less, is it worth it if you have time to buy the parts in advance? It's not a Toyota conspiracy to get you to spend $2.

Torque to yield (TTY) bolts should not be reused. Period. They are torqued to a high enough value where the bolt has plastically (permanently) yielded/stretched. Hence the name, TTY. Standard/typical/reusable bolts are torqued only into the elastic zone, like a spring, so they can be safely reused. TTY fasteners are used in some critical applications because they allow for a higher clamping force from the same size fastener than a reusable fastener- TTY is tightened more so the clamping force is higher. It's not some engineering conspiracy to get you to buy new bolts, it's done for a reason: increased clamping force. Reusing a TTY bolt is like reusing a head gasket.

 

I have known what a TTY bolt is for years. I have gotten into a debate over these things with the GM cult that is the muscle car league ad nauseum, I am not going to do it here again. Reusing a a "TTY" bolt does not make me lose sleep at night nor will it ever. I don't care what application it is being used on.

Now I didn't realize the nut was hammered at one end because its been so long that I had that stuff done. If I have the replacement nut right there for the ones which have been hammered on one end with a chisel or whatever, I will replace it. If I do not, I will reuse the old one. It just depends on the circumstances and availability of the replacement item.

 

What is the going rate to replace the CB and U joints at the dealer and/or other places that you guys have seen?

I don’t mind wrenching on my truck and have done plenty of that but I am to the point my time for this one is more valuable and I might have a heart attack if I replace it all and get going down the road and things aren’t angled right etc. heck I read in here that the single shaft Tom woods are $500 or so? Idk anything about those and how well they work but my time alone to do this that isn’t too bad as I assume the dealer would charge more just to replace the CB which will prob fail again in the future.

I don’t have any vibes at all....but a squeal when going down the road once I get to around 25mph and I think I have narrowed it down to this.

 

Well I paid $400 CAD just for the U joints. I have heard dealer wants approx. $250 for a CB and I would figure an extra half hour labor to install. So for U Joints and CB I would figure $700 CAD (closer to $500 USD) If you are mechanically oriented and can follow along with a youtube video you can get the parts yourself from RockAuto for less than $150. Most dealers here charge $100/hour for labor and a mark up on parts so you pay thru the nose.

 

@Darkgoatracer

 

https://www.drivetrainamerica.com
Good prices and fast shipping last time I dealt with them. Off the top of my head I wanna say it was $40 for a rear U-joint and $80 for a CB.

 

Thanks. I bought all the parts (maybe $135) and a driveline specialist shop said they would do the labor for around $182 so I'll just let them do this so I can focus on making $

 

THANKS OP!! I'm at 108k miles and looks like this is what ill have to change- getting vibration and buzz at 30mph and 40mps. its quite shaky too when I moved it around... This tutorial will help tremendously thank you

 

I just did this, a few tips... OP makes it look easier than it really is... spend a half hour reading all the tips and comments after his post. An impact wrench is indispensable. Drive line nuts and the slip yoke nut take a lot of leverage to undo. Using a 3 jaw puller to get the slip joint off is hard, I used a two jaw puller and a block. Buy a new nut for the slip yoke, that part is meant to be replaced every time you take off the slip yoke. Be careful hammering the slip yoke back on. Without an impact wrench, I couldn’t quite get it seated deep enough and used a hammer and aluminum block to try to get it to seat further. And cracked the slip yoke eyelet and had to order a new one .

 

thats fine and dandy, but try to keep that look in the rust belt... there is no way you live close to salt....

 

Driveshafts are rather large, cumbersome, and heavy things so I can't say this was my favorite job.

I did all three u joints (Spicer greasable joints from rock auto), and the carrier bearing (also Spicer and also from rock auto). This has mostly (almost entirely) cured my vibrations. I can't say it rides like a Cadillac now but I can say it rides like a ten year old Tacoma. Anyone not specifically feeling for vibes probably wouldn't notice or remark anything at all.

I plan on trying out some tire balancing beads to see if they can get me to fully perfect, but I see mixed reviews on those so we'll see. If they don't work I'm honestly content with what I have now.

My thoughts on the repairs:
Get some kind of press, I used the free loaner ball joint tool from my flaps (friendly local auto parts store). This is far easier than using my bench vice or hammers (and easier on the parts).
Do all the joints on the rear shaft and carrier bearing at the same time, might as well with the driveshaft out anyway

I started by just replacing only the carrier bearing and while doing so discovered one of the u joints was bad and ended up having to order the u joints and basically do things twice, which was really dumb on my part.

I reused the magic single use only nut... Twice. The first time I just re-peened it. The second time I used a screw driver to un-peen it over and used red lock tight on the final torque down plus re-peening it. I am perfectly okay with that but ymmv. If I had read this thread before ordering the parts I probably would have ordered the magic nut when I ordered the other parts but I'm not too broken up over it.

The first time when replacing only the carrier bearing I used one from the flaps and the Spicer one is far superior in quality and ease of installation, I recommend it. It was a bit cheaper shipped than the one from the flaps too.

Best to all!

 

I just bought all Spicer u joints and center Bering, took it to a good driveline shop and had them do it. $190 and they even checked and balanced my drive shaft. I like working on my truck, but after reading this and not really having all the right tools I decided $190 was more than worth it.

 

Replaced my center bearing for the third time. 2nd once was a Dorman; 3rd one was a APDTY; both were about $30 and they lasted 5 years and 60K miles collectively. They are piece of crap low quality CB's. Should have got a Spicer the 2nd time; it would probably still be in there. Went with Spicer # 5002334 for my 4X4 DCLB; on Amazon for $57. It's the non-4X4 part # because the bearing does not have a dust shield, which is Spicer # 5002007 - those are pricier and harder to find. But the -334 bearing came packed with a thick grease in place of the dust shield; this should do the job of a dust shield pretty well, I hope. Only replaced the U-joint at the center as the ends have Spicer's and are still in good shape at 60K miles; they should go another 60K easy. The center was replaced with OReilly #254 - that replaced a Moog #254, which is in good shape with only 30K, and I will keep it as a backup. These 254's are non-greasable which is what I prefer; they match the non-greaseable Spicers at the ends, #

$28 5-1330X U-Joint Kit 1330/SPL25 Series (OSR)

5-1330X. I figure I'll replace all the u-joints in about 5-6 years when the center bearing needs replacing again. Removing the yoke and bearing from the rear shaft was easy with my Harbor Freight bearing splitter and my shop press.

 

So what’s the difference between the -334 and -007 Spicer bearing? The way I understand it the -334 has a dust shield? Is that correct? I have an ‘07 DCLB 4x4.

 

I need to do this during the holiday weekend but it's just not going to happen.

 

Where ya at in "the deep south"?

I could probably stand to do mine again. Need to fix the source of the vibe before I destroy another center support bearing. That's one of my upcoming projects too.

Of note, the FSM calls for a new nut when you replace this bearing. Most, myself included, did not replace the nut. I probably will the next time around though.

 

South Alabama. I saw that about the nut should be replaced. I'm probably not going to though. Or I might since it's going to be a few weeks before I have an opportunity to do this job.