Slop in Needle Bearing?

Hi all,
2010 Access Cab
I was under my truck this evening tightening my cam bolts on the LCA's and I bumped into the CV axle on the driver side and noticed a fair amount of play. I know I read on here somewhere that on the driver side there is some extra play vs the pass side due to the needle bearing. I have been having a pulsating vibration that can be felt in the pedals and floorboard at 40mph and 60-70ish but the noise never went away in 4WD. I do have a 1" lift up front from the 3rd gen suspension swap. Is this too much play or is this normal for the driver side. I am not worried about the in and out but the up and down sloppiness. It seems like a little more than others I have seen. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

https://youtu.be/I_55QLg3xP0

 

More than mine but I got ECGS bushings and you got a 12 YO truck. I swapped mine because the seal was beginning to leak. If it bothers you and you got the time, money and technical skills, do it. Otherwise watch it and continue as you are.

 

Looks about like mine before I did the bushing.
https://youtu.be/4MMt-AB0fvE

I literally just posted this over on the 3rd Gen section too.
More details there.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/driver-side-cv-axle-excessive-play.777942/#post-27812233

 

thanks, forgot to add the mileage(46,000) but yeah it still is 12 years old...

 

Yeah they do look similar. I facepalmed after I posted this thread because once I returned to the home page I refreshed and saw that thread

 

More than likely (99.9%) the sound is coming from your hub bearings if it does not go away in 4wd. The Needle bearing sound goes away in 4x4. Hub bearing noise will sound like a consistent slow vibration and is felt exactly how you describe it "pulsating vibration that can be felt in the pedals and floorboard at 40mph and 60-70ish." Even if you have minimal movement in your wheels when checking the play, the bearing are still most certainly bad. I wish I would have done mine 30,000 miles ago. These trucks eat hub bearing with any type of offset. I just did mine using this solution and highly recommend. very easy install. Moving forward, I will do these every 30,000 miles as the ride is like brand new:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-press-service-4x4-6-lug-2wd.537080/

 

I wouldn't worry about the axle. If it was flopping up and down more than normal, the first thing to go would be the seal. It's super clean and dry in that area. ecgs bushing has value but don't expect it to be tighter.

Your noise is probably a bad wheel bearing in the front. Try this old school trick that works..

-Lift the front wheels off the ground, spin each wheel while holding the knuckle. Any roughness felt through the knuckle is a bad wheel bearing. It should be quiet and smooth. Compare side to side. If one side is quiet and the other side is "louder", the loud side is the bad bearing.

Remember putting a skateboard on your lap and replacing the bearings in the wheels? The old ones are loud and rough, the new ones are smooth. It's kinda like that, a car wheel bearing is just a big skateboard bearing

 

Thanks all!

 

ECGS bushing has about the same amount of play.

 

I put the ECGS bushing and new axle seals in when I did new NAPA CVs and it took most of the play out of that drivers side vs old needle bearing.
Smoother at speed also (steering wheel vibration). Already had done the wheel bearings. 180k mileage.

 

If I could put Bones Swiss in the Taco…