Bad Center Carrier Bearing at 47k Miles??

I've been getting a ticking noise from the truck when driving, not when stopped, so i'm pretty sure it's something with the driveshaft and likely the center carrier bearing. I've only got 47k on the truck though isn't this a bit early to have that issue?

Anyone else chime in with premature center carrier bearing failures? I saw people complaining about them but couldnt find much on mileage people had at the time.

Thanks.

 

that sounds more like a bad U joint to me...why don't you jack up one end at a time and slowing rotate your driveshafts while checking for play

 

all the u-joints are tight as can be. lifted her up yesterday and messed with it.

 

so despite there being no play in the joint the front one was siezed. it had thrown a lot of grease around so it was of concern but i couldnt get it to replicate anything while i was under there. Good call on the u joint though! 47k seemed awfully soon for it to go... maybe the 3" lift made it more likely to fail. $250 to replace all three back there today...

 

how often have you been greasing them?

 

I didn't change my center bearing until 100k miles but hose sealed u-joints the PreRunners use are no good, you should get the Spicer replacement with zerks. Part #

$26 5-213X U-Joint Kit 1330 Series (OSR)

5-213X, FWIW Spicer is the OEM for the driveshaft and u-joints.

 

My 2012 Prerunner has zerk fittings in all the U Joints...

 

mine had zerks and i greased them at 30k. regreased the other day to see if it would solve the problem but it did nothing. the ujoint had a ton of grease thrown around undernearth the truck so it was busted. i'm having spicer's put in but i think the shop was recommending the sealed ones over the ones with zerks... thoughts?

 

I would go with Zerk Fittings and grease them every other oil change unless you do a lot of water running then I would grease them every oil change. Water will wash out the bearings over time.

 

30K is way too long between greasings. I grease mine every 5,000 miles. I have 82,000 hard miles on all original ujoints. Sealed ujoints are only better for people who would never grease them anyway.

 

U-joints cycle when the rotate, hence the clicking noise. The carrier bearing would probably sieze or squeal...

Having a degree in mechanical engineering comes in handy at times.

Howard

 

Yea the noise was coming from the carrier bearing is all, the noise was transmitting down from the front u joint that far. Also it wasn't easy to get under there and listen that well since no one was around to help.

Incidentally, i have a mechanical engineering degree.

Matt

I was just following the maintenance manual on that one. Didn't have any problems the first 30 and i'm not even 20k into my last set of greasings. Guess the Toyota manual was a bit optimistic. Since they're putting in sealed ones i guess it'll save me worrying about it... until they go again. The rear two were entirely fine but i replaced all 3 so hopefully should eliminate the problem for quite a while to come.