Rebuilt driveshaft doesn't need to be $$$

This is to help all those folks that let their squeaky u-joints and saggy midship bearing's driveline vibes ruin their day for months on end until the driveshaft falls off.

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I posted a while back that my midship bearing was sagging in the rubber cushion pretty badly just like 90% of the other Tacomas out there. I was going to have it re-done this summer but a ball of ice on the driveshaft a couple weeks ago accelerated things a bit so I couldn't put it off any longer. The rubber was almost totally collapsed and it was a miracle the shaft wasn't rubbing on the steel bearing support.

As we all know, Toyota is very proud of any parts they put behind the counter and their MSRP shows it. Good for them; that's free market, so if there's demand and they can make their profits, then so be it. But this is TW and we find ways around that

For the record, my truck is a 2007 AC 4x4, 2.7L 5 speed. Most if not all OEM 2nd gen PreRunners and 4WD driveshafts *should* use these parts, but be sure to double-check. We'll get to that later.

First things first: the midship bearing, also called center bearing, center support bearing, or carrier bearing. Dana/Spicer call it the midship bearing so I will too for consistency.

According to trdparts4u (Toyota of Dallas), Toyota lists the MSRP of the midship bearing at $210.35. My dealer wanted $230+. Online it's considerably less but still well over $100.

To cut out the middleman so to speak, look at who built the driveshaft:



It's a two-piece Spicer shaft, built for Toyota, balanced as one unit. That means the midship bearing MUST be on the shaft before the factory ever sees it. Write down the Spicer Part number on your driveshaft before you pick up the phone (in my case, 5002382-1).

For the next step, find your local Spicer retailer with this tool:
http://www2.dana.com/expert/wc.dll?hvtss~spicerparts~locatea_ld

If you have a driveline shop close that carries this stuff, all you may have to do is pull the shaft off and give it to them for a couple hours, after calling first to confirm part availability and set up a time, of course. They will probably want that Spicer part number off your shaft sticker so they can verify 100% they're getting you the right stuff.

I found a shop about 30 miles away and they were able to order the Spicer midship bearing for my shaft for a mere $74 plus $5 freight. This is the OEM bearing. The driveline shop that ordered it told me they were surprised it was shipped to them in a Toyota bag. It is Dana part number 5002007, listed on page 3 and page 10 in their PDF here:
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/J300-P9A.pdf

Comparison of the new vs old:




As for the u-joints, the dealer wants anywhere from $70-90 EACH for the greasable ones. Now that's a Ferengi markup if I've ever seen one.

Back to Dana/Spicer. Refer to their PDF here:
http://www2.dana.com/pdf/J3261-4-DAG.pdf

6-lug trucks should be the 1330/SPL25 series joints. That means 5-213X (center zerk), 5-812X (zerk in cap, OE kit), and 5-1330-1X (zerk in cap, replaces OE kit) should fit. There's also a non-greaseable "life" type on there too if you want that. I had the 5-213X joints put in because they had them on the shelf; they were about $15 each. If they don't last as long, next time I'll use the zerk-in-cap OE replacement joints, which would be roughly $25/each.



So for less than $200, I got my driveshaft completely rebuilt, including rebalancing, painting, and re-greasing the slip yoke, and you should be able to as well. The only labor involved after marking your flanges is breaking free the propeller shaft bolts that Bjorn at the factory muscled on there, and bolting it up after it's done.

 

sub'd
great post; thx!

 

nice. Thanks for sharing

 

Thanks for the info.

 

awesome! subd

 

Subd also

 

kool

 

subd..gonna check mine this weekend

 

$74 for an OEM Toyota ?? If this is the case they owe me $126.00 plus tax...

Please understand I'm having problem with that low number, & your reference to a midship bearing is the first I've heard it referred as such

Always called center bearing/center support bearing/carrier bearing in shops I've dealt with, if Dana -Spicer wants to call it that , fine, i just stick to what the masses in the industry call them, also curious as to how they can balance a shaft with a cardan in between the main & intermediate shafts...

 

good post tho'....

 

Oh i agree always good to have spares, its the bearing price that bugs me, hate to think Toyota screwed me that bad ....

 

Excellent work, Iroh. sub'd

 

Theres so much fail there Ding haha, they cost a shitload, theres a few here that actually have bought the OEM 's arent they like $800 -$900 a set ??

 

Those bastards, yep probably true...

 

Toyota pricing. Just like they want $2200 for a Delphi AC compressor ($362 on rockauto), or $1200 for an air injection pump (nearly identical pumps on GM vehicles can be had for around $150), or $85 for a 64mm wrench for the cartridge oil filter ($14 on Amazon), or $23000 for a longblock 3UR-FE (not a typo!) or $11700 for the longblock Taco four cylinder.

As for the last part, I'm not sure how that works either. Sticker says "SYSTEM BALANCED DRIVESHAFT. DO NOT REPLACE THIS SHAFT WITHOUT BALANCING MATING SHAFT." However they do it, whether separately then assembled or together, Dana likely won't ship the front and rear shafts separately.

 

Whats worse is that Toyota buys thousands of these and I bet they only pay $50 from Dana maybe LESS!

Toyota, John Deere, GM, Honda, Caterpillar or any of the like love to sell parts because they have huge margins.

 

Good find.
As for OEM springs. Heres a quote a local guy got earlier this week.

 

Midship is a common name but so is carrier bearing. Neither is more correct than the other.

 

I was always told that carrier bearing better refers to the ones on the carrier in the third.

Truth be told I still refer to it as the carrier bearing most of the time . I included that part not to instigate an argument but instead to incorporate more names people may use in their search on the subject. I think I'll revise it. (Edit:done.)

As for the springs, wow that would be an incredible waste of $1400

 

And up in Canada , they call it the hanger bearing

Great write up by the way . Goes to show that these vehicles still have more North American built parts than Ford , Chev and Dodge combined .
That,s a proven fact .
I have added your post to the shift kit page ....Thanks
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...hift-kit-shift-recalibration-kit-2nd-gen.html