Carrier Bearing… Alternatives and Solutions

EDIT:
All interested in a group buy for the Inland Empire Driveline Service Bearing!!!

I have created a feeler thread for a group buy. The thread feeler portion will end on Monday by 8AM PST and will turn into a full on Group Buy once I have received a confirmation from IEDLS themselves on if they give me the green light for a discount or not. Put your name on the list if you are interested.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/feeler-iedls-polyurethane-carrier-bearing-group-buy.421410/

Original Post for thread

Okay so my carrier bearing is exhibiting excessive up and down play, it's not bad enough to feel when I am driving though I am sure I have become accustomed to it, but I have always been able to feel it on take off. At first I thought it was torque converter shudder but after doing a full transmission flush today and finding what I found about the bearing I am pretty sure it is time for a replacement part.

As far as replacement options are concerned I have found several different routes I could go..

-OE but given how I drive and how long It has been bad I don't want to deal with any issues on my replacement bearing

-Timken/ SKF, I could go this route but I heard they were weaker than stock and again based on how I wheel I would ruin these replacements quickly.

-The relatively well known "Wookie strength mod" carrier bearing replacement from McMaster Carr, but I have heard while these are very well built, they tend to exhibit horrible vibrations unless your driveline angles are spot on and even then they have the potential to vibe at 80-85+ mph

http://www.mcmaster.com/#2722t25/=ox5yjh





- A Polyurethane carrier bearing replacement From IEDLS (Inland Empire Driveline Service) off a Ford Ranger with a ID of 1.1810"

PN: 211590-1XS

http://www.iedls.com/Center-Support-Bearings/Pickup-Trucks.asp

^^ This option seems to be the most viable to be tough enough to handle my wheeling, yet be forgiving enough for a street duty DD truck like mine is more often than not. It's supposed to require no mods to the driveline to fit.

I had to search for a bit to find this option, but I'm glad I did. I was going to settle for the wookie strength CB, but now that I found this option I'll be much happier.. I'll be picking up one of these soon as an FYI.

pictures of it installed (not mine):







So now you know. If you are having issues with your carrier bearing wobbling all over the place and causing horrible vibes at take off or during driving because it is that trashed, here are all your options. From rubber, to Polyurethane, to solid.

 

I believe you also need to reinforce the carrier bearing mount if you got the McMaster Carr route

 

This is also good to know. Which is even worse because then it does indeed involve modding stuff to make it all work.

 

That Mcmaster unit is a pillow block w/grease fitting. There's no give to that unit. Not sure it's a good idea to use in a drive shaft application.

 

Being that it is solid it literally transfers EVERYTHING back to you. A good thing for heavy duty wheeler's but a bad thing for weekend warrior's, daily driver's, and everything in between other than the latter. Which is the reason why for most people I am actually going to suggest the polyurethane carrier bearing replacement. Way better than stock, but will still not transfer over vibes.

 

The polyurethane CB looks promising

 

Doesnt look as solid as stock like front to back motions might bend it

 

It shouldn't be an issue, remember, more rubber is required to perform the same task that polyurethane can do with less of it.

 

Ordered the polyurethane carrier bearing from IEDLS. It should be in Monday. I'll most likely put it in that day also, so you guys will hear back from me by then about the results. I'm excited!

 

Great post, thanks for the information!

 

Does a bad or going bad Carrier Bearing show it's ugly head when taking off from a dead stop aggressively by making a "grinding" sound for about a second? If I try to take off too quickly, it sounds like the drive shaft or something binds for a second. Not sure if my heavier wheels are making it worse.
Looking forward to seeing your results.

 

You know that is a tough one. Do you have a lot of driveline vibes going on? Because if you do that could be due to a bad angle which has caused excessive stress on your bearing which is causing it to grind on take off.

How many miles do you have on it?

Mine feels like it binds when I take off too, but upon inspection of it (I inspected it just because) I found there was a lot of up and down play, which is causing that "binding feeling." Really it's just bouncing. It sounds like yours needs replacing regardless.

 

I don't really feel any driveline vibes. Just that stupid grind at harsh take offs. Truck just turned 90,000. Needless to say, I don't try to gun it from a full stop.

 

It's most likely bad. Get under there and try to move the shaft up and down close to the bearing. If you se excessive movement that is your cue to replace it. The bearing itself is a little more difficult to determine if it is bad unless you have someone else to help you out. Even then, you may need to have the driveshaft loaded with resistance from the tires contacting the road in order to see it bad.

If you have a GoPro, you could determine if it is bad very quickly.

 

If you need some dimensions to work with when trying to mount that up, refer to part 5002007 on page 10 in this Dana PDF. This is the exact unit that comes on the driveshaft when Toyota gets it from Dana Spicer.

http://www2.dana.com/pdf/J300-P9A.pdf

Fwiw if it doesn't work out and you want another OEM bearing, ask a driveshaft shop for that Dana part number and it should be under $100. I paid $79.

Just out of curiosity, did you measure your driveline angles? If they're off, the u-joints will fail to cancel out and will cause oscillation that the carrier bearing rubber is forced to absorb.

 

I'm starting to hear a rubbing sound accompanied by some vibration when hitting the gas in reverse. I wonder if this is my carrier bearing?

 

The ford currior / early ranger cb is going to be my route down the road.

I did fill the stock cb with a bunch of silicone (permatex ultra black) but there is still a good amount of wiggle in the cb.

That stated any of these options YOU CAN NOT USE ON A PRERUNNER. This is because there is no slip joint after the cb on them like the 4x4 so the driveshaft has to be able to move back n forth a good inch or so through the CB

 

interested to see how this goes...