Carrier Bearing… Alternatives and Solutions

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I did forget to mention this. The options I listed other than stock and their respective aftermarket OE style replacements will work on 4X4 ONLY.

Good catch on that. It totally slipped my mind!

 

I did. My angles were fine. I am just especially hard on my truck during take offs (more so since I have a blower on it) and the way I like to off road causes it additional stress not usually seen by the stock unit.

It may be. You would have to get under the truck and check for up and down play.

 

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the problem with the stock CB is it is SO floppy due to the prerunner's lack of slip joint. This super floppy rubber makes it to where any angle at the center u joint makes the driveshaft oscillate due to the side load caused by the angle... problem is the proper way to go about canceling out the joints due to their stock phasing would be to have an almost zero angle out of the trans, then center and rear u joint at opposing and similar angles.

Another thing i have noticed is that the cross member that holds the CB is VERY flimsy. If i get off my ass today i am going to make a brace that ties it in to the cross member about a foot n a half towards the back of the truck as the CB cross member seems to flex forward and back by nature of the offset mounting position of the CB itself (cb is not mounted on the centerline of the cross member)

 

Could you MS paint a makeshift "brace" design that you are thinking of making to help strengthen it all?

 

yeah, plan is to make a quick brace this afternoon so i might do you one better than MS paint.

 

Hell yeah, if you could snap me some pics of what you plan on making so I have an idea of what I'll need to do that would be awesome.

The poly carrier bearing goes in no mods needed, but I am by no means opposed to adding some additional bracing in there to make sure there is no movement horizontally nor laterally.

 

I think the ford ranger CB and some extra bracing would be ideal. Just got back from the hardware store with nuts n bolts n proper sized washers... lets see if my measurements were right.

I noticed while i was under there that my cb still has about 1/4in of easy play even though i filled the main rubber part is filled with RTV silicone making it much more solid. It seems like the actual bearing and the way it attaches to the rubber still allows it some play even if the rubber is stiffened up.

Anyways, off to drill some aluminum bar and mount this bitch up. (And take pics of course)

 

Alright i made a brace to connect the CB cross member to the one about a ft n a half behind it. Seems to of helped a bit with my take off vibes at about 5 mph. I will always have vibes with this setup though due the mentioned above 1/4in of play the actual bearing has in the mounting rubber itself.


I just used a 3/8ths x 1in flat bar and two bolts. Big fender washers were used to span the holes in the cross member, but the key was to find a thin proper sized washer to fit inside the hole to center the bolt. You can see my sandwich of washers below.



Holes were right around 19.5in apart.



Rear mount:


Front mount... there is plenty of clearance between the driveshaft and extra aluminum bar, i was just lazy and didnt feel like cutting excess off


Another angle.



Like i said it seems to of helped the bigger lumping vibrations around the 5-10mph mark i got when i lifted my truck (you can see washers spacing down the CB to try and combat this). In the quick jaunt around the block those vibrations under normal driving seem to be reduced some, which makes sense they were a bigger vibration caused by the actual flexing of the cross member back n forth.

My other vibes around the 25mph mark are higher frequency and are attributed to the 1/4in of play i have at the CB rubber.

 

Interesting. So all you did was tie into the front member and the rear member where the CB is located and just vertically tied them both together from what I can see in the pictures?

 

yes, i simply made it to where the top center of the cb cross member can not move forward or backward

to try and combat vibes like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGCJ_6iDOqg

I might do two more off the bolts of the CB to another spot out on the frame or tie it in back to the rearward cross member and see if that helps as well.

 

Just got The bearing yesterday. I will be installing it today.

 

Just replaced it and mounted it up. No more take off vibes. No more vibes period. It feels nice and solid! Pics soon.

 

Anxiously waiting

 

Here you go! Bolted right in. I did use some spare 1/8 plating up top to create a upper "casing" for the carrier bearing. Pretty easy to do, I love this mod!

 

So where to buy...how much...and part #? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

All part numbers, pricing, and where to buy is posted on the first post of this page.

 

Nice job, OP!

 

Yeah...dont know where my head was at. Sorry missed it.