Needle bearing bad?

I was running through the truck tightening all the suspension before death valley this weekend and found this. Is this the needle bearing that is bad? I haven't noticed any noise at all. The passenger side moves a tiny bit but not anything iike this.

https://youtu.be/nER_EAstEq4

 

Mine doesn't move like that. I was just in there a few days ago.

FYI. The bearing isn't referred to as ECGS. the company that makes the bushing to replace the bearing is East Coast Gear Supply (ECGS), and they are great - not bad

 

Yeah I changed the title to be more accurate. i knew that I just always call it that.

 

The driver side always has more play than the passenger side, mine seems even worse and they told me at the dealership in was normal, if you have no vibes or hear any noise you should be fine. As far as I know the only fix for this is the ECGS bushing, you might want to look into it.

 

just because it has play, doesnt mean it is bad. you can tell if you have the vibes that go away when you engage 4wd but other than that its poor to judge by just checking for movement.

eventually it fails, so why not just replace it.

 

I haven't heard any noises but I'll try it in 4h to see if the sound changes. My biggest worry is doing 300 miles of dirt this weekend in Death Valley with it possibly being bad.

 

Just going straight down my street i'm not hearing any difference in sound or vibrations between 2h and 4h. I'm going about 20mph though

 

The movement in that tulip looks pretty common to me providing you are on level ground, the drive train unloaded, the vehicle in neutral, and nothing is lifting it. You will be fine on a 300 mile trip through DV, but...............

The OEM needle bearing is a piece of junk and if you ever plan to lift your truck the clock will begin to tick. But it may also go out on a stock truck as many have discovered. Do yourself a favor and replace it with the ECGS bushing and never worry about it again. Oh, and there is a TSB for the OEM bearing that replaces it with another OEM bearing. The TSB bearing is also a piece of garbage and I no longer post the TSB because it is a waste of time.

 

I had the TSB done right after I installed 5100s @1.75. I went up to a full 3in lift about 6 months agao and haven't had the vibes again. Whenever it goes, I'll do the ECGS bearing instead.

 

Even if the bearing is bad, you can run on it for a long time without problems.

 

Thanks for the input. It's probably fine but I'm not going to chance it. Going to order the bushing and get a new axle. Might as well replace it while it's out and have a spare.

 

If I'm replacing the axle is there anything besides OEM that is worth looking at?

 

If the OEM axle is in good shape (cv joints/boots and surface that runs on the needle bearing) I wouldn’t replace it. Aftermarket axles and no where near the quality of the original Toyota one. Just do the ECGS bushing. I’ve done 5 of them now, and it fixes the vib every time

 

No! Absolutely no!

 

There's a TSB for the needle nose bearing? Details please?

 

This

 

T-SB-0026-15

They only replace the bad one with a new one. I'm assuming mine will eventually go again.

 

Okay so this is only for folks who still have power train warranty?
Also, maybe you can just bring the ECGS bushing and have the tech install it instead of the OEM one. I know he's not supposed to but may be worth a shot

 

I was just thinking that if the axle is already out it would be a good opportunity to come up with a spare.

 

I don't know the answers to those. My truck only had around 10k when I had mine replaced.