carrier bearing replacement

Hello folks,

My mechanic told be there's a lot of play in the carrier bearing on my 2012 taco, which has 230K miles. Has anyone had this replaced before? He doesn't work on many Toyotas and seemed to be over over the place on the cost. Any thoughts on how hard of a job this is and what it should cost approximately? Thanks!

 

Not that hard to do. YouTube is your friend.
I’ve had some slop in mine (cheap block lift) but no worries.
As long as it spins you’re probably good.
I’m sure others will chime in with their opinions, ideas.

 

4 bolts on the front of the shaft.
4 bolt on the rear.
2 in the carrier.
The center U-joint has to come out. (to get to the big nut)
Then a great big nut holding the carrier on.

Getting the old carrier off will be the biggest job.
And possibly the u-joint out if the caps are rusted.

 

not wrong! replace the U joints and the carrier bearing all at the same time! pretty decent

only tip get a good quality paint marker and a long straight edge mark between the yolks a long line on both flanges to help line things all lined up! and I marked my flanges as well with the paint marker to make sure that I kept things from moving around to much! hoping to lessen all the possible vibration.

and use some anti seize in the splines of the shaft when you put the yolk back down and tighten up the center nut.

 

Just put in a 1pc driveshaft and be done w/ it all together.

 

where did u get the 1 pc shaft ?

 

It’s under Powertrain / Chasis

The scroll down to read brake line and tube.

 

got mine from Tom Woods. Not sure if they’re still making them or not though.

 

They've discontinued them, but do have a link to another company making a 1 piece aluminum shaft.

 

Nothing wrong w/ aluminum. Even better if lighter than the steel ones for that decrease in rotational driveline mass. What company?

 

I pulled mine a couple of months ago and sent it to a local driveline shop. All new u-joints, carrier bearing, carrier bearing mount, slip yoke lube, painted and spin balanced for $275. All the replacement parts were Spicer. You can do it yourself, you can have your mechanic do it, but neither of you will do it as good as a driveline shop. If you send it out, you'll end up with a spin balanced driveline, all new parts and painted flat black.

I have a friend who worked as Toyota dealer tech for a decade. The manager who ran the shop in his last few years deemed all driveline repair unprofitable and mandated that all driveline work be sent out to the service. The work was time consuming. And too often, the rig ended up being brought back to the shop with customer complaints of vibes.

 

https://www.knoxvilledriveline.com/products/toyota-2016-tacoma-4x4-upgrade-one-piece-conversion

 

Agreed, I found a block of wood and a 3 or 5 pound hammer help immensely!

 

How long should a carrier bearing last? I replaced mine in 2020 and just starting getting that god-awful squeak again. I do a good amount of offroading, but <5 years still seems too short.

 

Depends.
5 years is a long time for some aftermarket parts "Doorman".