DIY Replacing Driveshaft Center Bearing

or would you go with the Spicer Life Series #

$31 513301X Spicer 5-1330-1X U-Joint Kit

513301X? finger hit go button faster than the brain worked.... thanks

 

Does the direction of the bearing matter?

 

It should not, but make sure that mark the position of the drive shafts so they are "in phase".

 

the orientation of the bearing matters. There is a top and a bottom. IIRC, the bottom has one hole in the metal frame and the top has two. The mounting ears of the frame are NOT in the center.

 

If you want pics, we cover a complete driveshaft rebuild on our build thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/built-by-a-14-year-old-with-some-help-from-my-dad.733355/page-5

 

Why would you get vibrations at above 40 MPH which increase with speed with some slight humming after replacing a center bearing and three U-Joints using Toyota Parts?

 

If you were to get the u-joints out of phase, that might cause it.

Google “driveshaft in phase” as that’ll populate better results than I can muster right now. Check yours for that and double check everything you touched for obvious issues: loose center bearing support bolts, that it’s oriented correctly, u-joints are mounted and seated securely, etc.

If you accidentally knocked the balancing weight off the driveshaft, that’s a potential cause too.

Visually go over your work again and double check everything.

 

I have this same rattle. It seemed to balance OK so I just put a couple of zip ties in to keep it kind of quiet.

Finally got around to taking it apart today after a couple of years to see what's going on. Near as I can tell didn't miss anything.

When I assemble the dust shield wants to sit flush to the splines. There's a very slight step in the bearing surfaces where the carrier is obviously supposed to sit.

Putting a new carrier back on since pulling the old one off ruined it. It's Spicer 5002007. It's got Toyota 37235-35030 molded into it. The catalog calls for 37230-0K030 for my truck and I don't see that the number was superseeded, but maybe.

https://www.drivetrainamerica.com/s...ma-driveshaft-center-support-carrier-bearing/

But there's a gap between the dust shield and the carrier of about 1/2" I'd guess. The dust shield is supposed to sit on the bearing, so no spacer seemed to be missing between them. It's like the shaft is too long for this bearing or I'm missing a spacer between the nut and yoke. I have both washers, the thin hardened one and the thick one.

I don't think I can pull it down any more. When I took off the old 5002007 the yoke splines were close to flush with the shaft splines. Going to a higher torque feels like risking stripping the threads or fracturing the nut.

All I can think is 5002334 is the right cross, not 5002007. I dunno. I reassembled the new 5002007 and the same thing happened and my fix is the same thing, a couple of zip ties and some silicone to keep the dust shield from rattling.







I don't see anything missing in the EPC diagram or FSM graphic.

 

Hello all. I'm new to the forum and created an account because I have a question that I can't seem to find an answer to. I have an 06 Tacoma Prerunner 4.0 RWD with no mods and 203K miles. I recently encountered vibrations in the seat at very low speeds. After a ton of research, I narrowed it down to the drive train. I dropped the drive shaft and discovered a seized u joint. Purchased 3 new u joints, carrier bearing, trans seal (where drive shaft engages trans) and a trans mount/insulator. I installed new u joints and carrier bearing last night. Waiting for trans mount so shaft is still out. I made good markings to ensure everything is installed in same orientation. Purchased all parts from my local dealer (except trans mount which is OEM on ebay), This is my first time working on drive train so I'm learning a lot. I didn't have a puller so I had to beat the yoke off with a mallet. The splines were dry and it took some work to get it off. Splines looked like they were in good shape but I didn't spend a ton of time inspecting them.

On reassembly, I applied bearing grease to the shaft splines prior to installing the new carrier bearing. I installed new carrier bearing, then thin washer, then yoke. I used a rubber mallet and a socket to knock the yoke back onto the shaft. After some beating, I seemed to hit a stop and the yoke splines protrude about 1/8" aft of the shaft splines. For the life of me, I can't remember if initially the yoke splines were flush with the shaft splines prior to removing yoke. I convinced myself that the non flush situation is fine and finished the install. All u joints are installed and the shaft is ready to be installed in my truck.

Two questions:
1) Is it normal for the yoke splines to not be flush with the shaft splines? I found a pic on Google that represents how they are aligned on my shaft. My concern is that this is not normal and may cause issues due to my assembly now being about an 1/8" longer than the original set up. This could also indicate that my carrier bearing is not fully seated (if this is not normal). Many Youtube tutorials show people just driving the yoke on with an impact and not double checking the splines flushness, but maybe they are not supposed to be flush.
2) I reused the original nut and torqued to 100 lbs ft. Is this ok or should I disassemble and retorque at a lower amount? I really don't want to if I don't have to because I feel like I will risk damaging something. Most people on Youtube seem to final torque at 100+ lbs ft and completely miss the step of loosening nut and final torquing at a lower amount. I know my nut is about a 1/4 turn tighter than originally installed because I marked the nuts original position. It's installed with blue loctite and nut is indexed/dented. Again, pic below is not my shaft, it's a Google pic that shows the yoke splines protruding, similar to my setup.
I appreciate any help this group can provide.

 

When I did mine a few months ago I made the same mistake and left it torqued at 100 ft lbs. I never redid it and haven’t had any issues in about 2000 miles. I would think you’ll be ok but if it keeps you up at night, you know what you need to do.