bad Center support bearing

Turns out the strange squeal was not the U-joints or carrier bearing but a vibrating metal cover plate on my alternator... changed the shape of it by prying it a little bit with a screwdriver....all fixed.

 

Sorry to revive a VERY old thread... My center support bearing is VERY sloppy, I have severe vibration driving 40+ MPH, could this vibration be from the bad center support bearing on the driveline?

 

yea that or u-joints

 

How much play is acceptable in the center bearing support? my gf has a 98 tacoma. I can move the driveshaft freely where it goes through the bearing support

 

Out of all the technical info, this one is a real gray area ....

Toyota doesn't provide specs. for this installed part, even when you install a brand new one you can still grab the shaft & move it around & it will still be within "specs", unless its froze up, grommett torn & bering is dry or if loud squeels emit from it

 

I have a 2001 Tacoma PreRunner and I have had this squealing under the truck since about a week after I purchased it, new. Toyota couldn't ever find the problem. After finding this site and reading all of these threads, I feel that Toyato knew it had a long standing problem with the center support bearing, but wouldn't admit so. I had my truck in more than a dozen times and this problem was never solved, mostly when it was cold outside. They adjusted the hood, tightened and replaced fan belts, etc... but could never solve my issue. I found a mechanic, who also owned a Tacoma, and he immediatly acknowledged the problem and repaired the bearing. That was at about the 100,000 mile mark. Now at 170,000 it's doing it again. Sounds like this is going to be a continous problem on this model. I would like to do it myself, the labor was outrageous, but should I buy from a Toyota dealership or is the center support bearing available on the after market? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

Here it is--save you some $$ too
http://www.driveshaftparts.com/center-supports/toyota-pickup-1993-2006/prod_493.html

 

Thanks for all of the responses I recieved. Looks like I'll be doing it myself AND saving some $$$.

 

I had posted/added to this thread a few years ago. I found that the noise went away completly after I bought a grease gun with the appropriate fitting and grassed all the U-Joints. I believe it is not the center bearing at all but dry U-Joints. As I have put on another 75K with no squeel ever coming back, I am telling you it was dry U-Joints. Do this first as they can be a very neglected area of the truck. Good luck, hope this helps and cheers........

 

If your carrier bearing is bad like mine you will notice a vibration when you let off the gas at slow speeds because there is no load on it. mine never made any noise just a vibration at slow speeds like going from third to second at a stop light ,that is where i realy noticed it . greasing u joints is no brainer stuff. the thread is carrier bearing not greasing u joints!!

 

Though true, greasing the driveline maybe the "no brainer" stuff, I was/am amazed by how many neglect to regularly lube . I've suggested to many to try this first before throwing $$$$ at the problem as my OEM Carrier was $200 & about 70% of them reported back that the vibe/noise had gone away so I'd say greasing/lubing is totally relevent to this thread.

Toyota drivelines are a little funny & pretty sensitive changes whether from MODS or maintenance neglect...

 

interesting. I noticed last time i was greasing that i could grab the shaft and move it around quite a bit in the center support bearing. worried me a bit. But now im not so worried.

 

You are right always start with the easiest stuff first greasing u joints is pretty easy. I let my center bearing go for quite awhile before replacing because i grease my u joints once a year . boy what a difference that made!! I hope it is just your u joints you will save some money.