Carrier bearing good or bad?

Hi guys, my truck has had steering wheel shake for years. I've had several tire sizes, two sets of rims, many alignments, and many balances with RFB. The steering wheel shake always comes back. Parts I've replaced in the last two years: tie rods, sway bar links, lower control arms, rack and pinion bushings, wheel bearings, rotors, pads. I've replaced the JBA UCAs and OEMs over and over again, with several alignments, and in the end, at a certain speed, it does it. Sometimes it's more sporadic, other times more frequent, and other times you can hardly feel it. It depends a lot on road conditions. The vibrations now start at 60mph. Sometimes I think it's gone, and then suddenly the next day, bang! There we go again. I've tried different tire pressures, and it usually gets worse the higher the number. Currently, I have them set at 30 psi.
My truck is a 2015 Tacoma Prerunner 4.0 V6 2WD.
78,000 miles.
Current tires: 265/70r17 Pathfinder AT SL.
The truck was lifted for years with Maxtrac spindles, Bilsteins 5100 at 0, and OME 883. In the rear, it had OME Dakars and a 2" block. A while ago, I removed my lift kit and just left it with the Bilsteins and OME 883, and in the rear, I bought a set of OEM 2022 leaf springs. I've been thinking about removing the Bilsteins with the 883s and putting it back to stock with a new set of 5100s with the original springs. Remove the JBAs and put in the OEM UCAS to basically return it to stock. But I don't think that will help at all. The U-joints look in good condition and are super solid. No play at all. Only the carrier bearing moves a little when I apply force. It feels solid, but it has about 3/16 or 1/4 of an inch of play, if that. I don't know if that's normal or not. I'll post a video on YouTube to see if you can see the movement. That's under force; it doesn't move much if you don't shake it hard.
I know it's a lot of information, but I may have missed something. If I haven't written something important, please ask me. Link to video below.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZE_bgmUWHwU?feature=share

 

That's not bad. I don't know that steering wheel shake would be caused by a bad carrier bearing.
You'll feel the driveshaft clunking and slamming when it's bad.
When you're accelerating, shifting or shifting from park into reverse or drive type of thing.

Steering wheel shake, for me, has generally been alignment related.

 

No strange clunking noises and the u-joints are solid. I changed the differential oil a year ago, and this truck doesn't see heavy use or move around much. It still has 78,000 miles on it. Now the vibration and shimmy in the steering wheel starts at 60 mph. Below that, it's running fine! Although here in Texas, the roads are full of potholes and bumps, and you can feel every little bump and crack in the road.

 

If you can see ''rust'' dripping from the carrier bearing or it's very sloppy, it's bad. That lateral movement is pretty normal.

 

As you can see in the video, it has a little rust, but it's very superficial! There is no play except for the movement you can see. There is also no chipping on the metal or cracks in the rubber. I thought that maybe if it was bad, it could cause vibration that would be transmitted through the steering wheel. But it's too expensive to replace if it's not damaged!

 

Incorrect driveline angles will send vibes up front.

Thought we were talking about a steering wheel shake, though.

 

Mine would shimmy when a caliper piston was sticking

 

Yes, at around 60 mph the steering wheel starts to vibrate a little, and on some roads it's worse. The strange thing is that it's been happening for years! Sometimes a couple of problems would occur at the same time. It would vibrate at 40 mph, for example, and that would be fixed with a new balance, but then it would start to vibrate at another speed. It's hard to explain in writing here. Now they balanced it a few months ago, it runs fine, but sometimes at 60 it starts to shake for a while and then stops, although you can feel the vibration from the road in the steering wheel. It slows down and then suddenly on another bumpy road, it happens again. I have 0 camber, 3.9 caster, and 0.2 toe.

 

I installed new rotors and pads! I replaced all the fluid in the lines. The brakes don't overheat, smell bad, or smoke. It doesn't pull to one side either. It brakes perfectly.

I installed new rotors and pads! I replaced all the fluid in the lines. The brakes don't overheat, smell bad, or smoke. It doesn't pull to one side either. It brakes perfectly.

 

Does it vibrate when coasting or only when your pressing g the accelerator pedal? Here’s a video on a bad u-joint causing vibration under load which could possibly be analogous to a bad carrier bearing. And yes that carrier bearing bushing is in bad condition.

And vibrating won’t be alignment related nearly as much as an unbalanced tire or bad wheel bearing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sqNGMEvYZNI&pp=ygUcUm95YWwgYXV0byB0YWNvbWEgZHJpdmVzaGFmdA==

 

Roads have something to do with it.
I'll notice a little, what feels like an off balance wheel, crossing from one County into another.
It only happened on certain stretches of highway.

 

Condition of front wheel bearings?
Do you use a drivrshaft spacer at the CB?

How much of your driveshaft yoke is "pulled out" at the transmission output?

 

Yes, it's strange because at one point it becomes tolerable, but then suddenly it starts to vibrate more. I drive on those same roads with my wife's CX5, and yes, you feel the imperfections and potholes, but not that shaking from the Tacoma.

 

Good question! Right now, I couldn't say if it's only when I step on the accelerator, although if I had to swear, I'd say with or without. Do you really think this carrier bearing is bad? I don't know much about mechanics, although I do all or almost all of my work by following tutorials. That thing costs more than $200. Even doing the work myself, that's a lot of money. The other u-joints look fine! They're solid, I don't see any play, grease, or anything strange. There's a little rust, but I would say that's normal. Vibrations start around 60mph.

 

The wheel bearings are almost new! When the truck had 40,000 miles, I replaced them with aftermarket ones. I put them back in about a year ago, and the truck doesn't move much. Yes, the CB used to have a spacer when the truck was lifted, but I removed it when I took out the lift kit. Now I have 1.5 in the front and stock leaf springs in the rear. The yoke is now completely inside.

 

I watched the video you made and it can be seen how you can move the bushing inside the mount enough that it moves in every direction. Order a new one that you can return from Amazon or a parts store just for comparison and you’ll see what a good one feels like. But knowing if the vibration occurs under load and while coasting or just under load can help narrow down the issue.

 

Yes, it can move in all directions, but with strong jolts. It's not loose enough to be moved with one hand. I wanted to buy the original, but the price is absurd for what it is, and the truck doesn't move much. In 8 years, it's done almost 40,000 miles. Let's find this one on Amazon, which doesn't look too bad, and if it doesn't solve the problem, at least the damage won't be so bad.

$70 Spicer 5002334 Center Bearing

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAPFESW?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

I rewatched the video when I got home. I've seen a lot worse but you do have excess play in there.
I checked mine and I have very slight up and down movement if I use 2 hands. No lateral movement.

 

Nothing wrong with that. I bought one for my 1st Gen as well. I’d still try testing coasting vs accelerating on a flat smooth road to see if the vibration changes or it’s the same before swapping out any parts.

 

Hey man! Thank you so much for your help and for taking the time to check it out in your own truck. I made another video. With just one hand, the movement is like in the first video or sometimes even less, but if I shake it with all my strength, this is the movement it makes.

https://youtube.com/shorts/5qpAL66kDIQ?feature=share