Center Bearing Trouble

Hello everyone, I’ve run into some issues with my 07 taco’s drive terrain. I had the u-joints and center support bearing replaced around 10k miles ago. I originally noticed an issue as the transmission was “sticking” when switching from drive to park. Now, a fairly loud grinding noise can be heard from underneath the truck when under acceleration or turning. I initially thought a wheel bearing was on its way out, but I believe the center support bearing is the culprit. My question is what could have caused the new bearing to fail? The truck does have 5100’s set at the first setting, so it is only “lifted” around an inch higher than stock. The OEM bearing was replaced with another Spicer bearing. Do I need a drop kit or is this just a random defect? I’ve attached a pic of how torn the bearing is. One can also note how it has shifted outside of the bracket. Thank you for the input! I just want to make sure this doesn’t keep occurring!

 

Is this a 4x4 ?
Your user name says prerunner but you list 2 different trucks in your Avatar
If 4x4 , you could verify the problem by removing the rear driveshaft , select 4x4 and then test drive the truck to see if the noise goes away by just using the front drive shaft .

I wouldnt be purchasing any drop kits until I measured your working driveline angles . Save the cash until you know what you need

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/just-fixed-driveline-vibration-for-free.153050/

 

Yes, it’s a 2WD prerunner. The new bearing is torn to pieces and will not stay seated in the metal bracket. A local driveline shop performed the rebuild, but they’re blaming it on the “lift”.

 

The inner part of the bearing is pulled forward, while the outer (steel) housing of the bearing is mounted all the way back. Those slots are there to allow the allow the CB to mounted in a neutral position so its not pulling on itself front to back.

Seems like a pretty good guess thats the culprit

 

Do you think it’s the wrong bearing as it’s not mounted in the correct location? I’m assuming the bearing can not be adjusted as the bearing remains in a fixed position once the driveshaft is mounted to the diff/transmission?

 

Only 10,000 miles on the bearing ?
Did you have a shop install the bearing under 1 year ? Maybe incorrect installation ?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-replacing-driveshaft-center-bearing.515726/

Considering a driveline shop installed this , I dont see how the lift could effect the carrier bearing unless the lift was done after the new carrier bearing was installed and driveline angles were not corrected at that time . The drive line shop would have to prove your angles were so far out , it created issues for the carrier bearing .
Something fishy happening here .
Transmissions dont normally bind up between park and drive . If I had to guess , your driveshaft is not plunging to compensate for bumps in the road

 

Either that driveshaft was bolted too far downward and the front is pulling on it or it was just defective in the first place.

Carrier bearings have been covered and most members are running a polyurethane piece now. Some are running the OE direct replacement made by Spicer. Either way, you will want to determine what's going on first before you put a new one in otherwise the same thing may end up happening.

 

It’s been a little over a year. I had the driveshaft rebuilt in November of 2019 and the issue started a couple weeks ago. Do you think the best course of action would be to take it in to another shop and have them replace the bearing? I’m just not sure what is causing the issue as only the u-joints were wearing out when I had everything replaced. I just went ahead and replaced the CB as the driveshaft was already out of the truck to save on labor costs down the road.

 

Can you post a picture showing your driveshaft from the slip yoke at the transmission , all the way back to the rear differential .
A new carrier bearing to start for sure , but something happened to your driveline in the past couple weeks that caused your transmission to bind up .
I have seen this happen on high horsepower applications where the slip yoke splines twist . When the splines twist , your driveshaft no longer plunges at the slip yoke and is basicly a solid tube from the rear diff to the transmission . The carrier bearing is the weakest point once the yoke no longer plunges . Another issue can occur when a yoke is over greased and a hydro lock is produced .

 

I went ahead a removed the driveshaft to take it to another driveline shop. There wasn’t any forward/backwards play in the driveshaft. The center bearing is completely shot though. Once I get the new bearing installed I will post an updated pic to show how everything is looking. I did notice however the “boot” shifted to the rear of the vehicle. Does that mean the driveshaft is plunging?

 

I think you need a friend on Tacoma World to go out and measure a driveshaft from a Prerunner before you spend the cash fixing the one you have .
If you just took the driveshaft off your truck and didnt see any twisted splines or any reason why there was no play , there has to be an issue with the length of the driveshaft . Is there a chance you had the truck overloaded with weight ?
Was the truck ever in an accident ?

I am subbed just to find out whats going on here .

 

I do tow some landscape equipment during the summer months, but it’s just a single zero turn mower on a 6x12 single axle utility trailer. When I bought the truck at 100k miles, there wasn’t any reported accidents on the CarFax, but who truly knows. The truck isn’t even offroaded or rode hard as I work five miles away from my home.

 

Bro your carrier bearing was installed incorrectly. I get 100k out of OEM spicer carriers with a 3” lift. The bushing material getting sucked is abnormal.

 

Thats what I tired to say before...

No offense to Gearcruncher, but the shop that did the CB last year installed it wrong. It fought itself for 10k miles and now its finally pulled itself apart.

It probably not even worth trying to fight the original shop to cover it. Just get a new one in there and keep truckin

 

Update: Dropped the driveshaft off at another shop. Tech said the issue is most likely a result of incorrect installation as others have mentioned. The previous shop most likely lifted the rear of the truck causing the driveshaft to bind during installation. The bolts were practically at the end of the bracket which is super uncommon.

 

@gearcruncher Just got it reinstalled. The bolts appear to be in the proper tolerance when compared to the old pic. What do you think?

 

Looks a lot better .

There is also an upgraded ( TSB ) rear seal for your transmission if your rear seal is showing signs of weeping .
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-tsb.45728/

 

I replaced it awhile back! That’s just the residue from when I pulled the driveshaft out haha