RESOLVED: Broke down in Portland Oregon

Back when I lived in the area I used Automotive Drivetrain in Tualatin. They did great work and will be able to help you out.

 

I drove right through there yesterday. Too bad you didn’t break down then! Haha. Good luck. I just replaced my carrier bearing. It’s an involved job but not too hard. If you get a chance to fix it yourself this is a good tutorial: https://youtu.be/6WvlVa7OzS8

 

Man im sorry that you broke down in one of the biggest shit holes.

 

I ended up having the truck towed to Jay's Garage at the suggestion of the AAA tow truck driver. I broke down not far from a Toyota dealership but I'm sure they wouldn't touch it with the cracked mounting brackets; they would want to send it to the body shop. I'm told that the mechanic who will look at it in the morning can weld if necessary. The truck has 304K miles on it but the carrier bearing was replaced along with all the u-joints less than 100K miles ago. The truck has the TSB springs in the rear along with a single add-a-leaf which makes it sit a little higher. I installed a carrier bearing drop kit when I put the lift on years ago. I'm open to any back up plans for a shop that can deal with this in the event Jay's garage says it's outside their comfort zone. My destination was Seattle and it is my son's truck now (in the family since 2009 & 39K miles) and he's in the Navy and received orders for NAS Whidbey Island as his new duty station. I just want to get it repaired and drive it to Seattle and fly back to AZ. Thanks to all that have responded thus far. Please feel free to reach out thanks, Tom.

 

The dealer would also charge you 4x what a decent shop would want and probably take longer with someone less experienced working on it.
Sorry, not much help here, just hope you get home safe.
Keep us posted.

 

What do Californians have to do with this?

 

I’ve never had work done at Jay’s. Gotten gas there several times. They’ve been around forever and have tons of great reviews. Hopefully they take care of you.

 

I'm going to go ahead and call Automotive Drivetrain in the morning. One of the other members here recommended them and my issue looks like something they do routinely. If Jay's garage has any reservations about the repair, I'll have it towed to Automotive Drivetrain.

 

Good luck Tom and thank your son for his service.

 

I arrived at Jay's Garage in Portland just before they opened up at 7:00 a.m. this morning and after asking a few more questions I realized my carrier bearing repair was outside their wheelhouse and had the truck towed to Automotive Drivetrain in Tualatin, which was about 15 miles away. Special thanks to to Tacoma World member ryfox0276 for recommending them yesterday after I created this post. I spoke with JR, who is the owner, and he explained that they had a big backlog of work and that parts availability is bad right now, but he would see what they could do. I got in my rental car and headed off to a nearby McDonalds for some breakfast and free wifi. I came back about 1 1/2 hours later to see that the Tacoma was not outside but rather in the shop, and they already had the driveline out of it. They replaced all the u-joints with new Spicer's, new carrier bearing and welded the broken carrier bearing mount tabs. Derrick was the mechanic that did the repair and these guys are really top notch!!! I could have easily been stuck in Portland for days with the New Year holiday & weekend right around the corner. I was on the road by 2:30 p.m. and made it up to Whidbey Island in time to join my son for dinner. I can't say enough good things about Automotive Drivetrain! They knew I was in a tough spot and they made my job a priority to get me back on the road. Thanks also to this forum for all the good advice and tech tips that members provide.

 

good to hear!

 

Man, that is awesome. Best thread I've seen on this forum yet.

 

On a side note tell your son to check out Toby’s in Coupeville for some of the best mussels around. NAS Whidbey is a great duty station, particularly for anyone outdoors oriented. Skiing, whale watching, fishing, hiking kayaking, mountain biking, climbing, it’s all nearby and all beautiful scenery.

Best of luck with the repair.

 

This story made my day!

I’m very happy to hear you were able to get your son’s truck repaired in a very timely manner & all is well now.

 

I'm currently sitting at Seattle / Tacoma International Airport waiting for my flight back to Phoenix after taking the shuttle from Whidbey Island. Thanks for all the kind words to those that have participated in this thread. I was able to change my flight to the following day (today) and spend some time with my son last night for dinner and again earlier today. I've been up to Seattle many times for work but had never been out to Whidbey Island. It's beautiful! They have received an unusual amount of snow this past week and I'm wishing that Tacoma was 4WD rather than a 2WD TRD Offroad PreRunner but its been in the family since 2009 and currently has 305K miles and had never been towed until 2 days ago. In hindsight, if it was going to happen, I guess I'm glad it happened while I was around. If this had happened after I left my son would have had to deal with it and the repair could have been much more as well as additional down time. It turns out that my son already knows about Toby's in Coupeville (thanks to Hook78) and already has a few friends there that he knew from NAS Pensacola. Happy New Year to all and thanks again!

 

Well, although a hardship, if that isn’t the best way to start a new year
All the best, thank your son for his service for our country

 

not inaccurate, but not entirely accurate either

https://trib.al/yvhIObW?fbclid=IwAR2I7kQ_JU3x7k6CwHmorNCdaDumto0zQbSVgv15gEEoP5EYpwTGL4htq24

 

Over priced shithole