TL;DR - I had driveline vibes that I thought were a result of the center carrier bearing, but I now think were due to a bad u-joint. Both were replaced and the vibes are gone.
U-joint. aka "little f#ckers."
On our last trip to Owyhee, I started to feel some vibration in the driveline when I was coasting - either in neutral or in gear. The vibration wasn't terrible, but it would go away when I was under power, so I eliminated a scalloped tire or tire balancing.
Given that the truck has 286,000 miles on it, my immediate suspect was the center carrier bearing for the rear drive shaft. It seems like these generally go out with between 100K - 150K miles on them - especially for Tacomas that have a lift installed - so the fact that I'd gotten to nearly 300K seemed like exceeding expectations.
In fact, I'd purchased a new center bearing back in 2018 - after installing my first lift, and with only 70K miles on the truck - when lots of folks cautioned me that mine was surely "about to die."
Here's a step-by-step guide with photos, a list of the parts, and the tools needed to replace the center carrier bearing:
Grabbing the brand new 7-year old part from my shop shelf, and not wanting to let my shakey driveline fester, I slid under the Tacoma with a couple 14mm wrenches and set about removing the rear drive shaft.
Most important: mark everything so it can go back in the same way. Drive shafts are balanced!
Even with the drive shaft out, the center carrier bearing didn't seem like it was in bad shape. It spun smoothly and the rubber boot wasn't showing any signs of deterioration. Still, I already had the whole thing out, so I figured I might as well replace it. You know, the never-ending struggle between preventative maintenance and don't fix it if it ain't broke.
Apart.
Together.
Replacing the bearing turned out to be simple, but while I had the driveshaft out, I also figured I ought to check the u-joints. I'd replaced the rear-most - or had it replaced at the now-defunct JT's Parts and Accessories - just after the 4.88 gears were installed in the differentials, and it seemed just fine. The two at the double-cardan joint seemed smooth as well. But the front u-joint, well, it rotated just fine in one direction and was audibly crunchy in the other.
It had to be the source of my vibrations. I hoped.
Luckily - again - my part hoarding paid off for a second time. Apparently when I'd replaced the rear u-joint, I'd purchased a second joint to have on hand, and a few minutes later I was using a u-joint press to mash the little cups through the steel races in which they'd lived for the last 26 years.
It was not a pretty sight, and it's a good thing there were no children around.
The job is conceptually easy enough. Use a ball joint press - essentially a beefy c-clamp - to push the u-joint from one side until the cup on the opposite side is through the race and can be removed; then push it back through the other side and remove the opposing cup. The problem - and this may only be an issue on Toyotas, old Toyotas, or vehicles with unlucky owners - was that the ears on the u-joint were not parallel. This made it impossible to find a flat surface on which to rest the ball joint press, and that in turn made it impossible to press the u-joint straight through the races.'
I struggled for hours. I enlisted the help of @mrs.turbodb to try to hold everything in place. I said even more words that should not be uttered around children.
And then, after resorting to my 20-ton shop press, I realized that I'd screwed the pooch.
F#ck.
It was time for plan B. I searched online and found a reputable driveline shop. I called - failing to mention my predicament - and asked if they could replace a u-joint for me. They could, and would even do it while I waited the next morning!
In fact, they did the whole thing - including cleanup of my mess - in 10 minutes and for only $52. Talk about a steal. At least I know I'll never be replacing a u-joint again.
Thanks Drivelines Northwest!
Oh, and that driveline vibe is gone.
In this Series
