How to: Replacing the Carrier Bearing

[SkinnyG]

Here's the beauty just itching to be replaced. Mark how all the pieces are attached so they go back together the same way.



Disconnect the four attaching bolts, and just let the rear half hang, or tie it up to the frame so you don't bash your brains in with it.



Remove the two pieces of the OEM carrier bearing bracket.



Pull the driveshaft out of the transmission (fluid shouldn't leak out, but be prepared for it if it does) and put it on the bench. Center punch the flange and the shaft so they can be re-assembled the way they came apart.



Use a 2 or 3-jaw puller to pull the flange off shaft. I forgot to take a picture of this part.





Thin coat of lithium grease on the shaft and install the new parts with the provided new copper washer and nut. Check your alignment marks that you made. The bearing should have marks to indicate "front" - mine had "F" on one side.

Order:

- Axle shaft
- Dust shield
- Carrier Bearing
- Copper washer
- Flange
- Locknut (or locknut & washer)


Bask in the glory of your mechanical prowess.

In the immortal words of Haynes: "Installation is the reverse of removal."

[Swschz]

Nice. defiantly a good write up,since we will have have to do this at one stage or another.

I vote sticky

[SkinnyG]

My little "why am I so stupid" rant while putting it back together.



And yeah, the music in the background is "If it makes you happy" by Sheryl Crow.

[Swschz]

be thankful you have a hoist,id be crawling on a cold arse concrete floor if i had to do mine.

[SkinnyG]

I are, I are. I teach highschool mechanics. It's a perk of the job. I like to document these tasks so the kiddies have a reference, and/or can learn vicariously through others.

[95_hardbody]

What does raising the carrier bearing do ??

[SkinnyG]

Initially I had 3" blocks in the back. There was a rubbery vibration in the driveline ONLY when taking off in first gear.

Some folks choose to run angled blocks to correct pinion angle, I chose to raise the carrier to correct universal joint angularity.

My thinking was that the problem wasn't pinion angle, but rather the universal joints were angled too much, made worse under acceleration as the spring wraps and the pinion changes (moreso due to the blocks). Which is better: angled blocks or raised carrier? Dunno. Both maybe. I had NO problem with the raised carrier until the redrill.

[95_hardbody]

so since you redrilled, the raised carrier is bad?

[SkinnyG]

Bad as in "failing," or bad as in "not a good idea"?

Before the redrill the raised carrier was a good idea (and probably starting to wear out).

After the redrill, the raised carrier was still a good idea, but now angled blocks were needed because the leafs got angled during the redrill. And by now the carrier was noticeably wearing out.

I would always recommend raising the carrier - it makes the driveshaft angles less unpleasant. And I recommend angled blocks.

[Motorhead]

awesome writeup! i gotta do this before spring cause my original owner had blocks that wore the center support bearing so much it tore up. still works, and no vibrations somehow but its gotta be done...