I have been getting a new vibration lately and i am suspecting the Center bearing or the "carrier bearing" on the rear driveshaft.

When i accelerate fairly hard, i am getting a vibration from about 20-35 mph and then a constant vibration at 72-76 mph.

I looked a all the u-joints, and none had any play, inspected the center bearing and it looks like a bunch of the rubber has dry rotted from the outer frame of the unit. There wasn't a lot of play in the driveshaft at the center bearing, but definitely enough to think this may be the cause.

Anyone have similar experiences or thoughts?


-Grant-


P.S. That carrier bearing is a **** expensive part for how small it is!

 

I had what I called a shudder on take off, hard or soft, since new. I took it to the dealer and was told it was axel wrap (pardon me if I'm ignorant but don't you need to put alot of power down to create that kind of torque at the axel). I tried to explain that it was just as, if not more, noticable when I accelarated gently, but to no avail. I just lived with it as it wasn't that bad or annoying. Fast foward 13,000 miles and a trip towing a car on a trailer several hundred miles and I find my rear diff leaking. Take it to the dealer (fortunately different tech) and after a week I get my truck back with a new seal in the rear end and a new driveshaft for the "Shudder". When I picked up the truck I was told to call next week as the case is still open because the shudder is still there a little "there seems to be a problem with these long wheelbased trucks and this shudder" (NO DUH) and they have to contact the tech-star people or whoever. I mentioned shimming the carrier and was told they are afraid that will just transfer the vibration up. So we'll wait and see. The best part was when the service writer owned it by acknowledging they know there is a problem with this in these trucks. Good luck with yours

 

hmm...while interesting, it doesnt likely seem like it would be the driveshaft causing this.

This problem just started and the truck has 117K miles on it. I never take the truck offroad either.

I think Im gonna replace that carrier bearing and see what happens.

 

It could be your tires. When they are out of balance, sometimes they find a "happy" speed where they won't vibrate to much, but once you go too fast or slow, the vibration will come back. Might be a good idea to spend $40 on a wheel balance before you go and spend a ton of money on something you may not need. Just my .02

 

Remove the bolts on the pinion flange holding the d-shaft to the rear axle. I bet the either the rear or the middle u-joint is frozen. Most of the time they freeze up like that and you cant tell until you isolate that particular u-joint. And you can't tell while it's attached to the truck.