Carrier bearing

'98 SR5, V6 - stock suspension (not lifted) but had this really irritating vibration. Tires balanced, front aligned, tires rotated and balanced again - no difference. Per posts here, I checked the carrier bearing and discovered it was flopping all over the place. Read the tutorials, saw the youtube vids. Got a new one and went out last weekend for replacement surgery. However, once I got under the truck again, I realized there was really no reason to drop the whole front driveshaft as most tutorials did. Just indexed the joint between the front/rear shafts, removed 4 bolts, set front of rear shaft to the side on a plastic milk cart, hit the staked nut with an air wrench (no need to 'unstake'), the collar came off with a few tinks of a small hammer; dropped the carrier bolts - old one slipped right off, new one slipped right on. Then reversed the process. I was expecting the job to take the better part of a morning, if not the whole day. It literally took about 30 mins. (I admit I did not torque the big nut to specs because I don't have a torque wrench that goes that high - just 'vrapped' it tight with the air wrench, staked it again and called it good.)
The vibration is gone - yay! Only 'oh darn' is that, on inspecting the old bearing more closely, I found a grease-caked washer/spacer on it that I had not noticed. %$@#. My question to you guys is, do you think it's worth it to put this in, and if so, which side of the carrier bearing (front or rear) does it go on?
One other thing I forgot to mention - I didn't want to torque against the tranny when removing and replacing the big nut, so I slipped an allen wrench through one of the small bolt holes and put the long end up against where the carrier bearing attached. Easier to just show a pic - anyway, the effect was that the allen wrench took the load, not the transmission.

 

I'm 99.9% sure you'll want that spacer back in there but I'd reference a diagram to be sure. Good call on the Allen wrench, I typically use a screwdriver or anything like that I have right at hand lol. Good thing is it only takes 30 minutes, right?

Edit: I can't find a diagram that shows the prop shaft.

 

Yeah the washer is in there for a reason. Id stick it in, also maybe order a new stake nut. Those things cant be good for more than a few reuses.
Edit: Washer on the nut side.

 

Took awhile, but I did find a diagram. That confirmed the spacers (there were actually two of them stacked) went on nut side — and also that I'd installed the bearing upside down! All redone now, the weird vibrations are gone, and hopefully good to go for awhile. I did opt for a cheapo $35 eBay bearing, so will see how long it lasts.

 

The cheapo bearings have been reported to not last very long here. Next time pick up this guy from Drivetrain America: $75 shipped. It's an OEM bearing without the OEM price.

 

Thanks posting for posting that pic of label on the box. Look at country of origin on the label: Japan. That's a Koyo made carrier bearing in a Spicer labeled box. Many manufacturers do this. It's normal, and a good thing as Koyo manufactures great bearings.

 

I replaced my carrier bearings as well as all u joints .I still have this vibration/shake at about 15 mph and goes away. Will occur during acceleration and deceleration .

Was thinking of doing the carrier bearing spacers next. Thoughts?

 

Lifted? If so axle shims are the only proper way of correcting the angle of the dangle. CB spacers just change the angle coming out of the tranny.

 

Not sure if it's lifted .Bought it used and it's my first truck .Attached a picture .

 

That's a good looking taco, hombre

 

Thanks man . Is this thing lifted? Or do I need some pictures of the suspension to tell?

 

yep... never NEVER use bearings made in China... my preferences are German bearings, Japanese bearings, USA bearings. Countries other than these dont have the metalurgy. With German bearings and hypoidal gearsets (third members, etc) you can get the offset off the old gearset, get the offset off the new gearset, do the math and either subtract or add shims, put in new bearings / new gears and 95 times out of a 100 be so close that it isnt worth mentioning... they are that precise.

 

If it's lifted, it's very slight. I'd be interested in seeing the suspension f/r.
And yes...very nice looking truck.

 

Impulse red nice rig man not a prerunner?

 

It's a prerunner

 

Suspension f/r?

 

Sorry for reviving this old thread. Just not sure if my truck is lifted or not, and not sure how to tell if I need the shims, or cb spacer to get rid of vibration around 10mph. I can take pictures and post if necessary.

 

Front right suspension?

 

Front/rear.

 

Not positive on the vibe issue but yeah, pics of the suspension, the coilovers, shocks and leaf springs, will help you get an answer on being lifted or not.