I’ve got a buddy with an ‘04 Dodge 3500 quad cab LWB, he’s owned it since ‘05, stock height, nothing special, but for the last 100k miles he’s gone through at least 6 carrier bearings, the last one didn’t even last 1k miles, he’s had the whole drive shaft balanced, new u joints, everything looked at that he can think of but still it eats carrier bearings like crazy. What do y’all think he should be looking at?
CK5
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2004 Dodge carrier bearing problems
- Thread starter Scribbles
- Start date
Stock offset on rims? What size tires and rim width.
How is he setting the carrier bearing preload?
And this is the 11.5" AAM axle, correct?
I don't see how the driveshaft balance would affect the carrier bearings. Pinion bearings, yes. But maybe I don't understand it well enough.
I believe that I remember finding it easy to add a good amount of preload turning the adjusters on my son's GMC. I haven't been able to prove for sure that we got it perfect, but he got 15K miles on the last set before the Gov-loc decided to lock up. So now he is on a new set with the True-trac. The others looked fine, but it was easier to put new on the new carrier.
I used a 18" prybar on the carrier to check for bearing end play. We went for 1 to 1.5 thousandths with a decent push-pull on the bar. I don't know how to describe the force we used. Sorry.
Does this truck have a stock cover? Banks proved how some aftermarket ones don't flow the oil properly and actually heat it some. Maybe there is a stacking of factors here.
And this is the 11.5" AAM axle, correct?
I don't see how the driveshaft balance would affect the carrier bearings. Pinion bearings, yes. But maybe I don't understand it well enough.
I believe that I remember finding it easy to add a good amount of preload turning the adjusters on my son's GMC. I haven't been able to prove for sure that we got it perfect, but he got 15K miles on the last set before the Gov-loc decided to lock up. So now he is on a new set with the True-trac. The others looked fine, but it was easier to put new on the new carrier.
I used a 18" prybar on the carrier to check for bearing end play. We went for 1 to 1.5 thousandths with a decent push-pull on the bar. I don't know how to describe the force we used. Sorry.
Does this truck have a stock cover? Banks proved how some aftermarket ones don't flow the oil properly and actually heat it some. Maybe there is a stacking of factors here.
Stock rims, 35x12.50x17’s
What? Lol I feel like I’m missing something here.
wasted wages
1 ton status
Manual or Auto ? 4x4?
Aftermarket carrier bearings are garbage nowadays. Its not a truck problem.
One of the best thing I ever did was do the one piece 5" aluminum rear shaft. It was a solid 800 bucks but how much has he spent by now on this? Ive got 100k on it by now.
I have 450hp 850 ft/lb on an 11k third gen.
Its just not worth the effort to keep th two piece.
I got mine from driveshaftspecialist.com here and they are local to me. Picked it up that afternoon I ordered it.
One of the best thing I ever did was do the one piece 5" aluminum rear shaft. It was a solid 800 bucks but how much has he spent by now on this? Ive got 100k on it by now.
I have 450hp 850 ft/lb on an 11k third gen.
Its just not worth the effort to keep th two piece.
I got mine from driveshaftspecialist.com here and they are local to me. Picked it up that afternoon I ordered it.
Manual, 4x4
Thanks for the advice, he’s strongly considering a one piece so I’m sure he’ll look into this place, but we definitely need to know that he doesn’t have some other problem with it before we fix the weak link and cause something else to break.
wasted wages
1 ton status
My '07 dually has a center bearing and it's a 4x4 manual...clock is showing almost 200k on it now.
I noticed that when I lift off the throttle at highway speed I'm starting to feel some vibrations... Pretty sure it's the carrier bearing..
not wanting to drop 800 bucks on a driveshaft right now, so I figured I would go ahead and try a replacement once....
I noticed that when I lift off the throttle at highway speed I'm starting to feel some vibrations... Pretty sure it's the carrier bearing..
not wanting to drop 800 bucks on a driveshaft right now, so I figured I would go ahead and try a replacement once....
Usually a 2 piece driveshaft is used when the length is over 70",anything longer in a one piece one is liable to bend or "whip" at high speeds and torque loads..the extra u-joints help cancel out the vibrations a shaft using only two u-joints would create too..
I don't like carrier bearings and 2 piece drive shafts,in my opinion they suck....my '66 Buicks had that setup and I had to replace them both ,plus weld new ends on the cross member that supports the carrier bearing where they rotted away in the rubber mounting pads bolted to the frame..
I would ditch the 2 piece shafts if at all possible..
I was surprised to learn the new Dodge Chargers use a weird driveshaft with a carrier bearing,and use CV joints instead of U-joints..(non repairable!)..
A customer brought a late model Charger to my friends shop when it started vibrating bad,the carrier bearing was toast and all the rubber mounting that surrounds it was missing--both CV joints had slop too..
Calling around to local parts stores ,he found no one has a rebuilt one listed yet, it still a "dealer only" item...called the local dealer,and he was told "Heh--good luck,they have been on national back order for months--expected date we may get one,is late August (this was in June !)...
He called a place that sells new fuel tanks and radiators that does stock some drive shafts,but they did not list a rebuilt one yet,but the guy said "we do have a used one in good condition with 30,000 miles on it,for $750..Customer didn't have much choice,so he went for it..
Seems to be a crappy setup for a car with so much HP--this one is only a V6 but it is still 300 HP ..I hear the rear diffs are weak in those cars also...they put a 700 HP Hellcat hemi in front of a diff thats about as strong as a 10 bolt GM..
..
I don't like carrier bearings and 2 piece drive shafts,in my opinion they suck....my '66 Buicks had that setup and I had to replace them both ,plus weld new ends on the cross member that supports the carrier bearing where they rotted away in the rubber mounting pads bolted to the frame..
I would ditch the 2 piece shafts if at all possible..
I was surprised to learn the new Dodge Chargers use a weird driveshaft with a carrier bearing,and use CV joints instead of U-joints..(non repairable!)..
A customer brought a late model Charger to my friends shop when it started vibrating bad,the carrier bearing was toast and all the rubber mounting that surrounds it was missing--both CV joints had slop too..
Calling around to local parts stores ,he found no one has a rebuilt one listed yet, it still a "dealer only" item...called the local dealer,and he was told "Heh--good luck,they have been on national back order for months--expected date we may get one,is late August (this was in June !)...
He called a place that sells new fuel tanks and radiators that does stock some drive shafts,but they did not list a rebuilt one yet,but the guy said "we do have a used one in good condition with 30,000 miles on it,for $750..Customer didn't have much choice,so he went for it..
Seems to be a crappy setup for a car with so much HP--this one is only a V6 but it is still 300 HP ..I hear the rear diffs are weak in those cars also...they put a 700 HP Hellcat hemi in front of a diff thats about as strong as a 10 bolt GM..
..
Your post says carrier bearing problem.
It doesn't say driveshaft carrier bearing.
I didn't think of the driveshaft carrier bearing, I went to the differential center section. The carrier bearings in there.
Which is why I posted what I did, and subsequently the following emoji when you clarified. I never thought about the driveshaft.
lol my bad.
We looked at everything, drive shaft phasing, motor mounts, trans mounts, all seem fine and tight. Threw an OEM Dodge carrier bearing in it and we’ll see how long this one lasts.
Is it lifted?lol my bad.
We looked at everything, drive shaft phasing, motor mounts, trans mounts, all seem fine and tight. Threw an OEM Dodge carrier bearing in it and we’ll see how long this one lasts.
On my semi I killed mine quick when I ran with my airbags deflated for 20 miles.
The angle kills them.
Make sure the angle is right. You might have to shim it to get it right
Carrier bearing is taking all of the twisting force from the driveshaft. Imagine how when you put power to the driveline it wants to point the pinion up for axle wrap. But if its a ujoint the shaft wants to bend there at the middle joint.
Fully loaded with even stock torque can kill the stock rubber bushing in a little time. Now introduce a cheap aftermarket part and it fails very quickly.
Fully loaded with even stock torque can kill the stock rubber bushing in a little time. Now introduce a cheap aftermarket part and it fails very quickly.
Technically it should be straight through.
If it has an angle then the angle at the axle should be the same and the front joint should be straight.
If all three joints have an angle that bearing will not survive long.
wasted wages
1 ton status
bad transmission output shaft into the transfer case?
or bad output shaft on the t-case ?
or bad output shaft on the t-case ?
