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I have a vibration around 60-70 mph. The faster I go, the worse it gets. I have checked the u-joints, they seem ok. The carrier bearing, or center support bearing as some people know it, has some play in it and I am thinking this is the reason for the vibration.(I am guessing there is supposed to be no play in there) So in the morning I am gonna get the carrier bearing from the parts store and replace it this weekend to see if this will get rid of the vibration. My question is, how difficult is this bearing to replace? Doesn't appear to be difficult, but I may be wrong. By the way, my truck is a 99 F250.
Might be best if you can the use of a press and push it off. It certainly comes off harder than the new one goes on. Is the vibration heavy or a lighter type. May be a tire separating or one of the u joints. Get all the torque out of the joints before checking them (block wheels and put in neutral) Good luck and let us know your findings.
I was chasing a vibration like you mentioned for months on my previous truck (85 F250) changed universals, carrier bearing even got into the front end universals and hubs to make a long story short after a lot of $$$ and busted knuckles I put the truck on a rack and ran it in gear and found out I had a bent driveshaft. To this day I have no idea how it happened. You might want to check yours out, if it has only a minor bend the vibration will only be noticable at higher speeds.
The vibration is a lighter type. Not too bad, but it drives me nuts nonetheless. We insepected the driveshaft, but being just a couple of farmers we may have missed something. Thought maybe it could be in the front end also, but I don't feel any vibration in the steering and the ball joints appear to be ok. The tires looked alright. One of the guys at my shop who was helping me try to diagnose this is a tire dealer, so I have faith in him that he didn't miss anything on the tires. Could it be the u-joints eventhough they feel tight like they should??? Maybe I will replace the u-joints as well. I was unaware that the old carrier bearing is such a pain to get off...may have to let the dealership do it since I don't seem to have enough time to work on my truck anymore(wife, kids, job, etc...). Thanks for the replies guys, I will see what I can come up with. Any other suggestions...let me know. Thanks.
Have your driveshafts ever been disconnected? If they have, they may be reinstalled 180 degrees out. Supposed to affect the balance of the shafts. Haven't ever experienced it myself, but I have talked w/folks who say that this can happen, and they always mark the shaft/diff yoke so that they can install it the way it came out.
pdkloste, thanks for the reply. To my knowledge my driveshaft has never been disconnected. I am the second owner and have had it for nearly 4 years now. The truck was fine two weeks ago, and then it created this vibration. That is why I was thinking u-joints or carrier bearing. I guess when I pull it apart I could take the driveshaft to a guy I know that can balance it. He balances them for race car drivers in the area. It is a subtle vibration, but it drives me nuts. It only gets bad when I get over 80 or so. Maybe I will do all the u-joints and the carrier bearing this weekend and see if they takes care of it. If not...I will be needing some more help for sure. 01psd, thanks for the tip, I will try it. Thanks guys
If the drive shaft had a weight somewhere on it that might have been slung off or scrapped off that could do what you may be looking for. Might look the drive shaft over for something missing and the spot it was tacked on. My drive shaft has the harmonic balancer looking thing on it.
One thing for sure, even if its a slight vibration as you mentioned, if the drive shaft is out, that would need to be fixed before your pinion shaft seal knocked out or worse, the tailshaft on the tranny/transfer case was to break or crack. The aluminum doesn't take much. Look forward to hearing what you find out to be the problem...