Carrier Bearing Shot

[txquailguy]

I will agree with you on this. If anything I'm still suprised about the fact on how the driveshaft is not 100% set for the U-Joint angles. I know this was covered a long time ago and i feel Ford made a big Mistake there. Who knows, might be that oh so wonderful person in that department that your are not so fond of......

Phil
Do you think installing adjustable struts, coil-overs or leveling kits and basically changing the rake on the truck would help us with the U-Joint angles? I'm not sure if the angles stay the same when you level out our Rangers. Any thoughts on this sir?
Mark

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[Frenchy]

Phil
Do you think installing adjustable struts, coil-overs or leveling kits and basically changing the rake on the truck would help us with the U-Joint angles? I'm not sure if the angles stay the same when you level out our Rangers. Any thoughts on this sir?
Mark

If you change only the front it will not affect the driveshaft angle. How so? Well tge rear tires befome a pivot and the rear axle along with the frame and drive train move while the tires stay in place. Make sense?

 

[txquailguy]

If you change only the front it will not affect the driveshaft angle. How so? Well tge rear tires befome a pivot and the rear axle along with the frame and drive train move while the tires stay in place. Make sense?

Yes....I figured as much, but you are the technician Chris...

 

[P. A. Schilke]

No dog in this, but IIRC critical speed for the TW one piece was calculated at 110 mph. Same as the the factory 2 piece, and likely the reason for the factory speed governor.

Hi Doug,

If true...this is a solution, I recall a speed of 80mph...hope I am wrong.

best,
Phil

Phil
Do you think installing adjustable struts, coil-overs or leveling kits and basically changing the rake on the truck would help us with the U-Joint angles? I'm not sure if the angles stay the same when you level out our Rangers. Any thoughts on this sir?
Mark

Hi Mark,

Not much affect if any on driveline angles. as rear suspension/axle just tilts up a bit but the pivot point is the rear axle/tires, so the pinion raises along with the body/engine etc. So d/s angles should stay the same. If you change the rear suspension with different springs/shakles etc. Then their will be a driveline angle change if the rear distance between the frame and axle is changed.

best,
Phil

 

[JohnnyO]

Good that it is veeing taken care of under warranty. I am suprised the bearing isn't available by itself.

It depends on the type of bearing.
I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I come from the Sport Trac world where most everyone with a Gen 2 is seeing the carrier bearings crap out once you're north of 150,000 miles.
For whatever reason the 4x2 and 4x4 have different carrier bearings and the 4x2 unit is replaceable but the 4x4 unit is not and you have to get a whole new driveshaft. This was verified by a driveshaft shop I went to for a professional opinion.
That said, I never changed a driveshaft before but it only took me an hour and a half and if I had to do it again be about half that time.

 

[9zero1790]

im not an engineer or mechanic. i have a very 101 basic understanding of drive shafts etc. so i do not have a qualified view. but, i feel like if the bearings were as they should be the back and forth over 1 or 2 piece drive shafts would not be an issue for the 5g. i say that due to the impression i have that the supplier of center support bearings (dana / spicer i think) to ford had some problem parts go to ford. is this correct?

 

[navsnipe]

A fellow forum member, quangdog, did a video which shows the stock driveshaft and center bearing on take-off. See for yourselves. He, as well as I, went to a TW single piece driveshaft and no longer has that issue. He did quite a bit of analysis and we both spoke with Shawn Woods at length before making the decision to go to one-piece driveshafts.


There is quite a lengthy thread with quite a bit of information and emotion about the single piece driveshaft option. I would recommend reading and making an informed choice.
https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/one-piece-driveshaft.21381/

 

[Cinci36]

Phil, curious if you could help me wrap my head around this driveshaft shudder. I have a 22 STX with a definite takeoff shudder in 1st. It’s not as bad as others have mentioned. I plan on changing leaf springs, coilovers, and shocks in an attempt to improve what I would consider a very stiff ride over small road imperfections and a rather soft ride over larger bumps, which is why I’m not doing anything at the moment to fix the issue (I worry if I fix it now and do any upgrades after it will come back). I have only ever driven trucks (other than my wife’s Highlander, I’ve only been in cars probably 20 times in my life, probably half being taxis), so it’s while ride quality is subjective, I’m comparing trucks to trucks. Anyways, since my problem with the shudder is small, doesn’t bother me too much, I’m wondering if it’s even worth trying to fix if it remains the same through the suspension upgrade process. I’m also wondering why some trucks have it and others don’t? I’m no way qualified to comment on why this occurs so I figured I’d ask an expert such as yourself in a long winded question lol. What is changing from truck to truck to cause this? Or what causes this issue in the first place. Some have had luck with shims and others found themselves chasing their tails and going to a one piece drive shaft. One member had his shudder improve by changing over to the global leaf springs. In the future I may try to fix this myself because time at the dealership near me is a full day lost of pay. Ive been waiting for a number of months on a windshield adhesive recall so I may ask about the shudder at that point (after the changes I plan on making) or may decide to save myself any trouble and live with it.

I had the driveshaft replced due too the slip joint not being greased, this caused some how tne driveshaft being replaced for same reason. I have coil overs, multi leaf rear springs, roll bar in back with new shocks, all done in first month of owning the truck new. This helped with ride, but until i replaced the tires which was 60% of my proplem with the ride.. used firestone destination le3. So all i can say all of it helps.

 

[Shoran12]

I had the driveshaft replced due too the slip joint not being greased, this caused some how tne driveshaft being replaced for same reason. I have coil overs, multi leaf rear springs, roll bar in back with new shocks, all done in first month of owning the truck new. This helped with ride, but until i replaced the tires which was 60% of my proplem with the ride.. used firestone destination le3. So all i can say all of it helps.

Yea I think tires may be part of the issue. When these are up I’m definitely going to go with a better set. I’m hoping to step up to whatever the stock Tremor tire size is with a decent all terrain tire.

 

[Rod B]

Started hearing a whining noise so I brought my Ranger into the dealer. Ended up being the carrier bearing so they'll replace the entire two-piece drive shaft. Only 31,000 mi on it so under warranty. But hopefully this isn't a continuing problem. Why Ford hasn't gone to a one-piece drive shaft is beyond me!

Lucky you at 31000 miles. Mine was shot at 5000. Replaced carrier bearing and something about the yoke… I don’t have the work order in front of me And that was 8000 miles ago. However, I just had to make 2 round trips to Indianapolis from north Florida (both trips within 2 weeks) and for the first time noticed a definite vibration at 75 mph and above. like a tire out of balance. I had them rotated and balanced in Indy and the vibration did not change on the way back. 2 piece drive shaft issue now??

 

[TJC]

Lucky you at 31000 miles. Mine was shot at 5000. Replaced carrier bearing and something about the yoke… I don’t have the work order in front of me And that was 8000 miles ago. However, I just had to make 2 round trips to Indianapolis from north Florida (both trips within 2 weeks) and for the first time noticed a definite vibration at 75 mph and above. like a tire out of balance. I had them rotated and balanced in Indy and the vibration did not change on the way back. 2 piece drive shaft issue now??

I had exactly that problem.... takeoff shudder, and vibration => 75mph ( it got worse the faster I drove). TW Driveshaft eliminated both issues.

 

[OFC Ranger]

I guess I am lucky, I have no such problem. Since the front doesn't matter, I will say my back is +1" on eibach blocks and shocks. Even with my rack platform removed on occasion and driving the truck around I never experienced any of these problems.

 

[sootie007]

So my carrier bearing started intermittently squealing . It was pretty bad the other day . It has a tendency to do it more when it rains for the life of me I dont know why . Unable to get into the dealer I decided to take a look at it . I noticed on mine the rubber donut for lack of a better term seems to be sagging downward with the weight of the driveshaft. So I took my hand and forced the driveshaft upward and was surprised how much it moves upward...a lil red neck engineering I thought to myself to stiffen that up and down motion / position / angle might help. I took a 6 inch piece of rubber fuel line, slit it down one side and stuffed it into the rubber donut ring gap on the bottom half that faces the rear of the truck . The yellow highlight below is where the fuel line is inserted . Think of the installed shape like a smiley face smile on the lower half of the donut. Once "stuffed" It positionally moves the yoke upward a little bit in the donut. Voila it stopped squealing . Full disclosure AFTER my non sqealing road test and not content leaving well enough alone additionally I sprayed WD40 White Lithium formula into the area. One could surmise from this experiment maybe its a yoke angle thing in the bearing ? Too early to celebrate yet but I will keep all advised . Maybe someone else can try to this bandaid too and see if it works on their truck. I am stock ride height, XL 4X4, no leveling but with 32" tires currently at 40k. It started intermittently doing this on mine at around 28k.

FWIW. UPDATE 7-21-23 Still no squealing but its probably still too early to tell B U T I have noticed a byproduct of the rubber fuel line shim is less shudder on takeoff -feels more solid ....I guess its more rigid and diminishes up and down oscillations a bit. A nice byproduct of the shimming.

 

[sootie007]

Update 10-15-23 : So my carrier bearing has been quiet as a mouse for the last 3 months or so ...the other day I ran through a totally orange clay silted puddle about 2-3 inches deep at 35 mp due to a downpour near a turnpike project near my house . Within 10 seconds of hitting that puddle my bearing started squealing. It NEVER stopped squeeling this time (a first). I must have driven 50 painfull miles yesterday with it constantly squealing - never letting up . Usually it would squeal for up to 15 miles or so then stop squealing. So from this -its got to be a contamination issue getting into the bearing. Anyway I decided to wrap the bearing in saran wrap and fill the saran wrap to the top over the entire bearing with transmission fluid . I let it soak overnight . In this pic it leaked down over night but it was fully submerged for numerous hrs before it leaked down . I unwrapped it this am ,wipe off all the trans fluid take it for a drive and its quiet as a mouse again . Like I stated months ago back in the thread it tended to do it more after a rain storm which I couldnt explain. Puddles etc splashing up on the bearing must be part of it . Lets see how long this bandaid lasts.

 

[sootie007]

Well its been almost a year since I did this dousing with transmission fluid and saran wrap overnight. It still hasnt squeaked in 11 months - I have some transmission fluid laying around so honestly when I get some time I am going to do it again . FWIW.

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