Driveshaft center support bearing

[Old and new]

The driveshaft center support bearing started squeeling last week. Not that big of a deal. It turns out to be the tail of two dealerships.

Mac Hiek Ford, Pasadena, TX
7/14 dropped the truck off Friday. Understood the truck would be diag Monday. I told them that the problem was. But customers are stupid

7/18 Tuesday still no word. GPS tracker checked, truck wasn't moved.

7/20 Thursday, I was told the truck would have to go through the transmission department. It would be the following Monday.

7/24,25 (Monday, Tuesday) the truck was still sitting in the same spot. 4:30pm Tuesday we go to pick it up and they were "just about to pull it in"

Russell and Smith Ford Houston
7/26 (Wednesday) dropped the truck off around noon. Told them the problem

7/27 noon, I got a text saying it was ready for pickup. I honestly thought they couldn't duplicate the problem so I had her call me. I was expecting to hear that they couldn't find a problem and that's why it was done so soon. They replace the driveshaft from transmission to rear end.

Sponsored

 

[TJC]

Happy to see it replaced. How many miles on your Ranger?

 

[9zero1790]

wow ! i hate driving to Houston but an honest ford dealer is worth it...

 

[Old and new]

Happy to see it replaced. How many miles on your Ranger?

22,500 miles

 

[TJC]

22,500 miles

Somehow I am no longer surprised.

 

[MountainGoat]

I had the same thing happen, same miles almost too. My dealer did listen to me and replace the support bearing...but they forgot that I dropped the truck off. I dropped it off and a couple days later they called to tell me they got the bearing and I can drop my truck off now, lol. "It's there go around the back" I said. Had me worried someone stole it off the lot.

 

[puckdodger]

My bearing didn't last even that long. Fraser Ford in Whitby Ontario fixed it no problem, by installing a brand new driveshaft within 48 hours, even though I was levelled.

 

[Whiplash]

Somehow I am no longer surprised.

My 2021 FX4 Carrier bearing only lasted 8,400 miles before the squealing failure noise started.....Thanks to your posts and experience with the Tom Woods.one piece, I went directly to the 1 piece replacement......of all the $10K in mods I have done on my truck the $700 I spent on the 1 piece was the best bang for your buck choice I have made....Thanks TJC...?....

 

[Wang.S]

My 2021 FX4 Carrier bearing only lasted 8,400 miles before the squealing failure noise started.....Thanks to your posts and experience with the Tom Woods.one piece, I went directly to the 1 piece replacement......of all the $10K in mods I have done on my truck the $700 I spent on the 1 piece was the best bang for your buck choice I have made....Thanks TJC...?....

Why didn't you let warranty take care of it, then sell the new shaft for a few hundred bucks and offset the cost of buying the one piece? You could have had some free cash to spend on more mods.
Work smarter, not harder. ????

 

[TJC]

I have tried to give my Ford DS away. No Takers. I'd feel guilty selling it to someone.

Offer still stands - Simply pay shipping and it yours!

~10K miles on it

 

[Wang.S]

I have tried to give my Ford DS away. No Takers. I'd feel guilty selling it to someone.

Offer still stands - Simply pay shipping and it yours!

~10K miles on it

If mines ever gets the dreaded squeak, i'll be sure to look you up.
69K km's and still going strong. No abnormalities.

 

[Whiplash]

Why didn't you let warranty take care of it, then sell the new shaft for a few hundred bucks and offset the cost of buying the one piece? You could have had some free cash to spend on more mods.
Work smarter, not harder. ????

My reasons....
1) After noise began, I was told by Service Mgr at the dealership that it would be 3 weeks before they could even look at it...
2) same Service Mgr. told me the OEM were in short supply and back ordered indefinitely...
3) with all the mods I had done to my suspension there was a good chance that replacement under warranty could be denied...
4) Hell if I was going wait and pay to have OEM replaced with another , and go thru the shimming process to get pinion and Carrier bearing to the point where highway speed vibrations were at an acceptable level....
5) I believe the vibrations and slip joint "clunk" of the OEM are the reason many people are experiencing transmission problems...no such problems with the one peice....transmission is shifting better, and feels more peppy now...like power is making it's way to the rear wheels more efficiently now....

 

[Old and new]

My 2021 FX4 Carrier bearing only lasted 8,400 miles before the squealing failure noise started.....Thanks to your posts and experience with the Tom Woods.one piece, I went directly to the 1 piece replacement......of all the $10K in mods I have done on my truck the $700 I spent on the 1 piece was the best bang for your buck choice I have made....Thanks TJC...?....

I tried a one piece on a previous truck. 1994 ranger. The transmission tail shaft had a slip yoke but wasn't designed for the extra load and in and out motion under load. After 35,000 miles it tail shaft was lose and leaking. I ended up buying a used transmission and driveshaft assembly. That was the first vehicle I got over 300k miles out of. The air had to be charged once a year and the driveshaft center support bearing about every 75k miles

 

[Old and new]

My bearing didn't last even that long. Fraser Ford in Whitby Ontario fixed it no problem, by installing a brand new driveshaft within 48 hours, even though I was levelled.

This is my daughter's truck. It never gets over 35 mph. The 19-20s had early failures. She never goes fast enough to get anything warm. I think that's why it's lasted this long.

I drive it once a month for a shake-down and to get the oil(S) up to temp. It's the main reason I change the oil every 5k instead of 10.

 

[TJC]

I tried a one piece on a previous truck. 1994 ranger. The transmission tail shaft had a slip yoke but wasn't designed for the extra load and in and out motion under load. After 35,000 miles it tail shaft was lose and leaking. I ended up buying a used transmission and driveshaft assembly. That was the first vehicle I got over 300k miles out of. The air had to be charged once a year and the driveshaft center support bearing about every 75k miles

Congrats on the 300,000 miles of use! I'll get that out of my 2005 Ranger, and I hope to see at least 200K out of the 2020 Ranger. I do have a threshold of pain on the 2020, and once I cross the line and realize the truck is simply not built to last, I will unload it and most likely purchase a good used older model truck that has a known history of long trouble free use.

I won't chase 2020 Ranger problems indefinitely. I didn't purchase a $40K truck with the intent of sinking $5K-$10K in it annually...or even every 5 years.

As far as the driveshafts go, my 2005 4x4 Ranger came from the factory with a 1 piece driveshaft. The slip joint with both the 4x4 2005 and 2020 Rangers is integrated into the driveshaft. Both ends of the driveshaft bolts onto the axle pinion shaft at one end, and the transfer case at the other end. The 2005 has 162K miles on it and the transfer case is still holding up. I expect the same from the 2020 Ranger.

Rebuilt transfer cases are far less expensive than the 10R80 transmissions, and I think I am capable of rebuilding one for even less.

Sponsored