Rebuild or replace drive shaft on 04 DC

Hi all-
I have a 2004 DC with 260k+ miles on it, running all original driveshaft components. I have been encountering a bizarre howling/griding/twirly noise for the past 7 or 8 months. Sound seems to be towards the front of the vehicle. Prior to taking it to the Toyota dealership, I checked the front wheel bearings and they seem tight. The dealership was unable to positively identify the source. Their best guess is carrier bearing. I checked the carrier bearing a couple of weeks ago and it has about 1/2" of play in it, but looks to be in sound shape (not rusted to hell/beat up).

So, thinking I will replace the carrier bearing, but considering of doing all of the u-joints at the same time due to the mileage. I plan on doing the work myself. Am I better off just buying a whole new drive shaft (Toyota part number 37100-34051 I think) or buying the components individually and rebuilding? I've read a bit about the dreaded double cardan and it sounds daunting. Thoughts and comments appreciated.

Talking about rear drive shaft here

 

You can get the carrier bearing and u-joints from Dana Spicer. Double Cardon joint is less certain to source.

 

First of all, stop what you’re doing. Go to a driveshaft shop, specifically. There are two times in automotive you NEVER want to fuck around with “generalists”, always see a specialist. Those two times are driveline (/driveshaft) and heat/air conditioning. Always go to a specialty shop for both.

I’m going to guess it’s one of two things: U-joint, or a bearing, though I’m thinking output shaft bearing or pinion bearing based solely on your description. A driveshaft shop that is half worth a shit should be able to tell you STAT, and fix it for a fraction of what a stealership can. Just make sure the shop only does driveline stuff, and they have better than 4.0 stars in their Google/Yelp reviews. If you do it yourself you’re about to break out the parts cannon. There’s a great chance a driveline specialist can fix for less than you’ll pay in the correct parts.

 

You can just unbolt the 2x 14mm center bearing bolts, drop the driveshaft down while it's still connected and spin the bearing by hand to check the bearing.

If it's gritty/noisy you know it's bad.

 

Heard and understood. Thanks for the advice.

 

Yep my local driveline shop replaced the carrier bearing in a day for $180 bucks parts and labor.

Mine was vibrating very bad, but only off the gas at higher speeds. Carrier solved that.

 

Doesn’t make much sense.
Noisy bearing sound in the front, but focusing on the rear?
I recently replaced my front wheel bearings making classic whirring and wum wum wum noises. They were shot. They “tested” fine when I checked for play or unusual noise or feel on the vehicle. Once I pulled the spindle it was obvious they were both dry inside.
Now, I’m not saying the carrier bearing shouldn’t be looked into, but it doesn’t seem to match your symptoms.
Keep us updated with what you find out.

 

I agree. Not logical. Neither I nor the dealership could get it figured so going with the most likely candidate. I figured they would have some wonderful high tech sonic gear to isolate it. Guess not....

 

If it's from the front might want to check the wheel bearings and cv axles. Also check the front diff fluid if you've never done that to cover all bases

 

Dealerships are great for routine or "typical" maintenance on vehicles that are "familiar", i.e. ones less than 8-10 years old, knowing most of the techs at any given stealership are going to have 4-5 years of experience, or potentially less.

Your truck is 20 years old, and has a very specific problem that's not "general maintenance". It's likely something in the driveline, likely the driveshaft, and I guarantee you 90%+ of the techs at any given stealership won't have the specialty expertise to deal with those things. If they tackle it, they're going to parts-cannon it (at your expense) and just replace every possible candidate. Driveshaft, center support bearing, double cardan, then hope and pray it's one of those things so they're not eating potential risk.

 

I think your earlier comment which was I believe this weekend about take it to a driveline/drive shaft specialist is definitely the thing to do. Especially after my experiences with a couple of shops about my driveshaft /carrier bearing issues recently

and just to show you about dealerships. I had a conversation with two different Toyota technicians with a number of years of experience about my timing belt tensioner pulley hole being stripped. They told me I had no other options.
The engine would have to be replaced when in fact that hole is on the oil pump housing

like you said they're not used to dealing with 18 to 20+ year-old trucks

 

The problem seems to be definitively in the front of the truck. In fact, I can feel it a bit under my right heel when driving. Dealership was looking at the carrier bearing and rear differential?? Carrier bearing made a bit of possible sense - "telescoping" sound and such. I'm leaning towards what Knabores said - front wheel bearing. I have similar symptoms to his - front wheel bearings seem to pass the normal, manual rock and spin tests, but....

If not, definitely what shifty said - driveline. Makes sense to take to a driveline specialist. If it is on the driveline - front u-joint, double cardan, carrier bearing, seems like I might just buy a whole new shaft. Yes, pricey, but knocks out everything on the driveline for another 200k?

 

Beauty of taking it to a driveline specialist, is they will actually know if it’s the driveline or not. Now, with the age of the vehicle, everything is worn, just have to figure out how much.

 

Exactly.

 

Anyone ever used Steelman chassis ears for diagnosis of a problem like this? Worth the money and fuss?