~Do it Yourself~ Worn Carrier Bearings

[Lurkers92vr4]

Do-it-Yourself
Task - Worn Carrier Bearings

Conditions - Given a mitsu 3000gt or dodge stealth twin turbo, complete with stock rear driveshaft, jack and jack stands, wire hanger or zip ties,
Pliers and a sense of humor, make old worn carrier bearings like new

How do i know my carrier bearings are worn? Look at the attachments to familarize yourself with waht you are working with, grab that driveshaft with your man hand and try to rock it back and forth (mine moved a good 1/4 inch in each direction on both bearings) ((It should not move))

Symptoms of bad carrier bearings - Low speed (Primarily 1st gear) vibration usually goes away after 25mph. Vibration varys from bearly noticable to car shaking
thumps. Vibration intermittent or sometimes goes away for a few days but comes back when your not looking.

Tools/materials needed
Jack and jack stands
Slip joint Pliers
Flat tip screwdriver or pointed like tool (i used my test light probe)
2 Large Zipties no more than 1/4 in width and at least 12" long
OR
2 Old flimsy style steel hangers straightend out/Safty wire (thicker than .020in)

Directions
Jack up Passengerside of car
*Unless you can benchpress the curb weight of your vehicle...use your jack stands please*
Look at the attachments i provided
Feed the wire/zip tie through the hole shown in Picture
Keep in mind those same holes are on top of the bearing and there ot feeding themselves out there.
Also keep in mind that the wire will snag on the rubber and is generally harder to feed through and took 10times
longer than the ziptie method because of this

IF your using ZIPTIES and you have it fed through, click it through its retainer, with your pliers grab the slack and crank down on it. After you have it
to the german torque equivelent of GoodInTight, grab the Driveshaft with your man hand and shake it, you should Barely be able to move it now. If you
have it where you want it repeat with the other carrier bearing.

IF your using WIRE and you have it fed through, Grab one end with your hand, and the other end with your pliers, pull at tight as you can while
slowly twisting the wire around itself. Ince you have it started give it a few more twist by hand then take the pliers, grab the wire at the base and crank down
**Carefull as cheap wire will snap instead of pulling tighter** After you have it to the german torque equivelent of GoodInTight, grab the Driveshaft with
your man hand and shake it, you should Barely be able to move it now. If you have it where you want it repeat with the other carrier bearing.

Now go test drive and enjoy

-Jesse Buxton-
~Making your local dealership frown, one bushing at a time~

Search Key words
Thump Thumping low speed 1st gear 2nd gear 30mph shake shaking clunking sound

[mjannusch]

That's not going to work for long at all...

[Lurkers92vr4]

Been over a month and my drive to the airfield and back is 80 miles round trip a day. Ziptie hasnt budged and the wire hasnt stretched itself out and still no play in driveshaft. Thats why i waited till now to post to make sure it proved itself before anyone attempts and just waste there time. As my daily driver i have to use a little inginuity untill i can find some time and money to do it right, these are gonna have to last untill spring comes with my tax return
-Jess

[Kgizzle1]

bringing this one up again....

i just went and checked how much my driveshaft moves and it moves a good 1/4 inch side to side so i think i need a carrier bearings, but then i noticed that i could turn my whole driveshaft a good 1/4 turn to each side it was moving freely from the transfer case and the rear dif. what does this mean? is this normal?

[cc4ever]

ya Kgizzle1, it's normal to be able to turn it a little, like a 1/4 inch.
Lurkers92vr4, how long did those zip ties work for u?

[knighty]

Not bad if you're on a budget, if you're not, just replace w/ CFDS.

[yinlun]

oh man..I've seen carrier bearings torn/worn due to the torque the car puts down. I'm suprised your zip ties are holding. Those have to be some heavy duty ones. Are you launching at all?

[PearlyVR4]

I have them tied down and they are holding it. I think it's been only about a month or two and I haven't launched the car at all. In my case, I know I need to get stronger zipties because when I pulled it hard enough they just snapped. I still have some slack though.

[Scott@Supercar]

I stumbled upon this thread while invetigating my car's vibration under mild throttle.

Worked like a charm, I'm just wondering how long it's going to last. I used the biggest zip ties that would fit in there so hopefully for a while!

[PearlyVR4]

Mine lasted about 3-4 months and I had to redo it. Only the rear one. Front one is still holding. This is only with normal daily driving + spirited driving time to time.