Carrier Bearing

[Paul Clark]

The box is off, so I have easy access to the carrier bearing. The drive shafts flop around quite a bit. Do I replace the complete unit, or could the bearing be okay but just the rubber housing is shot?
Thanks

[TODDS 72]

Paul
For the 30 bucks thay cost you might as well do the complet
unit,they last a long time even if you beat the he!! out em!!LOL

[Russ72C10]

Paul,

I just changed out the carrier bearing on my '72 yesterday. The bearing itself seemed fine, but like yours, the rubber boot was shot and not attached to the circular bracket. I got the entire assembly from Autozone for $18.99. I would recommend going "whole hog" for that price...

[Paul Clark]

I met a guy at the drag strip who was racing a '72.
He still had the 2 piece shaft(s) and was running in the 11's. He had made some kind of special bracket and had injected the rubber boot with silicone to make it solid. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I don't.

[TERRYP]

I do not believe that you can get anything but the whole assembly. I ruined two in a row, and discovered that my rear transmission mount, (converted from bell housing mount) had lost it's bolts and the tailshaft had been shifting around. That will ruin the bearing!

[HEAVY CHEVY]

Go with the whole piece like everyone is saying.But shop around first.

[nroden]

Is this what is causeing some clicking on my truck.. its always done this and I asked my grandpa and he said he drove it since 84 like that and said thats what he thought it was. He just said he got used to it because thats how it was when my great uncle had it LOL. My grandpa and great uncle just never drove it enough to wear anything completely out.

[jku72]

I have a 70 longhorn, with the same problem as above, but when I buy a new bearing, it not only looks nothing like the one I have, it doesnt fit either. I went to a dealer who has old books, and when I show them my bearing, it looks nothing like the ones they list either. I ended up fabbing a new rubber cushion, because there was no alternative. This problem first showed up in maintenence records in 1984, and it is still there.
Either I get a whole new driveshaft, or make my new rubber cushion mounts for the bearing. Or, NAPA, Carquest, Pepboys, and Chevrolet are all incompetent, and just need to order some other part that is not listed anywhere.
Any longhorn guys have this wierdness? Or am I totally insane?
I have to think the C30 133wb is nothing like the C20, which is nothing like the C10.
They tried to sell me a roundish one, wrong, and a solid one piece deal, halfround, also wrong, and aside from that, they have never seen the one I have, ever. Mine is a half round, but is 2 half shells that bolt together, with the rubber cushion and the bearing in the middle. Anyone?

[Blue68]

Paul,
I remember there was a company (out of Canada I beleive) that made the carrier bearing with a polyurethane 'cushion'. I'm out of town, but I'll try to look through my Classic Truck's mag and see if I can run it down.

[palallin]

Two things to keep in mind:

--there are two kinds of Carrier Bearings. Make sure you're getting the right one.

--make sure you index the drive shaft when it goes back together: if you don't the new bearing won't live 6 months (ask me how I know that ).

[Yellow Cheyenne]

Don't know on the 3/4 and 1 tons, but on the half ton pickups the style of bearing is determined by what type of rear suspension you have. A coil rear suspension uses a round bearing that is held up by two bolts that are about an inch apart. On a leaf spring rear suspension, it is held by a larger bearing that is kind of half-round shaped and is held up by two bolts that are about 5" inches apart (If I remember correctly-it's not something that I look at a lot).

[COBALT]

The type of center support bearing does NOT always depend on rear suspension. I have two '69 3/4 ton trucks and both have coil suspension with 10 bolt corp axles. I'd say it depends 1st on the transmission output shaft and drive shaft type and length, and 2nd on rear suspension.

My 3spd auto truck has the smaller in-line bearing (the "I" shaped one with two bolts 1" apart that connect to the frame). It has a rubber boot that holds the bearing in the center.

My 4spd muncie truck has the larger, more sturdier bearing housing (the "U" shaped one that holds the splines from the first part of the drive shaft). It's much beefier, and no doubt more expensive then the $20 job everyone's been talking about.

When I replaced the one on my 3spd I did look around, and NAPA had the best one. It was a bit more expensive ($35), but it was better made.

WARNING: if you have this type, and it's never been replaced leave out the dust shields that are on each side of the bearing (if you have them in). I made the mistake of trying to put them back in, and the new types are now sealed bearings and the shields aren't needed any more. They just destroy the bearing and you'll have to redo the job.

[Quick68c10]

jku72 that is just like my truck
but the metal that is attached to the frame is cracked so i need a welder to weld me up and new assembly that the bearing bolts to

[Yellow Cheyenne]

If the rear suspension is leaf, I would think all the factory installed drive shafts would need to be the type that uses the half-moon shaped carrier bearing as that type of bearing uses the split drive shaft that slides and has a grease zerk on it. The reason I'm guessing that it would be required is that the rear axle moves forward/backward in relation to the transmission as the the suspension goes up/down. If they put the round carrier bearing on a pickup with leaf springs, it would really give the carrier bearing rubber mount a work out as the suspension bounced up and down. It may also damaged the transmission if the drive shaft was allowed to be pushed into the transmission too far. It wouldn't surprise me to see a coil spring pickups (especially the 3/4 and 1 tons) have the heavier duty half-moon shaped carrier bearing. It would surprise me to see a leaf spring pickup with the round bearing.

[67 SS]

Paul Clark I filled the bearing up with silicon in my 70.If you look closely, that flimsy rubber boot is all that holds the shaft centered.Spooky!I filled it through the holes in the outer housing.Another thing to watch out for is the top plate is spotwelded on.I welded it up a little better to.In highschool I broke these things every way imaginable.Why not change over to the stronger bearing?

[COBALT]

Yellow Cheyenne: you don't have to look very far for a 3/4 ton pickup with coils that has a round in-line carrier bearing. Mine does and it's stock, BUT it's a three-speed auto (TH400) with the slip yoke. That's why I was saying bofore that it may depend more on transmission output shaft-to-front driveshaft couplilng. My 3/4 ton 4spd manual has the hearvier one.

[MikeB]

Try to find one that's made in the USA, like by TRW, Moog or whoever makes those kind of parts. It will last 20 years.

[Yellow Cheyenne]

New69Owner

The way I see it, we basically agree. Coil springs with auto tranny will have round bearing. Coil springs with manual tranny will have half-round bearing. Leaf springs will have half-round bearing with manual or auto tranny.

[woodrow59]

jku72 ,,,,,, I've got a '68 Longhorn and had the same problem with U-joints. If Longhornmail were here he could tell you exactly what to do. Iknow his first suggestion would be go to NAPA, the second was take the part in with you, the third, try a 1 ton bearing.

At least that's what my feeble mind can remember !!!! LOL

[Longhorn Man]

LOL, after the fiasco I went though on the first longhorn...this will be the ONLY way I do it. Go to napa with the parts in hand.
Every place I went to has ALWAYS gotten the U-joints AND the carrier wrong if I just went in and said give me what the combuter tells me I need for my drive shaft.
One stop if you can compair them.
As for the leave and coil and drive shaft thing...it does not matter what rear you have, when you compress the springs, the shaft needs to be shotened, therefor, all the trucks have a slip somewhere in the shaft. Be it in the yolk, in the middle of the 2 shafts, or both, like the Longhorns came.

[stllookn]

jku72 and Longhormmail, Here is my C30, 133 wheelbase dually. Look anything like yours? Will NAPA have these? I agree...unless I take the part in...no matter what year...I make two trips...LOL!

[Yellow Cheyenne]

I didn't know what I was getting into when I first responded to the post. I think that all leaf spring pickups and all manual tranny pickups will have the split drive shaft with half-round bearing due to more movement front to back as the suspension moves up and down. Coil spring movement isn't as much, at least that's my theory based on my observations. On a coil spring pickup with a auto tranny, the small amount of movement can be taken up by the slip yolk at the tranny. On a coil spring pickup with a manual tranny, it would require the split shaft that has a slider due to no movement available at the tranny. All of the pickups that I've seen that have a factory rear leaf spring suspension have the split drive shaft that slides. As I said, that is on the pickups I've seen and I know there are many thousands that I've not seen. Does anyone have a factory leaf spring suspension pickup that has the small round carrier bearing? Not claiming to be an expert, just curious to see if my theory will hold.

[Yellow Cheyenne]

STLLOOKN

That is the same style as mine ('72 half ton with leaf rear suspension) but mounts differently. Just FYI, the mounting bolts on mine are about 6 3/4" center to center and the complete bearing housing is about 4 3/4" tall at the center. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who won't go to the parts store without the old part any more. Every time I want to replace the belts, they try to give me the wrong parts even though I give them the Gates part number. After short arguement each time, they give me the parts I want and I install them. Even had one parts store try to give me a long water pump for my '72 Chevy. Told them it was the wrong part. They looked under '72 GMC and it showed the correct part. Go figure. Good luck to all with the carrier bearing.

[tonyj]

I have a 69 C30 Longhorn and got my carrier bearing from Pep boys and had no problems

[Longhorn Man]

stilllokin, that is what I have on mine.