Carrier Bearing

[TPMLE]

How can you tell if your carrier bearing is working properly? I'm not looking to replace things that are working fine, but the truck is 25 years old and this is probably the original carrier bearing, I'm not having any issues with it but it seems to look a little ragged to me. How many miles should you expect to get out of these? Is replacing them a DIY job or not? And that zerk fitting there, where exactly does the grease you put in there go? I tried once to put some grease in there once but there was alot of resistance to flow for want of a better word.

Current truck has 175K miles, 1998 C3500 7.4L 4L80E

 

[pressureangle]

The zerk is for the driveshaft splines, and you need to make it work. Take a center punch and hammer, tap very lightly on the ball until it retreats. As for the bearing itself, if it has no symptoms it has no problems. When they fail, they growl before locking up and spinning in the rubber. Sometimes the rubber collapses and you'll get some driveline shake when leaving a stop. They often last forever.

 

[GoToGuy]

Rather damaging the zerk or pushing junk into the bearing, replace, the zerk with a new one . If not serviced on regular basis they will corode, to the point of rusting closed.
If you do your own regular service spare zerks are something to consider having spares.

 

[pressureangle]

Rather damaging the zerk or pushing junk into the bearing, replace, the zerk with a new one . If not serviced on regular basis they will corode, to the point of rusting closed.
If you do your own regular service spare zerks are something to consider having spares.

There is no zerk on the bearing, just the shaft splines.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Here's a quick grease zerk trick that I can't explain, but it works. Put a rag over the nipple before you put the grease gun on it. Then pump right through the rag. Most sticky zerks will suddenly take grease.

 

[Schurkey]

Perhaps a moderator will move this out of "Engines" and into Axles + Brakes, for want of a more-specific place.

 

[Pinger]

Which bearing is this? At first I assumed a 4WD and it was supporting a shaft from the transfer box but OP's truck is a C - albeit a 3500. My C2500 (Suburban) has a one-piece shaft. Does the 3500 have a two-piece shaft - or is there something else I've missed?

 

[Schurkey]

Any vehicle with a long enough wheelbase and rear-drive is likely to have a carrier bearing in the driveshaft.

 

[Pinger]

Any vehicle with a long enough wheelbase and rear-drive is likely to have a carrier bearing in the driveshaft.

Suburban has a 130'' wheelbase - not short! I'm guessing the OP has a crew cab long bed...
My only concern is that my 2WD Suburban has a grease point I'm unaware of but from what I've gleaned from the forum over the years, my spline is lubricated by the ATF within the 4L-80E.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Suburban has a 130'' wheelbase - not short! I'm guessing the OP has a crew cab long bed...
My only concern is that my 2WD Suburban has a grease point I'm unaware of but from what I've gleaned from the forum over the years, my spline is lubricated by the ATF within the 4L-80E.

Two of our square body Burbs had the split driveshaft, the '84 half ton and the '90 3/4 ton. Both 350s. Actually the 3/4 ton with a big block had one too; we just didn't drive it long enough to have issues with the carrier bearing assembly.
My crew cab has the two piece driveshaft, but considering it has a 168" wheelbase, it pretty much has to!
I would figure all 3500s would have one, just because of the weight loads they're designed for. Especially on big block and diesel engine equipped trucks.
The tailshaft is lubricated by the transmission fluid.
I used to grease the driveshaft carrier bearing zerk when I did the grease job on the front end. There's a vent hole in the yoke, and when you see grease squirt out of it, the yoke splines have enough grease. Usually took 8-10 shots with the grease gun.