Gordon15

Need to know the signs of the Differential Carrier Bearing going bad. Is it something I can fix myself if it is bad?

Oddjob

In general:

Constant whirring or grinding sound. Pitch will increase w/ vehicle speed, and not really engine load (throttle) dependent. So shifting or coasting in neutral wont really affect the sound.

By comparison, a bad rear wheel bearing will start grinding only when side loaded (turning), a diff brg will make noise all the time.

Pinion bearing noise will change w/ throttle loading. Torque tube bearings will depend on engine rpm.

What are your symptoms?

67King

I don't mean to come across as snide, but IMHO, if you have to ask these questions, the answer to your last one is "no."

You should use a special tool to properly position the carrier. It isn't so bad as the pinion bearing, but you should in theory be using it.

Gordon15

When i accelerate around 3rpms it shakes the whole rear end. sorry late reply

dmcampbell

Worn cv joints? I had a similar symptom and new cv's eliminated the vibration. Mike

CaptainGSR

Did you ever solve that problem? Was it the differential/bearings?

951and944S

Not necessarily...., for the carrier bearings, you can remove the diff cover, turn the transmission on it's side (level) and make an accurate measurement with a bridge across the housing to the any immovable part of the diff and record.

When the bearings are pressed off, place them on a hard flat surface and make several measurements and compare to the new ones. Quality, ***, SKF, etc will be exactly equal to the originals....rarely even .001 off.

Using the same shims, as will be the case 99.99% of the time, recheck against the depth measurement you made earlier.

This is assuming the transmission has a life history on the ring and pinion and it is in good shape.

Verify again with another insurance measure and check tooth contact positioning with gear marking compound under thrust on drive and decel resistance.

T