Ranger questions

[aboyandhisdog]

My '89 Ranger pickup needs a couple of things and I'm not EXACTLY sure what is involved.

1)  What is a "rear drive shaft carrier bearing"?  Is this the bearing in roughly the center area of the R. drive shaft that looks like it helps support the drive shaft where the two sections join together?  The alignment shop told me it was bad.  How big a job to R&R?

2)  What is the "thrust bearing spindle"?  I'm supposed to be lubing it every 30K but not sure what I'm looking for.

3)  They also said that I had play in the forward u-joint of the front drive shaft.  Seems odd, as I don't use the 4wd much at all.  What kind of a job is this to change out?  It looks pretty straight forward but the estimate they gave me was almost $200 - seems really high.  How do you test a u-joint anyway?  I can't detect any play in it.

Thank you very much for your help!

[F Bill]

Carrier bearing is the bearing that supports the driveshaft as you thought. What goes wrong with them is they wear out and get loose and noisy.

No idea what the thrust spindle is , have them point it out. Could be a clutch thing, or , a front end part or, who knows. Maybe it is a Ranger specific part I haven;t heard of. Sounds like gobbledygook mechanick speak to get more $$. Not that I am cynical.  

U joints are checked for play or binding. Best checked if the driveshaft is removed so you can inspect it and the tranny and rear end are not holding it. But you can usually do a good enough job putting the rear end up on stands, placing the tranny in nuetral, and tring to detect play as you rotate it or push forward or back. Check the carrier the same way, it is mounted in rubber. I kinda doubt BOTH a u joint and the carrier failed simultaneously. Especially on your truck, which is in great shape.

Front shafts are checked the same way.

[F Bill]

ALso a U joint is $20 or less and you can bring it to a machine shop and have it changed for nowhere near $200. Or do it yourself with a vice and a socket or two.

[NoCoWillys]

My harbor freight 20ton shop press has paid for itself in the dozen or so ujoints I've broken.

[athawk11]

Tom,

I had to replace the carrier bearing  and rear U-Joint on my Tundra at about 130,000 miles. The symtom was a rapid vibration at 30 mph.  It would go away, then come back again at 70 mph.  I couldn't tell the U-joint was bad until I dropped the drive shaft.  Once out, I put the UJ through its motion by hand.  Doing this, I could feel how rough the motion was.  When a UJ is new, it feels very smooth.  

If you drop the shaft, mark its exact installed location.  When the new UJ is in place, reinstall the shaft in the exact same position as it was originally installed.  Drive shafts have a memory.  If you don't put it back in the same position, you risk having some vibration.

I used a big hammer and a 1" solid steel bar to drive the old UJ out.  It was a B&*(%$! to get out.   After cleaning the shaft,  I used my vise and a socket to seat the new UJ. This was actually pretty easy.  

Some Fords have a small spring loaded thingy at the end of the drive shaft.  I helped one of my co-workers swap out a UJ on his truck.  This little thing basically popped out.  It had disintegrated..  We weren't sure what it was.  I got on line and found a blow up drawing of the shaft.   The drawing showed the part.  It has been a while, but this could be the thrust spindle they mentioned. If memory serves, it was a $15.00 part.  

Tim  

[aboyandhisdog]

Tim and Bill,  Thanks a lot for your input.  It's funny that the owners manual says to lube the "thrust bearing spindle" every 30 k, but nowhere does it or my Haynes manual say where or what it is.  Haynes also does not show or talk about the carrier bearing so I'm not sure how to change that out.  Time to crawl under and figure out what all is involved.  Thank you for your help!