I got a quote for installing a new carrier bearing and balancing my drive shaft. Good thing I was sitting down. $700-$900!!! Maybe I made the mistake of asking for a custom unit to be fashioned out of titanium plated narwhal tusks. Must be a Vancouver thing, but it sure makes keeping these old rides running a lot harder with these bandits around. Talk about getting shafted!
I got a quote for installing a new carrier bearing and balancing my drive shaft. Good thing I was sitting down. $700-$900!!! Maybe I made the mistake of asking for a custom unit to be fashioned out of titanium plated narwhal tusks. Must be a Vancouver thing, but it sure makes keeping these old rides running a lot harder with these bandits around. Talk about getting shafted!
Here in Cowtown, GM is charging $135.00 an hour and independents around $110 an hour.... plus parts.
I got a quote for installing a new carrier bearing and balancing my drive shaft. Good thing I was sitting down. $700-$900!!! Maybe I made the mistake of asking for a custom unit to be fashioned out of titanium plated narwhal tusks. Must be a Vancouver thing, but it sure makes keeping these old rides running a lot harder with these bandits around. Talk about getting shafted!
Did I mention that I would be providing the bearing? So even at $150 an hour, there is no way this is a 6 hour job. Shop rate is one thing that I can accept. Insanely inflated time estimates, not so much. If I can shave $200 off by doing the re and re myself, you know what I'll be doing on Saturday!
It's a 2 hour job taking your time,,, laying on your back on the garage floor. 2 bolts and 4 nuts.... Split the shafts and unbolt the yoke, tap,off the old bearing .. Reverse.
I've done this half a dozen times over the years....most time consuming part is the u joint.
do the r and r your self , take in the loose shaft and bearing, save yourself some bucks..
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later...rog
AADD supporting member !!
I'm a collector...not a builder!!Located in sunny central Saskatchewan at the lakehead!
Ya I hear ya on that crazy price.The thing is no matter where you take a used driveshaft to they always say it needs balancing blah blah blah-so in the end it always costs you 350-500 depending upon what it needs etc.I bought a brand new one from Denny's driveshafts in the U.S. last year-it is beautiful brand new and it was only $ 450 or so I think with new u joints etc..Check with a few places hoe much they are new before you balance the old one.
So my 2 piece drive shaft education is complete. I ended up taking it to Coast Powertrain Ltd , and I'm sure glad I did. My current shaft was even more hooped than I had imagined. The only thing it had going for it was the correct spline. Everything else was pretty much scrap. Luckily I had another complete driveshaft for parts, but it had the coarse yoke and the front section was about 2 inches too long.
I dropped of both shafts and they were going to make the best of it. They ended up cutting the spare front shaft to size, balanced both pieces, attached the fine spline yoke, installed the carrier bearing and replaced all three u-joints. Total bill was $300. Now that's more like it! And if I only needed both pieces balanced and the bearing installed, it would've only been half of that.
The things that I learned that I'd like to pass on: Yokes should always be welded on 180 degrees out of phase like they did at the factory. My old one was not, and made it impossible to balance.
If you aren't going to spend $100 or more on the high performance billet urathene carrier bearing, there is a couple things you can do to add longevity to the stock unit. First of all you should reinforce the base with by welding in a plate. Also throw some tack welds up the vertical seam. Next, be mindful of the length of mounting bolts. If they are too long and you over tighten them, they will actually help split the support in half. And lastly, snug down the carrier bolts when the car is not jacked up. Meaning it should be done at on the ground at normal ride height to avoid potential binding.
That's all I got for now, I'm gonna take it for an extended cruise. It runs smoother than ever. The rattletrap demons have been vanquished!
-- Edited by paris63 on Saturday 24th of May 2014 06:45:37 PM
A lot of mechanics hate working on old cars. One of my buddies from high school works in a shop. He despises old cars, even though he used to drive them. Hates all the rusty bolts. Last drive shaft I pulled from a 61, one of the center bearing bolts sheared off. I was kind of hating them myself for a few minutes !!
I got over it....
A lot of mechanics hate working on old cars. One of my buddies from high school works in a shop. He despises old cars, even though he used to drive them. Hates all the rusty bolts. Last drive shaft I pulled from a 61, one of the center bearing bolts sheared off. I was kind of hating them myself for a few minutes !! I got over it....
I hear ya. I've had plenty of shops flatly refuse to work on my car. I'm guessing its because there's no OBD port to tell them what's wrong with it. I remember a time not too long ago when you pulled an old ride into a garage, the veteran mechanic's eyes would light up. Sadly, all those guys have retired.
