Driveshaft carrier / center bearing install on 620

[reese]

I need to do this soon and want any info from someone who has done this. In the manual I see you unbolt the flange between the two driveshafts, undo the big bolt that holds the carrier bearing onto the front shaft and press it off. Is this correct?

[datzenmike]

Sounds right. You have the haynes of FSManual? I have a '78 FSM at home. These bearings hardly ever fail as there's not much load on them. They just allow the driveshaft to turn inside the rubber 'doughnut'. Might be easier to find a used driveshaft?

[Pacific coast Datsun]

I replaced the one in my 74. The rubber surrounding the bearing was worn away causing the driveshaft to wobble. I had to put it in a vise & use a hammer & a LOT of PB blaster to remove the bearing. If you have access to a press id say go that route.

[650savag]

Mike is right on about the bearing hardly ever failing. The rubber boot is the part that deteriates and causes the shaft to wobble around inside the metal support bracket. What I did on mine was to unbolt the support bracket (2 bolts) and cut away what was left of the shredded rubber boot. Then I fabricated a new boot out of a round, rubber donut apparatus that we use at work as an insulater for vessel annodes. I split it, wrapped it around the bearing, taped it with a good electrical tape, bolted the support clamp back down around it to hold it in place and it has worked great. That took all the wobble out of the shaft but still allows some flex with the rubber donut. If you are worried about the fabricated boot working it's way out of the support bracket, you can wrap a few wraps of electrical tape around the bracket above, below and on each side of the shaft. Like I say, I did this on mine several months ago and it is still holding geat. I do glance under there occasionally and make sure it is still in place. That saved me about $100 and some labor too.

[datzenmike]

I don't have one now but my old one I fixed by doing the same thing, only using a strip of rubber conveyor belt wrapped around the bearing and clamped down. The difference was amazing and it worked for years until I got rid of the whole drive shaft.

[hitch]

Just finished installing mine. I picked up the bearing from the closeout deal thread several weeks back. The shaft extraction was simple enough. The bracket that holds the donut is easier to remove and unbolt if you take out the two bolts on the bottom of the cross member that hold the emergency brake apparatus. You can then get to the nuts that secure the donut retainer, if you move the brake bracket a little. I took the shaft to my buddies shop and he had the bearing pressed off and on in a few minutes. I

[reese]

I did mine last week also, its not a big deal if you have a press. Just make sure you mark everything and put the driveshaft back in the same balanced location. Its a under 2 hour job.