I have the long bed 03 4x4, how much play is normal in the carrier bearing, if little to none is the answer can just the bearing be replaced and how much will the part cost. I am getting some vibration and the only play is at the carrier bearing.

 

I have never replaced a center carrier bearing on a Dodge, but I did replace one on a 1985 Ford F150 about ten years ago. As I recall, the part was not that expensive, maybe $30. It took a hell of a lot of force to press the old one off the shaft. I was active duty Air Force at the time, and I did the work at a base hobby shop. They had a hand-operated hydraulic press, maybe 10-ton. It took about 30 minutes ofspraying it withWD-40, applying max force with the press, and tapping it with a hammer before it released with a loud bang! The new one went on without any trouble. If you replace the carrier bearing it's also a good time to replace the u-joints, since you have to remove the shafts anyway.

Speaking of driveshafts and such, both the shafts on my 2007 have a section of the shaft covered with a rubber boot, which I have never seen before. Does the boot cover some sort of vibration dampener? Does anybody know what those are?

 

little or or no play should be felt in a carrier bearing. make sure you take the old one to match up to the new one.

checker, and autozone have a habit of listing the wrong parts

if youre gonna replace the carrier, rteplace the other u joints too..then its all fresh and no concerns..

 

those boots just protect the slip joint(I hope I got that right. . .Ive been looking at computer code all afternoon going crosseyed[:@])