Ra23 tailshaft bearing problem

[Bruthrboodly]

Hi all.
I have an ra 23 that I recently replaced the tailshaft centre bearing in however when I go to drive off(as slow as walking speed) there is a large shudder in the car and I am forced to stop.
The box I believe is a supra box and a hilux diff however the bearing I figured was standard because it looked identical to the ra23 centre bearings, downfall of that is I threw the old part out :-( There's a couple of things that could contribute to what's going on so I'll throw it out there;

True to form I rushed into the job a little and neglected to mark my tailshaft where it meets the diff so I wasn't to know if I was putting it back on the exact way it came off, I figured this wouldn't matter too much due to a ring on the tailshaft flange and a recess on the diff flange that fits inside. Could be wrong though?

Also the bearing tightened up a little once I fitted the plate back onto the tailshaft that holds it but I'm sure it is just the rubber and it would wear in as the bearing spun fine once pushed on but without the plate done up.

I took the bearing off and turned it around to make sure it wasn't on the wrong way and when I did I noticed the holes are about 5mm different(measuring from housing to hole centre) to each other which led me to believe it is pushing the tailshaft off centre. Is there any way to check or ensure how true the shaft is running? Could be just a dodgy part but I figured 5mm is a bit excessive and this must be how they are.

So at the moment I'm thinking of bolting it up to the diff each way to rule that out then possibly look at slotting the holes a little for some play??

Any ideas what could most likely be causing it would be awesome

Thanks guys!

[lexsmaz]

As far as not marking the tailshaft where it bolts the diff flange, not really necessary as you said it sits on the flange shoulder, the shudder you get, is it as you are releasing the clutch as in could it be really bad clutch shudder or is the clutch fully engaged when you feel the shudder ??? if its also there when the clutch is fully engaged & your foot off the clutch as you are aware you have some issues, I would suggest a seized tailshaft uni or something really badly out of alignment & way way out ..

With the back end of the car jacked up get under there & turn the tailshaft around by hand & see what its doing & if you feel brave chock the car well & with the back end still raised get someone inside the car to start the car & select a gear & slowly engage the clutch whilst you are under the car & see whats happening, you will probably see the fault then, but do so at your own peril ( you lost me in your description of the bearing tightened up a little when I fitted the plate back onto the tailshaft )

[Bruthrboodly]

Yeah kinda wanted to avoid getting under it with things moving.
As for the plate- it's the flange half way down the tailshaft where it splits into two parts. The flange on the half of the shaft that has the bearing must be removed in order to remove the bearing, once put back on it basically holds the bearing in place. Sorry about the vague description.
And yes it's felt as I'm releasing the clutch and also when the clutch is fully released (foot off clutch). So generally as the shaft starts to turn with any kind of speed.

[lexsmaz]

I realised it was the centre bearing you were talking about its the description of the " the bearing tightened up a little " is what I was referring to, are you saying it got tight to turn the bearing / tailshaft ..

You need to check under the car to see what is happening or remove the whole shaft & see how it spins / feels & check all the unis for any tightness / crunchy feeling etc, as it should all spin very freely & there should be no tightness in any of the uni's & no slop or side movement etc too ..

[Bruthrboodly]

Oh ok yes the tailshaft was tight to turn once the shaft was fully assembled again.
I will try jumping under it for a visual this arvo or tomorrow and give an update. Cheers

[lexsmaz]

No doubt that is where your problem is, as it should not be tight at all to turn, so you need to see where you have stuffed up in the fitment of the centre bearing ..

[Bruthrboodly]

So jumped under and pulled the shaft out this arvo, bearing is really tight, but it's not the bearing itself it's the rubber boot around the bearing that's basically fouling on the two shoulder type surfaces on each side of the bearing that I assume kind of protect the bearing, kind of as if the rubber boot is just a bit too wide. it was even so tight that the rubber boot spun inside the housing when I turned the shaft by hand. So it's fairly obvious this is the problem but it gets me to thinking why it's doing it, there is really no way you can stuff it up putting it back on. The bearing is a cheap no name part so it could be that. I've been reading a genuine one can be up near $300, that's about 4 times what I paid for this one. I've also been reading the tailshaft needs to be balanced, is this only when they've been modified or something?

I will take the shaft to work tomorrow And disassemble for a further inspection.

[Bruthrboodly]

Upon taking bearing off and doing some measurements the problem became quite obvious;

Bore width 12.00mm
Bearing race width 13.00mm

So I was wrong and right. It's not just the rubber boot that's tight it's the whole thing. I will now try to source a bearing with a 12mm race width. If I can't do that it might be a case of machining a mm of the back shoulder but wanted to avoid doing anything like that.

I can only assume the tailshaft has been modified or is not standard because this is the right part for the make and model.

[Bruthrboodly]

Should say shaft journal length 12mm and race width 13mm

[masterofsinanju]

Mate I've just had an f-series dropped into my 23 and it needed to have the centre bearing notched to move over about

Post continued below. Damn thumbs and iPhone.

[masterofsinanju]

20mm to stop some pretty ordinary vibrations. I had both parts of the shaft balanced at the same time.

The t-series and f-series that I had have slightly different positions for the tailshaft to mate up. Might not be obvious to the naked eye. Sorry I cannot be more specific, I'm just paraphrasing what the engineer told me.

[Celica RA45]

if you have gone from a t series to a f series .the back part of the tail shaft is normally shorter by about 20mm
also center bearing needs to be bolted up when car is on level ground or with stands are under diff housing
you might have to long a tail shaft with a hilux diff in the back