# Need Some Bearings on Bearings



## RayontheRobot (Jun 2, 2013)

Hey nissanforums long time lurker here, first time poster. I have a '91 D21 Ka24e Kingcab with a little over 253,000 miles on it. I've owned it for about 5 years (since it only had 202,000 miles) and it's been a reliable truck, but it's needing some serious TLC and for the last month there's been a steady increase in vibration and volume from the rear of the vehicle from what I assumed was the rear wheel bearings chirping [audible squeaking when accelerating from a dead stop until about 15 mph]. This week I decided to pull out the Chiltons and to my surprise according to the book the rear bearings aren't serviceable and the book gives no indication of where the rear axle bearings are. I poked around a little more in the Chiltons and remembered that when I pushed in the clutch the chirp would usually go away and when my vehicle was coasting at the same speed it would usually be silent, which makes me think that maybe it's the center bearing instead. It also seems load dependent, I was hauling a lot of gear and two passengers last weekend and it was sounding bad, but this week by myself and riding with only a single passenger and no load it wasn't as bad. 

For tl;dr recap, do the wheel bearings on the rear axle of a D21 go bad and need to be replaced or is it more likely that my center bearing is going out???


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## TheRepairMan (Jun 30, 2009)

It's actually more likely that it's a driveshaft u-joint, or the drive shaft center support bearing, if applicable.

The situation calls for a little more in depth testing to pinpoint exactly.

-R


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

RayontheRobot said:


> This week I decided to pull out the Chiltons and to my surprise according to the book the rear bearings aren't serviceable and the book gives no indication of where the rear axle bearings are.


The rear wheel bearing are serviceable. The axle shafts need to be removed and the bearings pressed out from them using a hydraulic press. First check for smoothness by turning the axle hub by hand. Next check for axle end play; there should be none.


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## RayontheRobot (Jun 2, 2013)

*Totally was a U-joint*

Sorry for leaving y'all hanging, a whole bunch of life happened and my pickup totally became a back burner project.

So I left the country for 3 months and when I got back it seemed the same for about a week. When I was driving it today however the u-joint connecting the drive shaft to the rear diff. sheared off, luckily right in front of my house as I was about to drive away. This is pretty good news, because I don't have a hydraulic press or access to one but I do have a hammer and a punch so I can knock the bits of u-joint still stuck in my driveshaft out. the back bearings seemed to do a good job when I pushed the truck back to my parking spot (WOW vehicles roll faster when the driveshaft's not attached!) so I think I can rule that out :crazy:

I'm curious if there's anything that can lead U-joints to fail so I can see if there's anything else I need to fix, but I have a feeling that it was an old part that simply failed. Also I'm assuming that I should buy a new one since it's a pretty important part that gets a lot of wear; however I'm all about going to the local junkyard for a used one to save a couple bucks (I need a clutch slave cylinder bad so I'm already planning a trip) if anyone has any positive experience with used u-joints they're willing to share, or if it would just be better to get a new junkyard driveshaft even. Speaking of which somebody welded a big fender washer to the side of my driveshaft? I'm assuming for counterbalance; Is this a bad sign? 

I'm crawling under it tomorrow to get the differential hardware off and make sure there was no extra damage I can't see; the driveshaft got drug along the pavement pretty good so I was gonna sand it down and repaint it for rust reasons (this area gets a lot of rain), but it doesn't look too chewed up.

So what I'm trying to find out is if that U-joint is replaceable or if its fixed to the differential piece (the u-joint connecting the drive shaft to the rear diff. hardware is how I'm describing it), and what kind I would specifically need. I've found a cheap rockauto page about them but I don't have a reference book and my Chiltons is currently M.I.A. so I don't know If it's the right part, but it's dirt cheap so I'd really like it to be. I've read that nissan longbeds/kingcabs have three u-joints so should I just replace them all at once?

BECK/ARNLEY Part # 1020379; 1991 NISSAN D21 PICKUP 2.4L L4 SOHC
Drivetrain : Universal Joint; Joint Except 4 WHEEL/ALL WHEEL DRIVE,JAPANESE MFG


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

According to the FSM, the U-joints are replaceable. Your best bet is to replace all of them.


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## RayontheRobot (Jun 2, 2013)

Thanks for info, I'll probably end up doing that. The shaft looks pretty okay other than some scrapemarks and the washer welded to it, so hopefully I can just repair it rather than get a new one. I still need to pull it out, but it seems that I'll need 3 u joints. Can anyone confirm that?


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## donjlinw006 (Nov 4, 2013)

For the u joints, you're right you need 3 of those..... And I agree that you need to replace all.


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## RayontheRobot (Jun 2, 2013)

*sticky bolts*

Thanks for the info. I've been looking at the shaft more and I'm probably going to only replace the last two u joints, the first one looks like a huge pain and it seems pretty smooth still plus theres a shroud in the way of the first u joint. The bolts that hold the rear shaft down are insanely hard to get off, and im having a hell of a time getting them off so I want to simplify this repair as much as possible. I'd use a torch to loosen them up but I dont really have the space. It would be easier if the rear diff didnt get in the way of the bolt heads as well. Would it be easier to do if two people held the wheels is what I am thinking next, but I'm going to try a box wrench first for a little extra torque. Still trying to verify those replacement parts, probably going to call after I get one out of the shaft I have to compare and measure.


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