so...

i knew this was growling and making the signs that it needed fixing, but i never thought it was urgent and i never read more than 'vibrations' resulting of a failed bearing. .. .

well at highway speeds when one of those blow the drive shaft tries to spin its way into the cab of the car thru the floor. The U-joints tore some nice gashes into the bottom of the car and the sheet metal is scrapped totally clear of whatever undercoating it once had.

any advice ?

any guesses as to whether this will be a new bearing and rubber housing and rebuild ? or if this is going to likely need new U-joints and possibly more ?

has this ever happened to other members ?

my car only has 375 000 kms on it.

i've heard of people driving them for a long time on 'growling' bearings ...

that drive shaft thrashed around between the floor of the car and the bolt-on support member and all i see is broken bearing collars and a mess of shredded rubber and a badly gouged floor. At highway speed i thought the drive shaft was slapping against the ground.