|
Hello,
Having had both a centre bearing fail and a drive shaft u joint fail in recent years. I can perhaps offer some advice on your question. I can't however comment on towing trailers or IDP poly bushings, which can squeak sometimes but not grind.
A grinding noise is not characteristic of a failing U-joint. As the pin bearings disintegrate you will not likely hear an audible grind. What happens when a U-joint goes is more a thumping vibration, especially when under load in acceleration starting from a stop, but it can also quiet down at speed and get louder in certain ranges. My failing rear U-joint, for example, would vibrate the coins in my ashtray at speeds greater than 90km/hr. The U-joint also kicked up a bit of a thumping vibration when braking to a stop as the rear of the car lifted and the angle the rear u-joint had to operate at changed. I drove the car for a year like this and the u-joint needle bearings on one arm of the u-joint were complete dust. Most members on the board will tell you it is the rear U-joint that fails first.
As for a centre bearing failing, mine sounded like a whirling growl. like an failing bearing. In fact I first thought it was the passenger wheel bearing. but it was the centre driveshaft bearing. If you suspect this bearing is dry or old and about to fail, its a good idea to change it. a bearing is cheap. The rubber donut, dusk deflector and spring not to mention the potential damage to the underside of your car is a certain to be a bit more costly in the event of a catastrophic failure.
if the carrier bearing rubber is collapsed or failing this can be easily checked by looking under the car.
the driveshaft sits about an inch or two above the carrier bearing cradle support member. housed in the rubber donut. grab it with your hands and try to bounce it around a bit and see if it is doing its job right.
none of these parts in my experience give off a 'grinding' noise.
-rear emergency brake can grind and click inside the drum when it is going bad. lots of other things can grind.
As for buying parts and which parts are better. My own preference is that if the job takes more than 4 hrs to do it's worth paying the premium and buying OEM. A u-joint cost me 95$ recently compared to maybe 17-25$ and a centre bearing about 55$ are the made in England Volvo stuff better ? I don't know, but if they last an extra year or two under the car with road salt and debris compared to generic parts, that's money well spent in my opinion, because I don't want to change them again anytime soon. The centre bearing inside race isn't that hard to drive off with a hammer and punch. the u-joint is a bit tricky to reassemble and to not crush the needle bearings inside the cap.
If you're going to tackle this job, come back for more advice.
I'd be looking for other sources of 'grind' noise first tho.
let us know how it goes !
good luck,
|
