Soooo.... I got my driveshaft support bearing (DSB) replaced between 25,000 and 65,000 miles ago (I have to look in my records when I get home) and now need another one. There is again enough play to move the driveshaft about 3/8" in any direction.

I'm pretty sure it should have no play. It's noisy now even with just me in the car. When I had the DSB replaced, I asked my mechanic years ago to replace all 3 u-joints. He only replaced 1 of them. I think this may have been the reason the new bearing failed. I assumed the one I had replaced was original. I also lived somewhere that had very very fine silt and dust that could have nuked the bearing. I had the u-joints replaced (all 3 this time) recently because one of them was going bad (starting to thump) and I wanted to kill an any with a cannon, so to speak.

So I have a few questions:
1) Is there supposed to be any play in the driveshaft - are you supposed to be able to move it almost half an inch in any direction?
2) How long are DSBs supposed to last?
3) What could kill or ruin a DSB early?


Also, I tried to use the grease injector method to quiet it down today, but didn't know where to actually put the grease. Is the bearing snug up against teh shaft, or is it housed in the rubber holder somewhere? I know some people really advocate against lubricating the bearing, but I don't see the harm in messing with something that's ruined.

Cheers and Merry Christmas to whoever celebrates it. Happy New Year for everyone else :D