What Is a Carrier Bearing?
A carrier bearing is an assembly that connects the multiple pieces of a vehicle’s drive shaft. Carrier bearings are frame mounted and provide support for the drive shaft to provide ground clearance for the vehicle.
Carrier bearings can be damaged by excessive side loads on the vehicle or drive shaft torque overloads. Symptoms of a faulty carrier bearing include gearbox noise, vibration and reduced power. Carrier bearings are used in two-piece and slip-in-tube drive shafts. The drive shaft delivers power from the transmission or transaxle to the wheels. Marine vessel drive shafts do not incorporate carrier bearings. They use strut block bearings that are better suited to absorb compression and tension when the ship’s propeller is generating thrust.
