2003XC70 Is prop shaft carrier bearing replaceable?

carboncow · Post by **carboncow** » 31 Jul 2015, 19:03

I went through this with Porsche/Vw years ago that you had to buy a new prop shaft but then they started selling the carrier.

See many posts stating it cannot be done on the XC70 and a new shaft is required, is that still true as I see V70 and older models are available.

What are the symptoms at the beginning of the failure?

We have some highway vibration and most speeds over 40 mph (no drop out and doesn't get worse with speed or RPM to much). Rebalanced new tires, 100% new front end, double checked alignment...running out of ideas!

Post by **oragex** » 31 Jul 2015, 19:56

What garage suggested the alignment? Sometimes is good to look for a better garage..

Constant vibration yes, that can be caused by a CV joint. The center axle bolt is also know to be a funky guy and should be inspected/replaced with a new one if it got loose. No reason to blame the carrier bearing. I think the easiest and best thing with the CV joints is the have the axle shafts inspected and refurbished at a good garage. If they can be refurbished or at least regreased, it can be done in less than 1 hour (plus the removal part)

Other reasons for vibrations can be uneven wheel lug tightening or a bent wheel or a broken engine mount. The control arm bushings have been replaced with Volvo/Lemforder?

carboncow · Post by **carboncow** » 31 Jul 2015, 20:24

Thanks for the info...and I'll explorer the cv and half shafts with 190K'ish on this car they are prob due.

I think down deep I don't think it's the prop shaft. The only experience I have with one failing on a Porsche Cayenne was a noticeable thump under load.

The center axle bolts were just replaced as we noted they were not very tight when we did the front end this week. The front end was done because the inner and outer tie rods were shot...I hoped the vibrations I was feeling was due to this as well as the slop. When that didn't fix it, nor the alignment we went with the wheel rebalance since that's free. Didn't really suspect that very strongly either as my experince with wheels out of balance is they are pretty speed specific...this vib is minor (but annoying) at most speed up to 75-80mph.

Post by **vtl** » 01 Aug 2015, 05:54

So what about front LCA bushings? They too cause vibration. Were LCAs replaced during frontend rebuild?

Also do you have other set of tires to try out? Sometimes tires are not true round, or do not provide equal radial force, and that causes vibration.

carboncow · Post by **carboncow** » 01 Aug 2015, 07:58

We gave the LCA an inspection and a wiggle and they seemed tight...is such an inspection acceptable or are there other issues with them that are not easily observed?

I had always understood that bad LCA cause a clunk when pulling away or stopping, didn't know about vibration or I would have swapped them!

I do have a set of tires on my V70 and although it's a really pain in the ass to swap them...I was considering it! Tires on it are only about 3000 miles old but they were on the car when the front end was a basket case so if any damage was worn into them I hoped it would go away from rotating them to the back.

Is your experience with not true round tires usually at given speeds only like me? Say a 5-10 mph range and not 25+ of vibration like I'm experiencing now?

Post by **vtl** » 01 Aug 2015, 08:37

carboncow wrote:We gave the LCA an inspection and a wiggle and they seemed tight...is such an inspection acceptable or are there other issues with them that are not easily observed?

That should be enough.

I had always understood that bad LCA cause a clunk when pulling away or stopping, didn't know about vibration or I would have swapped them!

It will cause similar effect as seriously worn tie rods cause unstable drive and random shakes.

Is your experience with not true round tires usually at given speeds only like me? Say a 5-10 mph range and not 25+ of vibration like I'm experiencing now?

Yes, higher speed means higher car's inertia, so it's getting harder for shaking wheel to transfer vibration to chassis. Of course, shocks get loaded more.

carboncow · Post by **carboncow** » 01 Aug 2015, 08:50

Any chance the el-cheapo springs/shocks I purchased could be causing this vibration? Since this is a 3rd car I went cheap on the loaded Sensens and they give the car a slight lift (up front) as the shock or spring isn't 100% OEM. Now that I write that we did feel there was a vibration before the install but who knows now...as it feels like a different type of vibration!

I think the wheel/tire swap is the next step.

Post by **oragex** » 01 Aug 2015, 14:11

As mentioned, vibration means unbalance of a rotating object with a certain mass. Basically struts and springs cannot cause it unless a spring is broken. I didn't notice what kind of vibration you feel, is it at the steering wheel only?

carboncow · Post by **carboncow** » 01 Aug 2015, 14:14

oragex wrote:As mentioned, vibration means unbalance of a rotating object with a certain mass. Basically struts and springs cannot cause it unless a spring is broken. I didn't notice what kind of vibration you feel, is it at the steering wheel only?

Good question...and I think I want to answer it's felt overall. I can look at the passenger seat and see it's side to side motion that appears to match what I feel in the steering wheel.

Post by **SuperHerman** » 04 Aug 2015, 10:44

What does the prop shaft look like? If the center bearing is bad you will know it by looking at it. Is the rubber broken, ripped or loose? I have replaced one in my XC70 and one in my XC90 and the problem was easy to spot.

Symptoms are grinding noise and slight vibration, but that can be worse if condition is further along towards complete failure.