Replace Touareg Drive Shaft Center Carrier Bearing for $75.00

I replaced my bad drive shaft carrier bearing for $74.32. RockAuto.com sells the bearing with pillow block for $64.99 before shipping.

If your drive shaft is not damaged when the bearing fails, then you don't need a complete new shaft. Replacing the bearing will not require the shaft to be re-balanced either.

To replace the bearing you will have to separate the short forward shaft from the longer rear shaft. The CV (constant velocity) joint just behind the carrier bearing comes apart to allow the bearing to be removed from the shaft. The CV joint is covered by a metal cap that is crimped onto the CV joint body. The trick is to pry off the cap to replace the carrier bearing, then crimp it closed again afterward. Here's how to do it:

Park the car on level ground and block both front and one rear wheel then jack up the remaining rear wheel until it is just off the ground. Use a jack stand to support the vehicle securely. This will give you a little more clearance for crawling under the car and allow you to rotate the raised tire which in turn rotates the drive shaft. You will need the car in neutral and no emergency brake on. This makes for a potentially dangerous situation, but this car has high ground clearance and you’re only raising it a few inches.

Remove the six bolts on the rubber dounut at the front of the shaft. This big rubber donut will have to be pried loose because it has steel sleeves in the bolt holes which are pressed about 1/4 inch into the flange holes. Mine were a bit rusted and I had to pry hard with a huge screw driver to pop them loose.

Remove the six large bolts and the two small bolts from the plate that the carrier bearing is mounted to. Bend the shaft up at the CV joint and free the front of the shaft from the trans. It will now be resting on the exhaust pipe that crosses just below it.

Now working with a small thin flat bladed screw driver and a hammer, work your way around the metal cap prying it loose from the back of the joint. This is tricky. It's hard to get under the edge with the screw driver and it's slow work. You only need to pry it open a little wider so that it can be driven forward. When you think it's pried enough to get it free, use a drift to drive it forward exposing the greasy innards of the joint. Note the O-ring seal that seals the cap. Try not to damage it.

Push this cap forward (the rubber boot with compress). You may wish to temporarily hold it out of your way with wire, duct tape or string.

Wipe away some of the black grease so you can see what you’re doing. Then bend the joint and push the cage that retains the balls outward until a ball or two comes out. Rotate the drive shaft by turning the raised tire and remove all 6 balls in the same fashion (the shaft will probably come out when you’re down to one or two balls.

Wipe all of the grease out of the notched cup on the rear shaft and clean all of the grease off of the balls and star end of the front shaft. The cage won’t come off while the star is still on the shaft. Clean everything with mineral spirits or other grease cutting cleaner. Don’t allow the rubber boot to soak in cleaner or it may swell and become ruined.

Now mark the shaft and the CV star with a punch. Hammer a small dot near the shaft spines and one on the collar of the star so that you can assemble them in the exact position later. It will be hard to mark these spots because the metal is very hard, but work at it to mark a small mark that you will be able to see later. Getting the star on the shaft wrong could give you an “out of balance” drive shaft.

The edge of the cap you pried off is most likely a little scarfed up at this point. File the sharp burs and edges of the cap. I used some course sand paper on the inside edge to smooth it a bit so it wouldn’t damage the O-ring when it went back on.

Remove the star and the carrier bearing: You’ll need a gear puller and three hands for this next step. Hold the shaft in a vise, open up the snap ring at the end of the shaft (it’s tricky. I used a snap ring pliers that I ground flat edges onto) and tighten the gear puller. Once the snap ring clears its groove you can let go of it and it will just pull off with the star piece.

Slide the boot off. You’ll need to reuse the boot and band clamp so don’t ruin it.

Now examine the old bearing and the new bearing to make sure you know which way the new one will go on. Remove the small snap ring at the base of the bearing. Cut away the rubber around the bearing’s outer race. Use the gear puller again and pull from the bearing’s outer race. You’re not worried about ruining this because it’s already shot. Once you get the bearing off, curse at it loudly for failing, as you throw it in the trash. This step is very important as it will help you feel a whole lot better.

Drive the new bearing on. I used a piece of steel pipe. Make sure you only contact the inner race as you drive it on. Applying pressure to the outer race can ruin the bearing. Re-install the snap ring. Replace the boot and band clamp. Drive on the star with cage (if you forget the cage, you’ll have to take it apart again) and snap ring until it seats into the groove.

Pack some new CV grease into the cage around and behind the star. Put two balls next to each other into the cage. The sticky grease will temporarily hold them in place. Spoon some grease into the grooved cup on the rear shaft. Use a liberal amount of grease. Angle the shaft upward with the balls at the bottom and slide it into the grooved cup aligning the balls into the grooves as you go.

BIG NOTE: There are two ways this joint can be assembled. I did it wrong first, so I know. The ball grooves in the star and in the cup are angled. If you look at the end of each piece you will see that the grooves are spaced, two close, then two wide, then two close, then two wide, etc. Looking at the ends as they come together, you want the close spaced grooves to align with the close spaced grooves, and the wide spaced grooves to align with the wide spaced grooves. The grooves line up so that they “cross” each other when completely assembled. 

Rotate the rear tire to bring the next groove set to the bottom, angle the shaft up and push the very greasy cage outward until you can just get the next ball in. Repeat for each groove. It helps to push the cage flush each time before you rotate the shaft. This keeps balls from falling out while turning the shaft.

If you’ve done this correctly the shaft will be able to swing (pivot) in all directions. If you’ve done this wrong the shift will be held straight and won’t pivot easily. If it doesn’t pivot easily that means you’ve got the grooves aligned wrong…take it out and align the balls one groove over.

Tap the metal cap back into position and use a blunt cold chisel to crimp the edge of the cap again. This is tricky, but work your way around it tapping until a good seal is made. You may wish to try to clean the edge well and apply some sealant here. If you don't get a good seal, grease will escape when the shaft is turning.

Bolt the six bolts back onto the tranny. Make sure to use the “short” bolts on the flange from the tranny. The long ones would hit the trans flange.

Bolt the carrier bearing plate back on and you’re good to go. You just saved a boat load of money.