trey72731

I have been chasing a shake in my 02 rx300 awd that has been driving me bonkers..! I recently put a forum up asking for help and the center drive shaft was mentioned to be the culprit some time. I have since ventured under the vehicle and notice i can push the drive shaft around alot rite at the front center support. I have found both the rear and front supports for less than $200 new. My question is should i bother trying to bolt these in myself or leave this for my local mechanic ?

Thanks,
Trey72731

salimshah

Depends on your skill and tools.

It is not a simple remove and install. There is alignment concern (remeasure) or use the factory set position [you mark it before removing .. which may be lost in your case]. The other is easy .. mark the shaft connection alignment before disconnecting and on reassembly match the marks.

Get hold of service manual.

Salim

MellonC00

I'm about to have this done on the front. My mechanic tells me it's a two hour job. I expect to pay about 190 for part and 250 for labor.

Let me know how this turned out. Under full throttle, only in first gear, my shakes after the initial launch. Worse when going uphill. I had up and down movement in the shaft.

salimshah

Front are half shafts and same principle applies but alignment for the center support does not apply (unless you have a bend/accident).

Make sure you replace the drive ouput seals and mechanic uses new clips. Since ball joint will be separated, you may like to have an alignment done. If you have an old set of tires you may choose to observe the future wear. If the wear remains even then you can skip alignment. Or have it done when you purchase new tires.

Also examine the boots. Lexus sells a kit and the life seems to be 10yrs 175k miles. Inner gets more stressed. My outers are still good. (YMMV). Should be another hour of labor but it will be 3+hrs if you do it after everything is put together.

Some folks just buy a refurbished 1/2 shafts. There is discussion on this in another thread.

Salim

MellonC00

Are these the same as the two cradle bearing supports that are between the front and rear of the drive shaft? Sorry I'm not very good at this area of the car.....

salimshah

First there is only 1 ... I think on the passenger side and very different.

Just peek under. If you remove the wheel, you can reach out and touch it.

Salim

crawdad

Hi are you talking about the driveshaft from the front to the rear of the car?? if so I replaced the whole driveshaft assembly...these are around $600 from Indy rack and axle in Indianapolis....It wasn't to hard to do,just had to tweek the muffler to get it in place then just bolt it in....that way you get all new u-joints and carrier bearings too....my 2002 was making a clunk whenever I put it in gear...the front u-joint was really bad so I figured it best to do the whole set up which is 3 shafts...oh and the u-joints are spiked in so a diy cannot replace them ;} hope this helps dave