Hi,

So I just crawled under the car doing some pre-trip inspections before a big road trip to find...

...the bracket holding the carrier bearing on the drive shaft assembly is just hanging there with no bolts connecting it to the frame!

Anyone know what size bolts these are? I need to get to a parts store and bolt this up.

I've driven the car about 400 miles now since I've owned it. And who knows how long it went before that. How scary would y'all consider it to be to drive without this correctly assembled?

sorry, but my mind reading capabilities are limited through my internet connection. would you care to tell us the year/model of the car in question?

85' 300TD.

I'll put that in my sig now...

That carrier bearing is held on by a pair of 13mm bolts, don't know the thread pitch.

However, its not the bolts that are a big issue, its the sliding tabs they screw into that you can't jury rig that easy. Hopefully they are still there.

You definitely need this secured, I'm surprised the driveshaft wasn't hitting the sides of the tunnel or scraping.

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13mm. Okay. By that you mean the head right? But that's not the actual bolt size.

I basically have everything that is shown here: 1985 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Base Wagon - Axles, Bearings & Differential - Page 1 and the rubber looks good by visual inspection with the driveline on. So the "sliding tabs" you mentioned are there and in good shape.

The bracket itself was wearing a bit on the side of the tunnel, but only a bit. Some of the weight seems to have been resting on the brake cable

I tried to get a picture but its too dark up in there...

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

13mm head meaning it takes a 13mm socket is correct.

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Jim

The sliding tabs I refer to are what the bolt screws into, more along the lines of a captured nut up in the mounting aree, but they can be removed and slide out of the capture area fairly easy. Not something that is typically replaced. The tabs on the replacable carrier would be sandwiched between the bolt, the body of the car, and these removable tabs.

Id get under and check to make sure that part of your hardware is still there. The 13mm bolts are like an inch to 1.5 inchs long if I recall.

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Uh oh. no removable tabs. Can I get those anywhere but a junk yard?

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

...and thanks for explaining that.

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

I take that back. They're there! Weird how clearly I could see them at night and couldn't in the daytime. Might have something to do with BARELY being able to fit myself up under there...

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

I take that back. They're there! Weird how clearly I could see them at night and couldn't in the daytime. Might have something to do with BARELY being able to fit myself up under there...

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

It's an M8 bolt for anyone keeping score at home.

I feel kinda dumb for this but glad it didn't cost me any $$

I'll have them secured in the morning, with some thread locker this time!

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

this is the Driveshaft center support mount, and Driveshaft (PropShaft) bearing.

the Carrier bearing is inside the differential... certainly not something you'd want loose!

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My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I'm sure you're right but I've definitely heard it called a carrier bearing.

Either way, thanks for the help.

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Aaron
85' 300 TD

Awesome!

I also recall a heavy thick washer on the bolts as well. Thread lock sounds like a good idea, I've never had that problem with these center bearing fastners as my bolts are generally coated with rust, natures own threadlock.

I'm wondering if a PO possibly forgot to bolt it in. Anything under there recently serviced?

Then again, its definitely possible for the bolts to back out, I've had two starter bolts back out and the starter fall out of the bell while doing 70 on the highway. Turns out all mb bell housing bolts need spring washers, which had been removed by the PO

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