The Split Housing Driveshaft Carrier

The stock center support bearing carrier holds the driveshaft in place with a layer of thin rubber. While that’s great for making sure no NVH makes it to the cabin, it doesn’t hold up over time, often leading to multiple replacements over the life of the truck, while also creating slop in the driveline during shifts and throttle application.

As it ages the OEM bushing becomes brittle, eventually dry rotting and cracking.

Our upgraded driveshaft carriers keep the driveshaft firmly in place at all times. The more solid bushings ensure the bearing cannot move from center, maintaining torque delivery and driveshaft alignment at all times, resulting in more direct driveline response under all conditions.

Benefits as described by our customers include:

• Smoother low-speed on/off throttle behavior off-road

• More direct throttle response

• Firmer, more direct shifts

• More instantaneous launches

• Reduction in vibration due to driveshaft misalignment and/or rubber deterioration

The Optional Bearing

We are the first to offer a standalone bearing. Combined with our split housing carrier, you can replace everything or only the components you see fit:

• Replace just the housing, leaving the good original bearing intact

  • You can always replace the bearing later for the same original cost

• Replace the bearing and the housing together

Why You May Not Want to Replace the Bearing

Replacing the bearing can be a pain, and bearings typically outlast the rubber. Our split housing design allows you to replace the rubber and outer frame without messing with the bearing. You can purchase the bearing anytime down the road should you need it, so we recommend only replacing the bearing if it’s high mileage or on its way out. Replacing it down the road doesn’t really add any additional work to the process as a whole. Simply split the two halves of the carrier and you have perfect access to the bearing.

The videos below show a comparison of how much the OEM carriers give under load and the improvement with the JXB carrier. First two videos are the HD round version, last two are the LD square version of the frame.

Installation doesn’t require removal of the driveshaft. The 2-part design clamps around the OEM bearing. The old carrier must be removed, so a cutting tool is required.

The exact steps to access the carrier will vary slightly by model, but the removal and installation of the new carriers are the same. The basic steps are:

• Cut off OEM carrier and remove rubber support material with razorblade

• Clamp new carrier around OEM bearing

• 3rd gen Ram 2500/3500 (2003-2009)

  • (2007-2010 chassis cab)

  • Fits all models with a 2-pc driveshaft with center support bearing

Street and Track refer to the durometer (stiffness) of the bushings. Track are roughly twice the durometer of the street bushings. Both track and street will hold up to whatever abuse are thrown at them, but the street bushings are better at soaking up drivetrain noise and vibration. Usually both street and track are completely silent and vibration-free, but in cases where there is an underlying drivetrain issue causing the driveshaft to vibrate badly, the track bushings may not be able to soak it all up, where the street bushings can.

We generally recommend street bushings for any truck that's not purpose-built for track or overland use, since the street bushings have a much lower chance of transmitting drivetrain NVH to the cabin at high speeds or under heavy throttle loads.

If you’re not sure which to go with, the “Give me Both!” option will give you a full set of each of the street and track bushings. You can use all street, all track, or even mix and match them to find the perfect balance of performance and NVH-absorption.