I probably already know the answer, but could use some confirmation. The carrier bearing on the drive shaft on my 1984 300TDT seems to be almost non-existent. There is a lot of wobble when I try to move it by hand, and when I accelerate, especially from a stop, I can feel significant vibration, almost like a severely out of balance tire. When I reach cruising speed, the vibration seems to disappear. If the bearing is the culprit, what is the best source for the part.

Thanks in advance.

 

My Volvo has a similar set up. With the Rear on Jack Stands and the Real Wheels off the Ground and the Transmission in Gear the whole Bearing and Carrier would bounce up and down due to the bearing grabbing (when I spun the removed bearing it felt just like sand was inside of it).

In any event you simply need to shop at the various Parts Places to get a Bearing and a new Bearing Carrier.

If you are not in a hurry and want to be sure you get a US, Japanese or European made Bearing you could wait until the Bearing is of and look at the Number on the Bearing and search on Ebay for that.

I just bought a bearing on Ebay to fix the Electric Radiator Fan. In my case I did not care where the Bearing was made because the Fan does not run often and it is easy to fix so I did not pay the extra money for a better quality bearing.

But, due to the amount of work involved to change the Carrier Bearing it would be worth while to have a high quality Bearing.
The same issue also applys if you ever have to change the Rear Wheel Bearings.

 

While I have bought from Rock Auto before the 2 bearings they sell Beck Arnley at $25.89 or National $26.79 plus shipping.

Compared to Autohausaz claimed original equipment Bearing by INA $13.86 plus shipping seems like a better deal.