I have been reading up on this, on this forum and others.
I do not believe I have the issue (have not been hearing noises from that area of car at all yet), all seems to be just fine (yes, knocked on wood 3 times).

However, I wonder if there is anything that can be done to be proactive on this. Do you just driver until the shaft busts? Or is there anything (especially in the bearring area) that can be done to prevent it from failing, or extend the life?

 

Yes, no.

 

...lol. man of few words. If only there were enough words to describe what cannot be done pro actively, that would be awesome. Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide that using more than 8 characters.

 

To extend the life - drive gently and not off-road. That might help (too many words IMHO..)

 

Just right amount of words IMHO. So no retreading, anything else but reduce stress on components by gentle driving? No replace of support itself to prolong life? Cool and thanks.

 

The support is bonded to the bearing and housing, and as such, isn't considered a replacement item. Drive easy. Stay out of rough stuff.

 

Good to know stuff like that. Often people wonder why something failed, but had they known how to take care of it in the first place, they would not be in the situation.

I do not take my car off roading at all. Not even off roading (literally).
So there should be no dirt getting into parts.
I do sometime have a spirited run through a turn or two but nothing that I would say would qualify as abuse.

We shall see what happens there.