Lubricating drive shaft or propeller on 2006 4x4 Tacoma's...

Subn' for reading later

 

I run the Valvoline SynPower grease. It's NLGI #2 GC-LB lithium complex EP grease and protects from -60°F to 425°F. I don't think it matters but this is a greater temp range than Mobil 1. I think either way as long as you change it regularly you'll be fine but I just wanted to throw in my .02.

Proper relubrication flushes the U-joints and removes abrasive contaminants from the U-joint bearings.

"Spicer recommends a lubricating interval of 5000 miles or three months on 4x4s used 10% on trail. Cut that in half, at least, if you 'wheel a lot', and apply a squirt or two after major encounters with water."

City is 5000 as well, highway is 10k.


Spicer replacement universal joint kits contain only enough grease to provide needle bearing protection during
storage. It is therefore necessary to completely lubricate each journal cross and bearing assembly prior to
assembly into the driveshaft yokes. Each journal cross lube reservoir should be fully packed with a grease as
recommended in Chart 4. Each bearing assembly should also be wiped with the same grease, filling all the cavities
between the rollers and applying a liberal grease coating on the bottom of each bearing cap. After the kits are
installed into the driveshaft yokes and prior to placing into service, relube as follows:
1. Using the proper lubricant, purge all four bearing seals of each U-joint. This flushes abrasive contaminants from
each bearing and assures all four bearings are filled properly. *Purge the seals. Spicer seals are made to be purged.
2. If any of the seals fail to purge, move the driveshaft from side to side while applying gun pressure. This allows
greater clearance on the thrust end of the bearing that is not purging (Photo 1).

Note: Purge - The point at which fresh lubricant has flowed from the seal


*We recommend relubrication with Chevron Ultra-Duty EP-2 or a compatible lithium based grease meeting
N.L.G.I. Grade 2 specifications with an operating range of +325°F/+163°C to -10°F/-23°C






Zerk Locations in pretty pictures

 

Good info. Thanks.

 

they are greased every 5000 kms, when oil gets changed and tires rotated...routine maintenance

 

every 5000 kms(3000 miles), when oil gets changed and tires rotated...routine maintenance

 

I do all my own maintenance, but I have been ignoring the "lubricate the propeller shaft and re-torque bolts" recommendation in the maintenance log because I didn't know what a "propeller" shaft was. At 45,000 miles, I decided I better find out. Thanks to this forum, I learned it is simply the drive shaft and U-joints. Glad I checked here. All 5 joints took quite a few pumps for the grease gun before they were filled. I used Lucas Red and Tacky #2 grease.

The three zerk fittings were easy to find on the rear propeller shaft joints. Toyota was even nice enough to line them all up, so when one is pointing down, the others do too. The two on the front drive shaft (for 4x4's), were harder to find and grease. They are sort of hidden inside the U-joint. Really hard to get the grease gun fitting over the zerk and try to screw it tight. Almost impossible with my type of grease gun, but somehow I managed. I wonder if there are other types of grease guns which can snap over the zerk fitting without needing to screw the end tight.

Here's some pictures in case others might find them useful:

Rear U-joint zerk fitting with grease gun attached:



Better view of the fitting:


here's the one near the middle of the drive shaft:


and the one near the transfer case:

 

I use a small pistol grip one handed gun like this

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/WE...0-PSI-Operating-Pressure-4BY82?BaseItem=1TBA9

As you found out the big guns don't work on the front zerks.

 

Can it be assumed the reason the dealership doesn't do this is because it causes a f***ing mess?? I just did mine for the 15K and tried cleaning off the old grease best I could. After not much driving I can smell burning grease from it being slung on the exhaust as well as undercarriage. What can I do to do it better or just avoid it all together?

 

X2

 

That's what I used. It wasn't that I couldn't grease them, It was the mess they made once they were

 

I use a large cartridge gun similar to the one in post 162, works just fine for all.

 

2 each his own

 

It wasn't much of a mess putting the grease in, but you do have a point since I did make some grease come out..didn't think about it being flung everywhere. At least grease doesn't cause stuff to rust..

 

I run a paper towel thru the U joints as I go along - no excess grease

 

Sub'd to remind me to do this.

 

Ya I had a good amount of greese that made its way to my driver's side door, was just to lazy to wipe excess/old that was in between the joints.

 

I have read no less than 15 threads in five different forums the past two days trying to fully understand how to lube the propeller shaft...I'm close...

I have a 2014 DCSB 4x4 Sport.
Plan to lube the shaft in the next week.

Havn't crawled under the truck yet but am assuming there is a "Slide Yoke" and " Double Cardan" joint...

Some post list to use:
- NLGI No.2 Lithium Base Chassis Grease is used for the universaljoint
- NLGI No. 2 Molybdenum Disulfide Lithium Base Chassis Grease is used forthe Slide Yoke and the Double Cardan Joint.

I understand from this thread and others we don't want moly in our u-joints...at least not high concetrations for long periods of time. Too hard for the bearing surfaces. Moly is for high pressure sliding apps (like the splines).

Question: are most folks just using a good quality non-moly lithium based chassis greast (Mobile 1, Valvolene, Lucus RednTacky) for everything?

Or, are you running two grease guns? I have two so getting two greases is not an issue.

Also, old thread...does anyone have a current book for 2014 +/- listing the service method/lubes for the propeller shaft?

Thanks!

 

i have used red n tacky on all the shaft zerks for 3 years now with no issues.

 

Can someone confirm the lube locations for 2013+ 4x4? I have read that there are 5, I'm assuming one at each joint. 3 on the rear drive shaft, 2 on the front. Is this correct?

Thanks

 

I can confirm all 5 for my 2012