Check Your U-Joints

this is what I am running for its water repelling characteristics

 

That's what the Spicer Synthetic is.
I'd like to try that next. I wanted grease in there rfn.
Does it mix all right?

 

I suppose. I purged the old grease out of mine.

 

Looks like it does.
http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/1865/grease-compatibility

 

Wrong forum I know but does anyone know if this would apply to my 2013 PreRunner(2wd) TRD OR?

 

hygieneboy posted pics earlier; his 2013 2wd Prerunner Access Cab 2.7 has them

 

I've never run it but like stated I hear it's good in marine applications. I bet it would be a good choice and stay put nicely.

 

^Yep. Had an awful squeak coming from my drive shaft this past summer. Turns out it was the front u joint. I had a shop replace both u joints and the carrier bearing for good measure. The u joints they replaced the old ones with have zerks. Doesn't make sense to me that the original ones didn't have them.

 

Thank you for your input into this post about U-joints, it was most helpful....

 

You're most welcome. I'm pretty sure the OP provided about the most case open/ closed case that you could find on here. Everything else on here is just side commentary.

 

That's what I did too. I helped my brother replace his rear one as well and made sure it had the zerk in it. Told him he would regret it later if he didn't. We probably should have replaced all three, but the other two were tight with no noise.

 

So, I left work early today so I could go home and crawl under the Taco to check all the zerk's. Moving from front to back this is what I discovered:
1st: took 5 pumps before grease began to seep out around the seals.
2nd: 6 pumps
3rd: 4 pumps (had to remove heat shield to get access to the fitting)
4th: 10 pumps! bone dry? maybe....
5th: 7 pumps.

I'm really glad I stumbled on this thread... I would have never thought to check the U-joints for proper lubrication. I would have assumed that the factory and or dealership at a minimum would have given the truck a complete once over before delivering to the buyer. Never will I again make that mistake! In fact, I'm going to take it in next week even though I only have 3k miles on it and have the dealership drain, flush and top off the ATF, and do an oil change... Is there anything else I'm missing?

Word of advice to other Gen 3 owners... take heed and check your U-joints... if you can't do it yourself, find someone you trust and have them do it...

Oh, and if you're wondering what grease I used... NLGI #2

Craig

 

Can anyone notify someone connected via service channels with corporate Toyota about this? Seems like everyone who checks these finds them not filled. Either this is intentional for some reason "we" don't understand, or Toyota should probably be made aware that it is being missed in their assembly/port process...

 

do 2wd have these too?

 

No. We O.K.!

 

Here you go...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-u-bolts.397913/
...and I plan on checking the diff fluids next.

Between these two threads I'm hoping to curb a lot of the bullshit driveline problems that have plagued these trucks.

 

Toyota is one of the last manufacturers to even install grease fittings. Most others just smear a little grease inside and the joints manage to last 200,000+ miles.

 

Again thank you for your input. You help the Gen 3 community so much. I hope the Gen 2 community is as thankful for your obvious commitment to provide relative information to topics and not garbage.

I'm glad I bought some grease from Amazon yesterday... also glad they are shipping on Sundays now.

 

I have provided plenty of useful information to the community. Enough on here to mess around on other threads where they are obviously complete nearly from the get go. So again. You're very welcome!

 

Thanks for this thread! Grease gun and grease bought. About 10 pumps in all 5 of mine and also my dad's. Mine was manufactured in TX, his in MX. Two different dealers. Both vehicles have zero complaints or issues, but this has to increase lifespan. Do it even if you don't have any of the issues on the other threads. I've never greased a vehicle before, but if you can crawl under your truck you can do this. YouTube has videos to show how to load and use a grease gun. 4 are easy, 1 semi-easy - 12 mm socket with extension required to remove shield and it was still a tight angle for my grease attachment end.