Check Your U-Joints

Checked mine ,yup they needed 5-6 pumps each.The heat shield was12mm. Also rotated tires.
The pics posted really helped....
DCLB Sport 4x4

 

The same goes for 2nd Gens, too. I just finished lubing my '13 and all 5 zerks took several pumps from my pistol grip gerase gun. 40k miles on it... scary.

 

It just occured to me, and maybe I'm making an assumption, but I'm thinking you have to build up some pressure in the joint (compress the grease that's in there) to the point it comes out the seal.

My point is, I wouldn't go "chicken little" over this took "x" number of pumps stuff. Just know the zerks are there for a reason, and make greasing them a part of your regular maintenance schedule. As I posted earlier, I grease mine when I change my oil every 5K miles; 128K on my truck now.

 

Grease is a noncompressible liquid.

 

Ok, maybe a bad theory. I still don't think this is a matter of the joints were empty on delivery. When I service mine, the old grease doesn't flow instantly out the seal, takes a few cycles of my air grease gun before I see it come out.

 

Typically what happens, at least in the heavy machinery I work with, as the part rotates it starts to heat up causing the previously solid, or viscous, grease to start thinning. At full operational temperatures and speeds it behaves like a 30w oil due to all the heat being transferred and carried away. Over time this leads to some of it escaping its seal and dripping out since nothing is perfectly sealed. That's probably where you're seeing the extra pumps come from and why manufacturers recommend adding more every few thousand miles. A brand new truck however shouldn't have that.

 

I caught mine at 1,300 miles; they are now properly lubed.
I will grease them again at 2,600 miles.
Fair comparison?

 

Interesting. Thank you for that explanation.

 

Should be pretty close to full, maybe one to two pumps and you should see grease. The manual states every 5k miles correct?

 

Mine took 6-7.
I'm saying, only purging properly lubes the bearings; it properly fills the chases a trunions just before it goes out the seals.
If it takes 1-2 pumps in as many miles, then wouldn't one suppose they were never properly lubed/purged from the factory?

The manual states every 5,000 under special conditions, every 15,000 for normal conditions. Remember, Toyotacare does not cover special conditions.
Can you imagine going 15,000 miles on inadequate lube?

 

I see what you mean now, and yes if it only takes one or two that would mean it didn't have a proper amount of grease from the factory. If it still took 6-7, I'd be concerned the seals aren't holding the grease in when it thins out. If you went 15k miles with inadequate greasing you'd have a decent amount of play in the u joint I'd bet.

 

Quick question... are you guys heating up the drivetrain in any way before you start pumping in the grease? I ask since the temperature outside my house is in the 20s lately and I'm wondering if I should attempt to grease the joints in such cold. I'm thinking maybe drive the truck to the store, come back, let it sit for 20 minutes and then crawl under there to do the job? This is under the assumption that the grease thickens in the cold and may not flow as easily.

 

You are correct the grease will thicken as it cools off. I don't see any problem driving it real quick to loosen up what may already be in there.

 

After 35 years of working on concrete trucks which are severe service we found that chevron Delo ep2 was by far the best grease. We tried many over the years from moly to syn. and delo held up the best to all the dirt and water. I won't use any thing else, no more reason to try. Good stuff!!!!

 

You should be able to grease in any weather. We used to grease trucks and plant out side in St Louis winters. No need to drive it first, won't change a thing.

 

Mystic JT6 high temp ( red ) made for U-joint waterproof ,spicer recomended .

 

Yeah tried it for a few years . Good but not as good as Delo.

 

I appreciate all of the info. I was underneath the truck last week running wires for an electric tailgate lock and saw the zerks. I was thinking I would check them soon...I will check them now!! I have about 1100 miles on mine.

 

DBLB Sport 4x4 here, I checked mine and put 5 into all of them, and I'm at 3000. This is pretty disconcerting, I'm glad OP made the point of posting this!

 

Got some grease today, Valvoline DuraBlend Synthetic Blend VV279. Hopefully this stuff is acceptable.
NGLI #2 GC-LB Complex Lithium EP Grease, Moly-fortified.

We'll see how many pumps it takes.