Weird noise Help!

I noticed the other day when backing up that I have a weird noise coming from the back of my 2008 Tacoma prerunner. I posted a vid as well. It only happens when backing up. Its not the brakes, but because I'm not pressing down. U joint maybe?

 

Any help would be appreciated

 

Have you greased your ujoints? How many miles?

 

U joints have never been greased. The truck has 170k and I am the original owner. I have no clue where the zerks are at.

 

Or the u joints for that matter.

 

Either end of the driveshaft.

 

My truck just hit 165K and my U-joints were making the same noise. You might be able to get away with just greasing them, but that's gonna be a band-aid fix until you can throw new u-joints on there. Not a very difficult DIY with the right tools.

 

Yeah I was fearing that. How many U joints are on the truck? 2?

 

I've got a 4x4 and had 3, not sure if it's the same for the 2wd. I also replaced the center support bearing since I was already tearing it all apart. Pretty sure it was on it's way out soon anyways.

 

Don't think PreRunners have greaseable u joints. I know mine doesn't

 

If you don’t know where the u joints or zercs are you shouldn’t be the one to try to install new ones. Thank your truck to a reputable shop, have them check out the sound and have them repair it.

 

Yeah im not sure if they do or not.

 

Yep, definitely U joints. You can tell by the speed of the noise. The driveshaft turns almost 4 times faster than the wheels.

 

Yeah thats what I planned on doing. Thanks

 

My PreRunner came with grease zerks on the drive shaft. That being said OP the PreRunners have three universal joints also. Do all three if one is bad the others are not far behind.

Oh and make sure they replace them with greasable joints as they last longer if greased.

 

At some point the PRs went to a non greaseable joint. I know for certain mine does not have them. Wish it did.

 

Some do and some don't. Only way to know is to check...

 

hahaha sounded like something else there for a second

But yeah, speed of the noise is related to the speed of the truck so its a good bet its in the drivetrain (u-joints) as others have said. Also, like @BeardeDave said its probably a good bet to replace the carrier bearing while you're there.

Given you're a pre-runner I think you would want Spicer P/N 5002007 (with dust seals) but verify that for yourself, might be different for the 2005-2011 trucks idk

Remember to chock the tires good and set the parking brake cause as soon as you drop the DS the wheels are no longer held by the transmission if your truck is auto

 

Yeah thats what I will do. Not too bad 12 years and 170k without greasing them regularly.

 

Yeah ikr lol. Yeah I will check to see how much it will cost to replace all U-joints.