Quick zerk greasing question.

Morning guys (n gals). About to grease the nips on ny trucks shafts. Should I drive around a little first to get the old grease warm? Idk if that would make it flow out easier? Thanks

 

couldn't hurt, but it's probably not necessary. what *will* make it easier is if you have a grease gun with a flexible hose attachment!

 

Hmm... the one I bought has an 8" solid hose. How much harder will it be?

 

not too much, but you'll probably have to roll the truck forward and backwards to get to all the zerks. it's definitely not impossible with the solid hose -- it's just easier with the flexible. you'll be fine!

props for taking care of your driveshaft! it often gets overlooked...

 

moderately harder.. youll have to fit the end over the zerks in some tight spots but its still achieveable. you will have to get out and roll the truck back a few inches to spin the drive shaft to get access to the other zerks

 

Alright. Well im gonna head down to the local store and grab a hose. Works out since I wanted to pick up wire to do the grey wire mod today anyway.

 

alright. got all 8 this mourning. the service manual was a bit confusing. I didn't end up using the schematic as much as i thought i would. It didn't seem to really match my truck. I had the right year and model manual. Man the old grease looked.... old. it was like pencil graphite colored. and I couldn't believe how far my axles moved when fully pumped with grease. They extended like a good inch or 2.

I pumped until a few tablespoons of old grease came out of each one. It was hard to resist the urge to pump and pump until clean red stuff came out. But i read a few threads that warned of over filling.....

 

cant really overfill the ujoins, the slip yokes you can tho...

 

ya i read a few threads where they were debating if u can over fill the slip yoke or not. some people said no you cant the excess will just come out and others said says you can. Which one was the slip yoke? was that the part of the shaft that extended like a telescope when i pumped grease into it?

 

This site here: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/front_end/lube/ pointed out the upper and lower ball joint zerks. I didn't see those in any of the threads i searched. I guess I should hit those too?? can they be over filled?

 

i don't think that's a Tacoma Ive looked all over and have never seen those zerks.

 

dam i really need to grease the zerks on my truck..

 

i have never heard of over filling a zerk....i pumep mine till i saw fresh grease and for the slip yoke i pumped till i saw a good amount of old come out

 

ya my slip yokes were like empty.

 

yeah i didnt really do any research on mine i just pumped till i saw some fresh stuff come out. i knew it really needed it as i had never done it.

that was like a few weeks ago and its been ok

 

i put in a new air filter today. im doing engine oil and filter this week. Now im thinking about doing both diffs, t-case, and tranny... drain or flush not sure....

 

you got a auto or a stick and how many miles you got?

 

yeah i heard flushing the transmission can actually mess up some of the seals and whatnot

 

i have an auto with 132k miles.

 

ya, im pretty sure that's what happened to my first cars auto tranny. Some shop talked me into doing a tranny flush with an oil change. Sounded like a good idea to me, im always changing the gear oil in my dirt bikes tranny. maybe 5-10k miles later the tranny shit the bed... i was so pissed. the guys that put in a new tranny said flushing it might have kicked up all the old gunk, especially if they did a half assed flush.


I was reading about tranny flushes here: http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.htm

"When not to flush:

Before draining or flushing you should pull the dip stick and look at the fluid. If it is dark, burnt smelling, and you see little flakes or speck in it, DO NOT FLUSH IT. The fluid and transmission is TOAST, but the transmission just has not figured out it should die yet. In these cases for reasons no one has figured out yet, if you flush a transmission in this condition it will fail right away. Real strange, but that is what seems to happen. If your trans is in this condition just drive it while you save for a replacement transmission. There is no way of telling when it will fail. It might be today, next week, or next year, but it is doomed.

The goal here is to flush the trans BEFORE the fluid gets rancid. What you are taking out should look like what you are putting in. Do not wait for a color or smell change. My 4Runner Owner's Manual calls for transmission fluid change at 30,000 mile intervals. The industry standard it two years OR 24,000 miles which ever comes first. It is your truck, you decide what is best for you."

the previous owner said he did something to the tranny fluid right before selling it. i cant remember if he said drain or flush. last time i checked it was still nice and red. maybe i'll be good with just draining it? in a couple weeks i need to drive to canada though with a u-haul full of junk for my dads new house.