New exciting "thump" issue with my 3rd gen

Got it Crom... thanks. Not sure I understand how this can be overlubed?

BTW, great thread on your travels man, very inspirational.

 

The Gen 1 had a zerk.

 

Makes me very jealous. lol

 

The Gen 1 could be overlubed because the zerk filled the space between the male pilot shaft, and the inside of the receiver yoke (female) on the driveline. Filling it too much would try to "push" the driveline off of the pilot shaft. Eventually, the bumps and stops and starts would squeeze the extra grease out, depositing it on the underside of the truck. Dont ask how I know this!

 

Ha! I wont. Thanks for the explanation.

Lesson: Too much of a good thing can sometimes be bad.

 

Thanks!

In addition to Poppy's explanation, grease guns can operate at extremely high pressures, upwards of 10,000 psi. So overdoing it can lead to bad problems.

 

If one were to grease it the hard way (no zerk fitting), I can vouch for Honda Moly 60 grease paste. It comes in a small grease gun tube and, as the name implies, has molybdenum disulfide in it. Under $20 at a Honda bike or marine dealer, it's some serious spline grease. The next step would be Krytox and that stuff's SUPER expensive ($20/oz.)

 

Yup....my FJ Cruiser and my daughter's '99 3rd Gen 4Runner have a zerk fitting for the slip joint on front and rear driveshafts, they also have zerk fittings on the front/rear u joints and on the double cardan joint on the front drive shaft. What you describe for the Tacoma is the same as on the Jeep Wrangler TJ. Need to pull the drive shaft, remove the rubber boot and lube the spline and put it all back together.

While it's a pain in the ass, there are a couple advantages to the rubber boot over the slip joint in that it keeps the dirt out and the grease in and it's tougher to overfill it. My daughter also happened to shear off the slip joint zerk fitting on her rear driveshaft probably nicking some rocks. Lucky for me and easy-out backed out the remaining portion without have to drill out and re-tap zerk. So like with every design there are some advantages & disadvantages.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going on a 1500 mile roadtrip starting tomorrow.I hope I dont have to make another post from the side of the road or a dealership. Such is my faith in this Toyota's reliability.

 

Good luck on your trip. I'm heading out on a 1500 round tripper in a few weeks with Kayaks strapped on.... weeeeee