Check Your U-Joints

You only have the Zerks up front and have to pull down the little shield, I highly doubt that your Dealer did that at your 5k service. I ended up doing my truck at about 1500 miles or so.

 

The 4WD 2017 only has the front 2?

 

There are no Zerks on the Rear Driveshaft

 

I'm quoting my own earlier post in case anybody would like to see exactly what I used.

It took me about 15 minutes to do all 5 zerks on my 2016 4x4 tacoma. Four were fully exposed and one had a shield on it which was easily taken off by using a 12mm socket with an extension. All the zerks still had the factory black paint on them so they were never greased up during any of the maintenance inspections at the dealer. It took about 5-6 pumps before grease would start coming out from all over. You can actually hear the grease coming out after the 5th pump. My truck has exactly 29,500 highway miles mostly.

I'm a wall street guy that just sits in front of the computer all day....if I was able to do it then you can do this easily.

 

I'm no grease expert, (it all comes in a tube and makes a mess)...but Maw Toyota says to use NLGI No.2 Grease in the U joints..... That's what I used....

 

The rear u-joints are not sealed at the factory, the Spicer u-joints selected by Toyota have no zirc fittings. In the future we'll see complaints here about their rear driveshaft making noise, or dropping out completely. Sometimes Toyota saves money in the wrong way, but hey, they don't have to drive these 16-17 Tacomas.

 

Generally you need to find the "just enough" amount and not grease until you see grease coming out for things like ball joints. If you are greasing something with a rubber seal then you can bust the seal.
http://www.suspension.com/blog/how-to-grease-ball-joints/

For u joints you grease just enough where you barely see grease coming out.
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-lubricate-your-car-s-u-joints-by-ronny-brown

 

Yes, what this guy said in the second link you provided is correct..."grease till you see new grease coming out".... This IS the proper method for U-Joints... Don't know for ball joints cuz, I ain't had a greaseable one since the 50's... hehe

You do not "blow" the seals on U joints if you over grease..... the only issue is you get grease all over the place.... THE most important thing is that grease purges from ALL 4 Seals on each U joint....! Grease flung all over the bottom of your truck will not hurt the truck... Might mess up yer driveway thought...!!

Good luck..

 

What he said....!!!

 

Maybe Mr .splitbolt can update his first thread and explain to the folks that 2 wheel drive trucks come with polypropylene sealed universal joints that are designed for 50,000 trouble free miles .

If the universal joints have been replaced , chances are the aftermarket joint now has a grease zerk .
Every oil change is the rule I follow with the exception of the slip yoke . The slip yoke uses a different lubricant and requires disassembly or drill and tap a zerk to lube the splines

If you have a two piece driveshaft , reports are coming in there is a lack of lubricant on the splines of the slip and stub . Your truck will clunk when downshifting into first gear when cold . Takes a special lubricant
This stuff will work http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/ptfe...-ford-motorcraft-xg-8-ml1167-31508-42027.html
And this stuff is said to be the best but pricey http://paceperformance.com/i-782162...bricant-high-temperature-c1-2-w-a-t-1-lb.html

 

Good advice, as usual..!!

 

I greased my u joints the other day doing my own 10,000 mile service. My rear u joint near the rear diff had a lot of water drip out of it when I greased it. I was surprised how much water actually dripped out as I was greasing it and not in a good way. I've never off roaded my truck or done any water crossings. This was the first time I greased them.

 

Yeah, 10K miles is a long time to go without grease..... they never greased them properly before you bought it... So you put on 10 K with just the factory "assembly grease" in them... likely some wear has occurred..! Good luck... at least you got grease in them now.

 

Yesterday, I went ahead and tried to grease all zerks in my OR 16' (Built in July 2016) and I verified that there are only 2 zerks for the front shaft only. All others for the rear shaft are sealed, with NO zerks at all. I pumped some grease on the only two zerks but I couldn't get the grease exiting from the seals. I observed that those front u joints have same seals (blue plastic rings) on them. Seems that with a few pumps the joints were already full as it was spreading grease from the zerks not the seals. Anyway, seems that with a sealed U joints is a problem less to care for maintenance.

 

Those front 2 Zerks are a bitch to get good access to, I ended up grinding down the grease fitting on my gun, once I got onto the Zerks it took a good 4 or 5 pumps before any came out from the seals.

 

There's 3 on the rear driveshaft you just have to move the truck back or forward about a foot to get them facing down. My OR was built the same time as yours and there's 3 on the rear shaft.

 

Not necessarily... depends on build date..

 

I also find it amazing that some of these U joints are coming dry. No grease at all. Then again my steering box was dry many moons again on our then new 01 Suburban. It lasted about 2500 miles that's way.

 

Yeah, Spicer tells Toyota to grease the U joints once they are installed in the drive shaft, as the pressure cannot be applied till they are held in by the shaft.....

This is just a F-up by Toyota.... For what reason?... Stupidity OR just trying saving $... who knows..??
My joints took about 7 pumps of grease before purging water/air and old yucky looking grease.(not much of that)..!

 

I really appreciate the feedback and I'm going to grease mine. I bet this is not just Toyota though. Like I said, my Suburban many years ago came dry as a bone. It has recirculating ball steering but that steering box was shipped with no grease so it didn't last any time at all. I'm now wondering if I should check my other vehicles.