Drive shaft issues

I have a 2015 And on my way home on the highway I suddenly felt vibrating and then Boom! Got to the sis rod the road and see my drive shaft had blown apart. Having the Certified warranty I had it towed to the dealership. The warranty inspector said it wasn’t warrantable due to lack of maintenance. Mind you I bought it 7.5 months ago. I’ve never had any maintenance on any truck I’ve owned on the drive shaft. This an issue with these trucks or a recall I wasn’t aware of? Thanks in Advance!

 

Yes, you have to grease the universal joints if they have the zerk fittings.

Odd that seems sudden on a 2015 truck. There was no vibrations prior to the shaft coming apart. Seems even odder.

 

What happens is the drive shaft is exposed to lots of water when it rains or you do water crossings and go through large puddles. This water works its way into the universal joint bearing caps and washes out the grease over time. No grease = massive amounts of wear.

This effects EVERY vehicle with a drive shaft. You were very lucky on your past trucks.

 

While I agree with you....he needs to be greasing the u-joints, the fact that he's only had the truck in his possession for 7.5 months puts the blame on the dealer he bought it from who is trying to refuse the claim.

OP, how many miles have you driven in 7.5 months? It would be VERY unlikely that not greasing the zerks in that amount of time would have lead to the failure. I'd escalate within the dealership.

 

Push on the dealer then if they dont respond get in touch with Toyota corporate

 

A lot of vehicles don't even have grease zerks on the factory U joints. I find it hard to believe that the OPs U joint wasn't making any noise or vibration prior to the catastrophic failure. I have had a lot of U joints wear out and need replacing, and they all made a TINK sound when changing directions and/or vibrated like a Hitachi magic wand.

 

I was only answering the question as he stated he has never had any maintenance with the drive shaft performed on any truck he has owned.

The part about his dealer screwing him over this is another matter entirely. I agree the dealer should make this right and fix the truck. I would be escatating this to high heaven and then some.

 

LOL Hitachi magic wand!

 

Dealership

 

22k

 

95% of the 22k I’ve put on this truck have been highway miles. The issue has gone to the service department manager. I should hear from him today. The last truck I’ve owned that had any grease fittings was my 92 Ford Ranger. I do most maintenance on all the vehicles I’ve owned. I really thought I’d had a blowout cause of the vibe then boom.

 

Is it a pre-runner? Pre-runner's do not have guessable u-joints from the factory. If so, problem solved! If It's 4WD, dealership should have greased them before they sold it. I've driven through flood water and mud during national disasters for up-to 3 months, everyday, with no issues! Something isn't right here.

 

That isn't always true. My 2012 has zerk fittings from the factory... The only way to know for sure is to check.

 

Did you buy your truck brand new?

 

You could also call the Easter Bunny or his friend the Tooth Fairy, since they have more say-so on what goes on at a dealership. Toyota dealerships are privately owned. Once the vehicle is out of the original warranty Toyota USA Corp has completely ZERO control. I've owned Toyota's and Lexus's, what you pay for is the warranty and customer service. Lexus dealerships are corporate owned, any issue, call corporate, it's solved! With courtesy vehicle identical to yours, etc.. Even out of warranty, you are assigned a representative, if it can possibly by any means be found that it's something Lexus did wrong, they fix it. Toyota... to be honest, I've owned about 10 or so, bought brand new. It's a gamble, a good gamble though. Only major problem I had was with my Tacoma. Toyota USA Corp told me in kind words to go f' myself. If in doubt, ask my attorney.

 

Cool! Wish they did that for everybody

If you get a chance (sorry to temp kinda hi-jack, can you check out my post about aluminum in the oil, opinion appreciated )

 

Yes, it had 6 miles on the odometer when I took custody.

 

Ok I guess he just gives up then.

 

I bought it used. From a Toyota Dealer and bought the certified Toyota warranty. It’s a Texas Edition.

 

2nd tacoma ujoints suck and I have yet to see a set that actually lasts long I have personally gone through 15 sets in 3 years and what really sucks is my 91 pickup still has the factory ujoints