Check Your U-Joints

Sorry my 2 cents grease it every month.Drive shafts spin fast yes fast.Grease is forced out.Hit it .they move when the truck moves nonstop.Pump tie rods ball joints every 3000. But the shafts once a month grease cheap changing u joints a bit of time and money...my 2 cents sorry....

 

2014 dcsb, took 4-5 full strokes to purge all the joints. They must assemble these shafts with just the u-joint manufacturers assembly lube. Cheap SOB's

 

Stopped by my usual oil change place. ( dealer is 100 miles away and local dealer is less than desired ) about 2 pumps each. Mine were fine but glad I know for sure

 

There should be 5 along the drive shaft. (1 at the rear diff, 1 where the rear shaft meets the middle, 1 where the middle connects to the front, 1 from the t-case for 4wd [hiddden by a cheap skid plate that uses 2 14mm bolts i think], and 1 that goes into the front diff area).

Im sure there is a thread on here that has pics of each (ive seen it sometime)

 

yea the ones on the 4wd shaft can be difficult at first to find, but you can spin that shaft while the truck is sitting there so its not too bad. glad ya got it.

I just did mine 2 days ago so thats the only reason I knew where all 5 were haha, good timing

 

Hey do you have to take the skid plate off on the ORs to get to any of the zerk?

 

No.
There is however, a shield under the rear zerk on the front driveshaft
A handful of guys have been able to do it with the shield in place.
I recommend you remove it; makes it so much easier to access and inspect.

 

Thank you

 

2 12mm bolts save yourself and remove the shield. Will save you 10 minutes of headache trying to hit the nipper

 

Wasn't that hard to reach with a flex hose greaser. [it would have been easier if Toyota had put a 1'' hole that would line up with the zerk though.] From front to rear, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3 pumps.

 

Did my Sr5 LB this morning, man does it shift smoothly now! 6 pumps in each

 

I believe 4. Will have to see if I can find #5.

 

You missed one..!!

 

I recentlly took delivery on a 2016 TRD OR crew cab with tow package. I told the sales person that I wanted the service department to make sure the U-Joints were lubed and the transmission fluid level was verified based on numerous comments posted on this forum from other buyers. The sales person assured me that both of these items were checked when I picked up the truck. I got under the truck and checked all the zerks when I got home and they looked untouched. I greased all 5 zerks, and they took between 6-8 pumps before they began to purge grease. I have ~450 miles on the truck so far and the transmission feels like its beginning to smooth out. This seems to be in line with with what others have been saying that the transmission learns your driiving habits over time. I have noticed intermitent behavior that indicates possible low transmission fluid (low speed surges, slips when shifiting from reverse to drive in cold temperature), so I plan to perform the transmission fluid level check procedure posted on the forum.

My experience relative to the U-Joints and transmissin fluid level seems to be in line with many others on this forum. It still amazes me that Toyota hasn't taken action in their manufacture process to address these deficiencies.

Thanks to all on this site. There is a weath of informtion here!

 

All these dry u-joints! Has anybody heard of any failures?????? Most '16 owners don't read this. Dry u-joints would fail soon, where the hell are they all??????? Those u-joints are not dry, they just do not have the cross drilled grease channels full of grease. The bearings themselves have grease! This thread is ridiculous.

 

Shouldn't they be full of grease though?

 

I read something that makes me want to disagree.
"Lube Procedures Spicer® greasable U-joint kits contain only enough grease to provide needle bearing protection during storage." -

 

if you feel its adequate then don't grease em.

exactly correct, Toyota (factory or dealership) failed to follow recommendations.

 

here is something that might surprise you. Not every person who buys a tacoma joins a forum. So you may not even hear about the ones failing. The ones who post here already read this most likely and have solved the grease issue for their truck. I bought my first tacoma in 2000 and was my first truck and was unaware there were grease fittings on the driveshaft and at around 6000 miles I had to have the driveshaft replaced by toyota because it was sounding like a squealing pig. Honestly I think the salesman should be telling each buyer the driveshaft has grease able fittings so someone who may not be aware of them know they need serviced

 

Honestly, The only thing I find ridiculous to this thread are your contributions to it.