Check Your U-Joints

It's custom, you gotta grind until yours fits, and works for you. For some reason, my photo won't load. I'll try again after a while.



Okay, had to synch my phone to transfer photos. This is what works well for me and gives me clearance. Too bad that there doesn't seem to be a readily available slim snout grease gun and you have to make your own. One of the other things I do is splice in a flexible hose instead of the rigid pipe that comes on most guns.......also, on the U joints I use a mini gun, the kind that holds 3 oz cartridges. Guess that's enuff "how I do it" for now.

 

I wanna confirm my 2015 Tacoma TRD prerunner 2x4 DCLB, does NOT have greasable u-joints? I looked hard to find zerks, and couldn’t find on any of the ujoints. I called Toyota and they told me my truck has sealed joints, and I don’t need to grease them. What is the life expectancy of the sealed joints? I have a slight vibration and a hard clunk when shifting from park to drive. All the joints feel tight when I tried to see if they had play in um.

 

Can't confirm, but I suggest that you look real good at the front 2 joints..... The 2 front ones are hidden in the "crotch" of the joint and NOT like the rear ones, that are on the end caps and in plain sight.

There are pics in this thread that show where they are.... Good luck

OOPS... you got a 2x4.... No front drive... you is good to go.

Non greaseable joints will last a very long time.....

 

Depends...I've seen claims of anything from 50,000-200,000 miles.
You can't properly check for play with the driveshaft installed.
Most of the ones I've seen here on TW; the needles rust and turn to dust.

 

Yes indeed. You only need hear the "angry sparrows" chirping like once, and you'll know what it is. If you're attentive to this, you'll know your U joints are screwed, however if you're really that attentive, you'll be regularly greasing them and never have to hear that sound.

 

I definitely had a close look and knew where I was looking didn’t see any zerks. Thanks for the help.

I saw the first post, but wanted to make sure they were referring to the standard 2x4. Wanted to be sure the TRD prerunner model was the same and not like the off-road model with greasable.

I’ll take a look at the threads you posted, I just changed the rear diff oil. Doing the full trans flush next. Waiting on a bigger trans cooler.

This is my fear. Guess i’ll Just have to keep an eye on them and replace before they get to bad. Should I lube the outside with wd-40 or anything?

Mine I believe are non greasable. Should I been doing any maintenance to them to make the life longer? Lube the outside?

Thanks for the responses and help everyone.

 

@cali_shark30 Nope, lube on the outside will do nothing to benefit the needle bearings inside. But, if you start hearing that distinctive chirping coming from under your rig when you're quietly rolling sometime in the future, you'll pretty much know then it's time to put in new U-joints, and at that point you can choose if you want to install the same type as you now have, or use grease-able joints.

 

Ok. My 2011 TRD Off-Road recently started making some funny noises. Just this week. Not the engine, but I think the driveline, shaft, joints, something. I've never greased anything underneath my rig.

When I get to about 30 MPH I start to hear a low hum, which gets louder the faster I go. Gets quieter as I slow down (but not the engine, at all) I can rev the engine and hear it roar to life OVER this noise I'm hearing.....

I'm thinking I need to grease the u-joints, or replace them. Or maybe it's something else completely. Anyone want to chime in with suggestions? Is greasing the U an easy job and I can get what I need from Auto-Zone or O'Rileys?

 

I have to remove the plate. Ok. Cool.

I'm about to drop it at the dealership to get a checkup for the power train warranty extension and see if I qualify for new leaf packs...

When they give me BS and throw a huge $2k bill at me (just guessing) I'll go to Walmart and get a gym and try these tips. I'm hoping I just need a little grease.

 

Don’t give the dealership anything, they won’t grease the u joint zerks even if they say they will. You can do it yourself forever for less than $20

https://m.lowes.com/pd/stp-mini-man...MIxcS9oIae4AIVjUsNCh34Uw1iEAQYAiABEgJwmPD_BwE

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Lucas-Oil-Products-14-oz-Red-N-Tacky-Grease/50353738

 

Yep I just left the dealership. They said my truck VIN does not fall under any warranty extensions, recalls, or anything currently. Except for the door stickers and the old headlight issue..

I wasn't paying $200 for a diagnostic.

So my first step is going to Walmart and I'm going to Grease everything tonight

 

Thx. I'm at Walmart now. Is there a specific grease I should be getting? Couldn't find anything in the manual saying what I need.

NVM. Found it

 

Hey y'all, just bought a new 2019 TRD OR 4X4 MT. Looked under there and no grease zerks on the u-joints. Guess the penny counters changed there minds.

 

Changed their minds about what?

 

LUCAS Red n Tacky or the Super Tech Lithium complex multi purpose grease #2

 

I got the red n tacky. Going to add a little tonight

 

Right... Just went back a few pages and read there aren't any on the rear of mt's. Sometimes I have a homer moment at the end of the week.

 

read this thoroughly the proper procedure for our joints https://spicerparts.com/resources/lube-torque-specs

 

I was just under my 19 also and the rear driveshaft does not have zerks. The front drive shaft has 2.