Drive Shaft Zerk Alignment

Anyone know if the zerks on the driveshaft grease fittings should all be in the same alignment?

I have a first gen tacoma with 240K miles and I have only owned it for the past year.

I am about to do a rear u-joint replacement and noticed that all of my zerk fittings are not quite aligned. I have to decide if I should re-insert the yoke into the shaft as it is currently aligned or re-insert it so that all the zerks line up down the length of the shaft.

I have heard that they come from the factory balanced with all zerks aligned.

Here is the mystery factor: When I first got the truck, the rear leaf springs were shot. I replaced them. In the process I remember the yoke sliding way far out of the shaft as I lowered the rear axle to gain the necessary clearance to install the new springs. I don't remember if it came all the way out or not. If it did, I might have easily re-inserted it a few degrees off.

So the question becomes, When I reassemble, do I align the zerks, or go with the current alignment?

In the past year, I have not noticed significant vibration in the truck at any speed, but I do have a bit of vibration which I had always assumed was regular road vibration.

So either I reassemble as it is and figure it is good enough. or I realign the zerks, test drive, and see if I get a vibration at some speed...

any input form anyone out there more experienced with these things?

Thanks in advance, this forum has been super helpful as I have worked on this truck.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld
2wd or 4wd ?

 

4wd, thanks for asking, I should have specified that.

 

Thanks for posting that pdf of the manual. Very helpful!

 

Yes all factory zerks are aligned, it just makes it easier to grease them. However it wont affect anything if they dont line up.

 

It can if the ujoint phasing is incorrect. Having the axis of all the ujoints lined up keeps the driveshaft from having strange phasing due to the variable rotation of the joints. That is why the pdf shows the ujoint axes all aligned. It just so happens that this also keeps the zerks aligned unless a ujoint was replaced facing the opposite direction

 

Yup^

 

https://www.beldenuniversal.com/knowledge/technical-information/universal-joint-phasing

 

No need to "phase" the u-joints. You do need to keep the yokes aligned and phased with each other.

If you are doing 1 joint, you should consider doing all the U-joints & Carrier Bearing. They have all seen the same number of revolutions and mileage.

 

I am jumping in and appreciate this info. i have some vibrations that did not go away with a carrier bearing replacement. My ujoints are good. I have a driveline disconnect and am sure that my driveline is out of phase. I will try to line it up and see if it makes a difference.

 

components better to return as they were disassembled

when NOT taken note..................its all a matter o luck

the driveline can fall victim to UNbalance if not reasembled properly

U bought used so its likely the driveshafts have been out several times

at this juncture this does NOT serve as advice

i would set them at 180

 

over the overall life of this vehicle no telling how many times ujoints

have been replaced.............shafts removed & reinstalled

the factory manual certainly is not in error

considering the correct pdf info was followed each time aligning them now will result in balance

unlikely the pdf was followed each time..................he has mentioned vibrations

maybe he will get lucky

 

In order of importance: u joints phased, grease zerks accessable. I would not ever assume that lining the zerks up means the driveshafts phased. I know from replacing u joints, I stab the zerk in and then install the joint without ever thinking about the orientation, I'm betting 99.99999% of people and mechanics do the same thing. To access the zerks, I jack the rear tires up and rotate the tires until I can access each joint and pump away.

 

Damaged input bearing from flat towing.
You were warned

 

My truck has been flat towed 30,000 miles, I do not recall a "warning" from you. The disconnect allows the truck to be flat towed. Perhaps YOU are mistaken.

 

Update: When I started disassembling everything I took a real close look, and started scraping away some of the caked on dirt grease paste. What I discovered is that it seemed like the zerks that were out of alignment were simply turned slightly to the side to make them easier to access in the double cardan joint. I also discovered some match marks in place from previous work. Apart from the turned zerks, everything else seemed correctly aligned, so I made a fresh set of match marks and did the replacement. I reassembled in the same alignment as it had been and have been driving smoothly without any vibration ever since. So nice to have the truck rolling smoothly and silently again! Clearly the previous owner did not stay on top of greasing the u-joints. The one I removed had two very dry bearings, one of which was filled with powdered rust and no grease at all! This one and the one directly opposite it both had deep grooves worn into them by the roller bearings. Hopefully it will be a while before the other u-joints go out, but at least I know how to replace them now. Thanks for the input everyone!

 

That’s great news. Just curious, what u-joints did you use?

 

@kenvis60, I went with the Toyota U-joints. There were quite a few cheaper options, I decided to go with the Toyota original knowing that I wouldn't have any fit issues and based on the recommendation of an offroad shop that I trust who prefer the longevity of the Toyota u-joints compared to a lot of the after market ones. Wish I had learned about greasing the u-joints a year ago when I bought the truck, but I am not sure it would have made a difference. This truck was definitely used hard and not entirely well maintained. I won't be surprised if the other u-joints need replacement at some point in the next year or two, but perhaps I can keep them going a while by staying on top of greasing them.

 

some vehicles are designed to

some vehicles are designed to be ‘ flat towed ‘

MOST ARE NOT !!!!!

1st person anecdotal..........’ i been doin this for a long time ‘

doesnt mean its the right or best thing to do

when the engine is running

sitting still in drive........there are ‘ pumps ‘ working

whereby by freewheeling rolling down the road some pumps might NOT be working