Drive shaft zerks

People were going in and demanding to get their drive shafts greased before it was necessary.

I've always greased my own vehicles and it is simple to do. Should they have been greased from the factory? Yes. Tell me though, have you ever greased a u joint and driven 1000 miles? I bet it takes a couple pumps of grease, yet people here were complaining they put 5 -7 pumps in their zerks and complaining about how bad it was that they had to do it. It was an over blown issue here but I know my opinion is an unpopular one here.

And no, they should not have got rid of the zerks on a 4x4 that is subject to the conditions a 4x4 is subject to. So on that point we agree! I think it was a bad move on Toyota's part.

 

Sucks but replacing a u joint when it fails isnt to difficult. Just make sure to buy new ones with zerks

 

I think we're talking past each other a bit here. In many cases (mine included), they were bone dry from the factory. I greased them myself to avoid the dealer and have the freedom to pick a quality grease. The difference in my truck's rolling resistance was night and day. I've got 4K miles on mine now. So yes I've greased my zerks and driven a thousand miles.

Knowing the difference that it made and if I wasn't capable of doing the work myself, I would've have been irritated at Toyota as well. Was the issue overblown? Maybe a bit. But in context, this issue was discovered on the heels of many other problems (under torqued u-bolts and way under filled transmissions to name a few). I think for many, it was a "third strike" for a company that is known to not have issues such as these that negatively impact longevity.

OA

 

I kind of agree!

 

Not so.. the shaft has to be balanced after replacing non-serviceable u-joints with serviceable ones. Yeah not hard for a shop that has the equipment. I ran into this with my wife's Honda CR-v last year. It was cheaper to purchase a new non-serviceable drive shaft... even bought it on ebay.

The reason we were going into the service department to ask to have our u-joints lubed was because they came from the factory DRY as in NO GREASE.

This is how a shit storm happens: I had asked my service department to lube my truck at the 5K mile service cause folks here were reporting u-joints dry from factory. Get truck back - didn't see lube on my maintenance sheet, ask service mgr why they didn't lube my truck since I asked them nicely to please lube it?? Answer was I'm not "due" for a lube until the 15K mile mark... shitstorm happened.

Now I'm getting a slight vibration from one of my u-joints... gonna have to crawl back under there and lube them all again..

 

I guess thats why I can only find the two....

 

I was really ticked the other day about my zerks being dry. I watched a tech pretend to grease them at my pre inspection request at my PDI. . I guess they thought " pacify him and do it even though there are no zerks " When the tech went to grease them he acclaimed "hey these are spicers and have zerks!" He was not prepared . He got a hand held grease gun( not connected to a hose )with must have been without grease in it. He even counted out loud 6 pumps in each of 5 zerks. Anyway I just did it myself at 3500 miles and they were dry . No signs on grease and each took 6 pumps to purge anything. I wanted to but did not call and bitch. ( I vented to the wife for 10 minutes about lying sons of ...)
That said from now on I will grease my zerks and do my oil changes myself. I have to be careful as they are the closest dealer to me at 45 miles away. Then the next is 65 miles then over 100 .
I need someone for warrantee work without a grudge against me. They told me when I bought it that I could just take the oil and filters for the free oil changes and do it myself . Other than checking all fluids ( this really means brake fluid , windshield washer fluid , and coolant level) and rotate tires. They do nothing for the first 2 years but change the oil twice. I will get my oil and do it myself if they told the truth about that.


Funny fact. ! I tried for several hours to ad my self reported maint. to my Toyota owners page with the words "the dealer lied to me about greasing the zerks" Each time ( about 10 over a 2 hour period )it said cannot ad at this time try later . Once I took out the part about the dealer lying , it went right in !!!
For fun , try and ad something bad to yours and see what happens. You can always edit it out afterward if it really takes.
The really sad thing about all of this is Toyota is probably the best of all , and this is SAD.

 

It's not uncommon to take multiple pumps before anything comes out. Especially after 3500 miles

 

I crawled under my 2017 the other day to grease the u-joints, and I quickly found that there are none on the rear shaft, just two on the front shaft.

 

I thought about that but when the tech did it he did not wipe the zerks after greasing . I was there watching . When I checked them after 3500 mlies with my finger they had no grease residue or anything but dust on the zerks and around them . I am used to 2-3 or so pumps before any purge but not this. I was taught to clean the zerk before greasing to keep from pushing in dirt and mine were bone dry all around the whole u joint and have been doing this for over 45 years but better safe than sorry . I trust myself more than anyone else.

 

2 things:

1 - Pick your battles
2 - Grease your own zirks

I bitched and now get the red carpet... I bitched to the service mgr AND the general mgr. not overly bitchin but I made my point about oil changes and lube... made them write it in my permanent record hahaha... now red carpet AND they lube and change my oil free every time I go into the dealer for work.

 

U joints without zerk fittings are stronger. Zerk fittings can be the start of a crack. In many aftermarket applications, the stronger u joints do not have zerk fittings. I have 300,000 miles on u joints with no zerks on a ram diesel. Assuming the install is correct, I prefer u joints with no zerks.

 

I am over it. Maybe the techs were embarrassed to admit they did not have grease because nothing needs it any more. I would imagine the assembly grease in the ujoints was enough to last the first 3500 miles. The dealer was good in all other respects.

 

Most non greasble joints last well over 200k. I wouldn't sweat it

 

I had non greasable u-joints on my wifes Honda... had to buy a new drive shaft @ 100K miles.

 

Both my first gen Prerunners had them.

 

I bought the Grease and Gun based on the "https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-u-joints.409042/" thread but did not find zerks on the 2017 PRO rear drive shaft. Was getting dark in garage and couldn't find any on the front either.....do you have to take the skid plate off to get to them?

Thanks in advance...

 

should be able to get to the them without taking them off as I think there is only 2 on the front drive shaft

 

Interesting. I'm gonna have to take a look under there later.

 

my bad 1st gen has em