fron drive shaft grease zerk, uneven Oil change, and 15K service

I was changing the oil on my truck and when I finnished I noticed the truck was not sitting 100% level. It was a little higher in the front (about a 10 degree incline)...Should I be concerned about this?

Also, I was greasing the zerks on the driveline and noticed i could get to all the zerks except for the rear one on the front drive shaft....how do i get to that?/Do i need to grease this one? (It's up under the exhuast)

Going to do a search for 15K service DIY....does anyone know of one that gives the torq specs for all the boldts that need checking?

Thanks!

 

To get to the zerk fitting, remove the heat shield that gaurds the u-joint from the exhaust tubing. It takes two 13 mm hex head bolts to remove/re-install.

 

thanks^ how about the uneven oil change?

 

Its called the TACO LEAN, its normal because the battery and gas tank are on the drivers side so the driver-side is lower

 

what he said ^^^

uneven oil change should be fine.

 

I can't picture a 10 deg incline very well. Hopefully others will chime in, but the worse that will happen is that they'll tell you to change the oil again on flat ground. If you're concerned, go with your gut and beat them to it, change it out on flat ground.

 

the front 2 wheels were about 2-3 inches higher than the back...so the truck was tilted towards the back...not side to side. Just worried about not draining all the old oil...

 

Here's a link to the factory service manual online: Have a look through for the torques, you'll probably want to check the drive shaft u-joint flange bolts, bed bolts (just use your calibrated elbow for the bed bolts), wheel nuts, and any frame bolts. I normally only check the bed bolts.

 

I think he is just saying that when he changed the oil, his truck was on a slight uphill slope, and is worried that not all of the oil drained.

 

The plug is near the back so if it was leaned front up... should be more than fine. Even if not, you still replaced like 95% of the oil... it'll dilute the dirty old stuff. If you keep on the regular schedules I wouldn't even think about worrying about it.

 

When you change your oil you actually only change about 80%-90% of the oil in the system. There is still oil in the heads & galleys and such. To get a 100% oil change you need to change the oil once run the engine to operating temp and then change it again (waste of time). So the tilt does not really matter. As long as you let it drain until it goes from draining to dripping out you are OK.

 

NIce...thanks guys! Question on tightening the bolts on the fron drive shaft...the things just freely spins when i try to turn it. Should it be IN 4wd when i try to tighten it?

 

Can you put a wrench on the nut and ratchet or wrench on the bolt? I've never tried to tighten the bolts on my drive shafts, but that could work.