Zerks?

Hey guys I have searched and searched. But I cant find a straight answer for 3rd gen. So I'm really sorry if this has been answered, maybe someone can point me in the right direction.

My next service is 15K miles. I just completed the 10K this weekend so it'll be February-ish before I crawl under the truck again. And do all my own service (except tire rotations, cause they are free at Discount Tire) and try to use the highest quality components I can. However I have never greased a propeller shaft. I've successfully replaced 3 head gaskets, but never this. I know, I know its probably really easy, but its the little things that get you caught up.

From what I can gather there are supposed to be 5 zerks on the 4WD? Is that correct? How much grease should I apply? This is my first brand new vehicle and I plan to have it as long as I can, and I am naturally very meticulous.

So far I have.
Changed the Oil 3 times. @1000/5000/10000 Miles Amsoil & Amsoil filter
Changed the Rear Diff Amsoil 75w90 @5000 Miles
Changed the Front Diff Amosil 75w90 @10000 Miles

2017 TRD PRO Cement.

 

Not sure, but I found a thread that mentions 3 . . .

https://www.tundras.com/threads/greasing-your-drive-line.4767/#post-68607

 

Lol half of the problem is the different terms people use, Propeller Shaft/Drive Line/U Joints/Zerks/etc...

I think there are 3 on just the rear? But this says nothing about how much to add.

 

I can confirm that there are 5 on 4wd. Two on the front drive shaft and three on the rear. Add grease slowly until you see clean grease purge out of the seals. Be forwarned, the front drive shaft can be a nightmare to get a grease gun onto. I religiously do mine every 5k miles along with a tire rotation.

 

Fantastic Thank You!!! Any tips on getting the front? Do you remove the skid plate?

 

Block your wheels, put on the e brake and put it in neutral so you can spin the drive shaft by hand. I always put the most rear one on the front shaft at 12 o’clock and finagle the hose a little bit to get it on there. It’s a pain but it can be done. A 90 degree attachement also can help

 

What kind of grease are y'all using? Gotta do this as well.

 

Mobil 1 synthetic for me.

 

Hey jmevis, can you let me know if you find zerks on the rear drive shaft? I have a 17 Crewmax Limited TRD Off Road 4x4 and have no zerks on the rear shaft and just 2 on the front shaft. Thanks in advance.

Vic

 

Woah really? I haven't even checked. But I will. Is that something that could be put in under warranty?

 

Sometimes the Zerks are on one of the bearing cups, the end of the U-joint. Sometimes they are "inside" the U-joint, more on the body of the joint, you really have to look inside the yoke to see them.

I have used Lubrimatic Marine Grease on driveshafts, ball joints, and chassis points on all of my vehicles for 10+ years. I usually buy the 3 pack so I always have some in the garage.

 

Not sure. I’ve heard of solid yokes and sealed bearing caps from Spicer but I’m surprised to find no zerks when everyone else seems to say they have them on the rear shaft.

Thanks in advance for checking.

Vic

 

5 of them on 4WD. I just did mine few weeks ago. Just a little bit of grease til you hear it coming out. No need to butter it.
you might have to clean some of those zerk fittings from road grime. they get dirty easily.

 

Thank you for all the input. I take my truck to the dealership for service.com I'm assuming they grease the zerks at every service interval? Should it be done more often than a dealership would do it?

 

i doubt they do it very often .Best is to check yourself underneath to confirm.

 

Yes my rear has 3... Just checked. One at each "knuckle"?

 

Thanks much!! I’ll check again.

 

There are no frame grease points that anyone knows of right? Just the drive shaft?

 

NLGI N0.2 Lithium

 

Just the drive shaft as far as I know.

 

DO NOT PUT GREASE IN UNTIL YOU SEE IT PURGE ON THE SLIP YOKE ZERK. It will eventually come out of the slip yoke seal...

This will cause hydraulic locking, and require the entire driveshaft to be rebuilt eventually.

The slip yokes must be able to compress and expand freely and pumping grease until it purges by owners and shops has led to Toyota to stop putting zerks on most of their 4x4s. This was after they had to cover thousands of replacement driveshafts on FJ cruisers and Tacomas.

Every 10k oil service, two pumps of grease in slip yoke. 2-3 pumps in U-Joints. My Reference is FSM.

 

Well then, I stand corrected. I was taught bad habits I guess.

 

The caps were only to catch people's eyes who are greasing all of their zerks until they purge - not my intention to "internet yell" or anything. You're right by the way, to grease until it purges in 99% of grease applications.

I only know about this issue because low and behold I pumped grease into my own slip yoke on my FJ Cruiser until the grease gun couldn't push anymore in (it wasn't purging after about 10 pumps). When I was at Toyota getting the rear driveshaft replaced with an "updated" unit they said they were running into issues on everything from newer Land Cruisers to Tundras with guys just like me who were used to servicing older vehicles.

No harm in putting grease in until it purges in U-Joints but according to the techs the Toyota's sealed yoke prevents intrusion from debris, etc. and requires less frequent servicing. Many of the new Toyota's are fully sealed driveshafts. Hard to get used to having come from older trucks I greased every oil change.

In the end the symptom is an annoyingly strong "bump" sensation from the back of the truck at stop lights, etc. Because the slip yolk isn't telescoping properly, causing a bit of axle wrap and pressure to build, which then pops you forward when you let off the brake. I almost lost it the first time I thought someone rear ended me at a stop light and there was no car behind me.

You been in 29 stumps for awhile? The autoshop still running?

 

No worries at all. I didn’t take it that you were yelling at me.
I’m on my second year of my second tour here. Call me crazy but I kind of like it. Yup, auto hobby is still her in all it’s glory

 

Have a 16 DC with 36k miles and have not greased the driveshaft yet. I am getting stuff together to do it for first time, and will every 5k or so afterwards.

Until this post, of all the posts I’ve read so far, everyone has said to pump grease until it starts purging.

If i shouldn't do that, how do I know when to stop? You said 2 or 3 pumps every oil service, but how would I know if it needed more than that? Esp after not having done it yet for 36k miles, what if it needed more - how would I know? TIA

 

So I just spent about 20 minutes under the truck and it seems that my 2017 TRD pro double cab does not have a single zerk fitting on either the front or rear drive shaft.

Seems that Toyota has moved away from this? Which makes sense I was shocked to hear about the zerk fittings when I first got my tundra as most of the industry has moved away from zerks in normal/light duty passenger vehicles.

 

My 2017 4WD DOES HAVE the zerks. I've attached the sheet/sketch that shows the locations. I've hit them with the grease gun twice now (I'm at 58,000 miles).

 

You're not going crazy. From past forum reading, sometime during 2017-2018 model years Toyota (appeared to begin) a running change to eliminate zerk fittings on Tundra drive shafts. Running change meaning that when they ran out of shafts with zerks, they started putting in zerkless shafts. @TundraMcGov has zerks, but other 2017s may not, particularly if they are VIN higher than McGovs. The zerkless joints may not last the conscientious as long, but for those that never grease, they'll last maybe a little longer.

 

My 2018 has no zerk fittings I've been able to find

 

Another zerkless crewmax 4wd here...