Drive shaft grease new 2023

Was under my 4Runner re-torqueing suspension stuff and gave everything a quick look. I noticed the u-joints and yokes looked way to clean to have ever been greased. Are they supposed to be greased at the dealer? I have a grease gun, just need to decide on what grease to use. If they never got grease luckily I only have 375 miles on the odo.

I plan to grab grease tomorrow and give everything a few pumps.

 

It’s new so it wouldn’t have been greased, other than what was already there from assembly.

Usually I grease them every 5 or 10k miles. Manual specifies the grease needed on the u-joints and for the slip yokes. Be careful from overfilling the slip yokes and popping out the seal.

 

I'll grease them now then plan to do it at every 5k oil change.

I have John Deere multi purpose moly and a multi purpose sd poly grease. Should probably get another grease gun and keep one loaded with each kind.
I'm guessing it would do the job....or just drive it to the farm and grease it there...we have quite the grease gun collection ha.

 

I think the u-joints get EP, and the slip yoke used the regular stuff. I think Im using EP for both.

 

Yeah ep in the ujoints and I think they like a little moly in the slip yoke. Book says ep in both..but not moly in both. So if you're going to use one use ep.

I think.....this is all going off what I've researched the last hour or so.

 

Just did mine. I opted to use the different greases that are called out by Toyota but they say you can just use the regular Lithium base chassis grease, NLGI No. 2 for both driveshafts and u joints.

The lock and lube was a good investment.

 

Any NLG2 grease will work. They won’t show signs of grease until you drive and centrifugal force slings it out.

 

I'm kinda thinking I'll use what I already have. Just need to go get it at the farm. John Deere multi purpose Sd polyurea nlg2, we grease hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment with it and it's never been a problem. It goes in our truck u-joints and slip yokes too. Only thing I use moly for is the 5th wheel plate on the semis.

 

I’ve got two grease guns, one for the regular and one for the moly. I just grease once a year.

 

Can someone direct me to a tutorial on grease types and what types are used for what purposes and why? Genuinely curious. Want to learn.

 

I use this

 

Over on the Tacoma forum they are saying new Tacomas U-joints have no Zerks- not serviceable? I prefer serviceable u-joints? So new 4 Runners have zerks on the u-joints? I asked the Service Mrg about it with my 2016 Tacoma that had zerks. He said so many people were overfilling them they thought better to go that route. He said the last one he looked at had 1 u-joint that had a zerk while the rest were sealed. Like they were transitioning to no zerks? Perhaps the Japan plant still using serviceable u-joints?

 

My 23 4Runner has still zerks. 6 I believe.

 

How do you know if you've filled enough? A vid I just watched said to fill u-joints until grease comes out everywhere and to just put 10-15 pumps into the slip yoke (on a Sequoia). Guessing it's a different number of pumps for the 4R, but is there another way to know?

 

I've been doing 4 pumps on the 4Runners slip yokes. Can't remember where I saw this.

 

I hadn't even thought about grease, thanks for bringing it up, adding this to my todo list.

 

This is good advice. I also use the two recommended greases.
And the LockNLube (installed at least on the multipurpose chassis gun) will save your knuckles.

LockNLube Grease Gun Coupler...

$33 LockNLube Grease Gun Coupler locks onto Zerk fittings. Grease goes in, not on the machine. World's best-selling original locking grease coupler. Rated 10000 PSI. Long-lasting rebuildable tool.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H7LPKKU?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

When done I always wrap paper towels and plastic bags around each grease gun. They always tend to leak a little during storage.

 

Lock N Lube #1

 

Another thing I needed, order placed.

No one pays any attention to the plea under my avatar...

 

Nor are we. My own personal scope creep went to buy 2 McNaught grease guns and 2 lock and lubes to have separate greases - moly and non moly for the spiders and slip yokes.

This is in addition to the setup I have for the Jeep TJ with Red and Tacky in it.

One grease for all would have been nice.

 

Whine,whine,whine! Just break out the old spend me card and enjoy it

 

Haha. Those are the exact greases I am using

 

That's the problem. Once a month I get the spend me card bill and have to make amends.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzOwNiDQEBI

 

I think 4 to 5 pumps every 10k is fine if it’s working ok. But mine started to bind a bit a while ago. It felt like somebody tapping my bumper lightly at a red light. It happened usually when coming to a stop.

Found out that these slip joints can run a bit dry since the grease has to go a long way to where it’s needed. In my case, I pumped 4 to 5 regularly, but it seemed it wasnt enough. The shiny part of the shaft was bone dry and getting corrosion on it too.

Anyway, after studying up a bit on the subject, I went to town with the grease, and just kept pumping, until I saw the slipyoke expand ever so slightly. Then (this is the important part), I took the zerk fitting off to relieve the pressure. A bunch of grease spooged out under air pressure (pocket of air inside there), and jumped on the rear bumper to compress the suspension and slip joint in order to get even more out. Then I put the zerk back on. It hasnt had the binding behavior since then. Do this at your own risk.

 

@McSpazatron
Moly grease on the slip yoke?
I really want to keep the drive line clunk to a minimum..

 

I think so? Double check the manual though lol. Running on memory

 

Manual recommends moly I believe. I know some people don't, they just use a nlgi2 lithium I think. But if moly keeps the clunk away moly is what I'll use.

 

I think the moly additive helps with shock loads hence the recommendation for slip yokes. But if you’re on a budget then the regular lithium is fine too.

 

Wow, this is $63 on Amazon Canada