2023 Drive shaft grease fittings?

This is likely the first of many dumb questions. I bought a used 2023 V6 TRD 4x4 last week, with 13K miles on the odometer.

I've read about grease fittings on the front drive shaft but I can't find any. Granted, I have not looked really hard yet, but I have looked closely enough to see that it's a Dana-Spicer shaft.

Does the 2023 have zerk fittings? Cup fittings? Any fittings?

Thanks.

 

My 2021 is sealed, has no grease zirks. I'm assuming yours is sealed also.

 

Bummer. Just have to watch and do an occasional shake test. Thanks.

 

Take what I say with a pinch of salt though, I'm quite new to working on my truck. Hopefully someone smarter can answer also!

 

they were phased out well before 2023 model year.
if you have them they will be on the universals on the front propeller driveline.
must remove a bracket to see one of them.
pretty much guaranteed you won't have them on front or rear driveline.

 

You have to align the coupling straight in for it to engage properly, it took me a bunch of tries to get mine to do it also. Hands also hurt a lot afterwards. The service centers must have a right angled one or something like that $40 one posted above.

My 1st Gen and older ones had Zerks all over the place, those were fun.

 

'22 trd offroad here. No zerks on any of my driveline components. Bummer, non-maintainable will mean they cost me money atbsome innoportune moment in the future. :/

 

I remember the "zerk fitting forest" really well. My long-gone 1976 Jeep Cherokee (full size) with manual transmission had zerks on almost everything. A full grease job took close to 1/4 of a tube. It had fittings

• On all of the front end parts except the sway bar kinks.
• On the shift linkage box. Most shops never noticed this, so when shifting got tight, it was time to fill the box. It took half a tube when empty.
• On the clutch linkage pivots.
• On both drive shafts. When I had the rear drive shaft rebuilt, I had the rear spider installed backward so I could lube it without disconnecting the front U-joint. The machinist gave me a funny look, but it worked fine and didn't interfere.
• The front double cardan joint had two cup-shaped lube fittings that took a steel, round nose applicator and some stiff hand pressure. 95% of all shops didn't have the $7 applicator, but they were more than happy to replace the ruined drive shaft. Plus the transmission that the shaft took out when it let go.

I bought that Cherokee at 138K miles, and it was educational. This is why I look for grease fittings!

 

I see conflicting info and would like to understand whether and where there are grease fittings or grease points to service on my 2023 SR5 4WD Tacoma with 21K miles.
Propeller shaft and otherwise.
The Soft Taco Maintenance Map item no.5 suggests serviceing at about 15K miles.
Full skid plates make a quick check or servicing a sizable chore for me, requiring I reserve a work bay an hour away.
Crawling under with a hernia and two bad shoulders is no longer an option... my body is saying 'You can look but don't reach out and touch!'

Above thread reads there are none.
Another thread I'd read said One, this video says 4WD has one at front of drive shaft U joint.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOURUMQa6kI
Another on 4wd transfer case?
This video says two in front https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWvO_rmKvro

thanks.

 

Starting 2020 the driveshafts are sealed - 2019 and older have them on the front driveshaft. I think 2016 may have some on the rear too, but I can’t remember, regardless, you are fine

 

2016 4x4s came with 5 greaseable Zerks and slowly went to non-greaseable joints (see post #1).

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-u-joints.409042/

Here are some interesting facts on greaseable vs. non-greaseable joints.

“Bottom line on strength: The non-greaseable joint is slightly stronger than a greaseable joint. The exact number, how much stronger, is unknown and we do not believe it to be very significant.

Bottom line on wear life: A regularly greased greaseable joint will outlive a non-greaseable joint. But a non-greaseable joint will outlive a greaseable joint that does not get greased properly.”

https://4xshaft.com/blogs/faq/greaseable-vs-non-greaseable-joints-which-is-better#:~:text=Bottom%20line%20on%20strength%3A%20The,outlive%20a%20non%2Dgreaseable%20joint.

 

hopefully not too OT, but since the front shaft (propeller) does not rotate when in 2wd, how critical is it to grease that shaft?
The vast majority of my use of 4wd is just to exercise it, as recommended in owners manual. If it is really not getting used much, I am assuming it is not critical to follow the maint schedule (other than for warranty purposes). Is this correct thinking or is there something magical about greased universals that require greasing regardless of use?
Edit: it is not trivial to get to those front shaft zerks since my Miller Cat shield blocks access. wish i had cali-raised but was not an option at the time.

 

I have a MillerCat too. I do remove it along with my Sport skid plate once per year for oil changes and greasing my Zerks.

Not my favorite thing to do but me being OCD about checking under my truck wins out over me not removing them.

 

Re: Critical/Magical: Although the front shaft and u-joints may not be turning all of the time, it is still subjected to all of the harsh environmental factors that the rear ones are: water, dust, grit, mud and salt as well as vibration and friction, heat, cold, ice and snow. It's not ideal for components that only occasionally move (or spin) to sit idle for long periods. (2H) Greasing does two important things: lubrication and flushing the old grease out along with water and any other avarious contanimants.

The very front one on my truck (on the front shaft) was in there at a slight off-angle from the factory. PITA to grease without making a mess. I replaced it with a straight fitting because it's important that this fitting is serviced on a regular basis. After replacement, it took 4-5 pumps to fill it and push the old grease out. The others on the two shafts took about 3. Likely it hadn't been greased properly for an extended time.

 

Why don't you crawl underneath your Tacoma and see if get grease fittings? Next time you do oil change and filter.

 

My 2020 SR5 4x4 has none, all the U joints are sealed. I checked myself, couldn't find any then ask our mechanic to check when I was in for state inspection and He said nope none too.

 

agree environmental conditions eventually take a toll, spinning or not. i do exercise per owner manual. was more worried about breakdown of grease over time, etc. i think i am doing enough for my garage queen.

when i pumped it the first time, i think they were overly dry. since then, regreasing, it was as expected. i think they were relatively dry from the factory and now that they are properly greased, my occasional use shows no impact.

if i understand you about the angle: the first time i did it i had to rotate the 90 (or was it 60) degree nipple to get the nozzle on. easy to nudge it with a wrench, pump it, and retighten. just a 1/4 turn was all i needed and there was no problem with anything coming out threads.

 

Re: angle: The factory grease fitting on the front of the shaft near the front diff was a 90 (maybe 60?) degree, a bit depressed and pointing towards the edge of the hole it's in. This made it tough getting a snug engagement with the gun, even with one of those locking nozzle fittings and a flexible hose on the gun. I finally smartened-up and put a straight grease fitting on it. Straight-in approach, three shots and you're done in 2 minutes with no 15 minute grease-everywhere mess clean up to deal with.

 

No fittings after 2019

 

Thanks all