Greasing Sealed U-Joints?

I have a 2006 2WD PreRunner that is squeaking like hell and needs new grease. Apparently it doesn't have any zerks on the driveshaft or joints. The U Joints are sealed, is there anyway I can open the caps and grease the U Joints myself? If I can do I have to remove the U Joints from the drive shaft or can I do it under the truck? I appreciate any help I can get!

 

Not sure about PreRunners but my 2012 DC 4wd has zerks on the driveshafts.

 

I thought mine would have some but i think Toyota stopped putting zerks on newer 2WD Tacoma’s. Guess they thought sealed was better?

 

If you want greaseable joints remove yours and replace

 

Sealed poly propelyne universal joints are designed for the ( LIFETIME ) of the truck .
These days , lifetime is considered 50,000 miles .
As mentioned above , the only way to grease them is to discard them and install new universal joints with grease zerks .
Its a shame but the same issue occurs with your ball joints and tie rod ends .

Guys have tried drilling and tapping a grease zerk into a sealed poly propelyne universal joint . It doesnt work as they are not designed for purge lubrication

Once new universal joints are installed , they need to be greased at every oil change

 

I also just now found out that my 2015 PreRunner has sealed U Joints so that means that I'll will indeed have to replace my current driveshaft with a more serviceable one with zerk fittings. Just wondering how soon I will need to do it - I'm at 93,500 miles on the odometer.

 

You don't need to replace the driveshaft, just the U joints.

 

Are you getting play or rough movement in the U-joints?

 

@CadCamMan - got it, I was checking my drive shaft this morning while changing my rear diff fluid and saw that my shaft is mostly great, minus the U Joints. I'll take a couple pics later so that I can show what parts are rusted as well.

@3JOH22A - No rough play nor movement at all, just a snapping and clunk click when I change shift from Park through Neutral and shifting to Drive. Again, I'll take a few pics and maybe a video with sound later.

 

Be easier and cheaper to replace the joints with ones you can grease.

 

Just throw in a set of DANA

$35 513301X Spicer 5-1330-1X U-Joint Kit

513301X and call it a day. They are greaseable and made in the US.

 

Highly doubt you need to touch the u-joints at all. Non-greasable joints last a very long time. Like all u-joints, they die at high angles or bad angles. They don’t die from the fact that they’re not greasable. Couldn’t pay me to install greasable in mine.

You are probably feeling the driveshaft spin to the limit of the spider gears when you shift from one direction to the other. Pretty normal on any automatic truck.

 

Thanks! Makes so much sense. I'm still keeping an eye on it, including some rust I noticed in some point midway along the shaft. I think a steel brush and some anti-rust might do it?

 

Keep it mind that the only way to check universal joints for stickyness is by removing the driveshaft .
You cant see a sticky u-joint with the driveshaft mounted .
Removing the driveshaft and manipulate each joint by hand is the proper way to check for bad universal joints .
Its only a couple bolts to remove the shaft .
Not only that , but removing the driveshaft will give you an opportunity to check your yokes and splines and possibly add some spline lube .Splines use a speacial lube , not grease .
This may eliminate a clunk
Spicer makes are our driveshafts and they were very light on spline lube from the factory .

 

Sealed joints, especially the Toyota branded ones, are superior.

Anytime the greaseable ones fail its due to corrosion, often due to seals leaking or one half of the joint not getting any grease.

I havent changed an updated u joint yet. Changed lots of the greased ones. Nearly all have dead spots for grease that are rusted and worn.

Greaseless is the future. Not sure why people get fixated on it.

 

Well U joints are pretty much ignored. Greaseable joints can push water out, if it's full of grease water can't get in they don't mix. If a greaseable one fails it's because they didn't get greased part of a normal service.

 

First are you sure that it’s the U Joints? A squeak is typical when they are failing but it could be something else. If it is the U Joints you don’t want to try greasing them, instead you need to replace them. If they are squeaking they are likely failing and replacement is the solution.

 

Greasable need to be able to push water out because they aren’t sealed very well. Which is also so you can push old grease out and see when to stop greasing.

NG are usually triple sealed and have 0 issues with contamination or problems in general until the needle bearings eventually wear down from use at 150-200K or often more.

 

If you play around in the dirt much (and especially in mud), you'll still want greaseable joints. Mud has an uncanny ability to suck grease out of the joint past even the best of seals. As has been said, pumping fresh grease into the joint will expel any water or dirt that might have gotten into it (and yes you do need to be diligent on greasing them frequently, otherwise they will fail sooner than a non-greaseable joint will). You can tell whether grease reaches all 4 sides of the joint; just look for grease being expelled from each of it's seals as you pump grease into it.


That said, if you don't go offroad much, I would agree your factory joints (more likely that not) are still fine.

 

Here is my driveshaft and I joints, with the pictures oriented from the trans to the rear diff going top to bottom:

Again, these are sealed joints, which I guess should last a long while according to you guys. Got this PreRunner used and now sits at 93,800 mi.

As seen in the pics, there is some surface rust forming, which I just now applied some WD-40 as a bandaid for now. Will brush, clean, and apply anti rust protection later