"Black hole" zerk, wtf?

As I posted elsewhere, I greased my driveline today (FSM, sec MA-9). I did this because of the occasional 'bump' I'd feel accelerating sometimes from lights as reported here.

Started greasing up front, nothing noteworthy, I'm familiar with greasing stuff. I have multiple couplers b/c my LS1/T56-loaded '68 C10 had a couple of hard-to-manage zerks. Straight coupler worked for everything on the Tundra, thankfully.

When I got to the zerk for the 'propeller shaft sliding yolks' (B) ...... 5 pumps, nothing. 10 pumps, nothing. 20 pumps, nothing. Thought maybe I was crazy and wasn't getting on the zerk enough, so I grabbed my slotted push-on right-angle zerk to make sure I was locking on. 10, 20 more pumps, still not seeing grease flow out of anything. Weird

Went for a drive after. No longer get the 'clunk' when accelerating from a rapid full stop (cool!) but when I got home, I looked under, cleaned some grease castings. I locked back onto that zerk and gave another 10 pumps, and it took it. 5 more. Pulled the coupler off to make sure the tip wasn't stuck, depressed the ball on the zerk, fresh grease splurted out, so it's definitely getting in there.

Where the hell does grease for this zerk go? Is this the zerk someone warned about needing to jump up and down on the rear bumper before/during/after loading it up?

 

I seem to recall that fills up the slip joint, it may be possible to overfill it, too much and the joint can’t slide right- or something like that.
Someone more knowledgeable should be able to answer better, but I believe that at least answers where it’s going.

 

The excess grease ends up inside the driveshaft tube.
5-10 pumps every 5-10K miles is good enough.

 

Yes it is. See this post.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/shutter-or-jolt-as-i-come-to-a-stop.39219/page-2#post-1255809

 

Stupid me, you literally posted the exact same info in the thread I linked in my first sentence above. Duh. Looks like the yoke isn't the only thing slipping ...

That said, I can confirm a couple things: One, the 'clunk' is no longer happening since I greased up, so I'm assuming it was the damn slip yoke, which I'll post in the other thread too in case someone finds it. Two, I definitely didn't overfill. I jumped on the bumper, removed the zerk, jumped on the bumper again and only a dime sized blob of grease plopped out. Reinstalled zerk, done.

The latter of these points makes me think the slip yoke hadn't been lubed in years, if ever. And some of the grease that squirted out for the other joints and such was pretty f'n gnarly to say the least. So ... yeah. Let's just say this is something I'll be sure I'm doing once every 12-24 months from now on.

And for those of you like me who had to have 4WD, regarding the two forward-most zerks on the short 4WD shaft, I read a lot of people complaining over the years about what a PITA they are to lock onto and pump up. I think it was the one closest to the engine that was more difficult, but if you rotate the shaft so the zerk is pointed toward the driver's side, about the 8 o'clock position, it's waaaay easier to grease. However, I suspect a right-angle coupler like this one would work - I didn't try mine, straight couple worked fine.

 

.

 

pretty common experience, lubing the driveline and suspension zerks is often missed in vehicle maintenance. Most people are doing pretty good if they get an oil change every 10k miles. People never think about zerk fittings and most service shops dont bother unless you specifically ask for it, so your's being pretty dry is not ususual. But they are good to go now!

 

Thanks for this link!

 

Just did mine, thanks for the info guys! Especially the slip yoke

 

Legend has it, shifty's driveshaft hasnt needed grease since.

 

Permalube

 

Lazy sod

 

shaft != driveshaft

they don't call me shafty` for nothing

 

Soooo… I’m performing this maintenance on my truck. And I’m guessing that at some point in the truck’s life, the 2 U joints on the front shaft (T Case to front diff) have been replaced. Because my grease gun fitting won’t go on. These zerks are on a different location that the other U joints. My main shaft has 90° zerks on the outside of the joint, away from the caps. But these have the zerks in between the caps. The grease gun fitting is hitting the body of the joint and won’t even come close to coupling with the zerk.

Any possibilities that another narrow gun fitting as obtainable? If so, where would I find it?

 

$18 OKYOUK Grease Gun Accessory Set,Grease Injector Needle Nozzle Dispenser,Grease Gun Fittings and Gun Tips for injecting Grease into Sealed CV Joints

https://www.amazon.ca/OKYOUK-Access...1699828504&sprefix=grease+gun+,aps,156&sr=8-6

 

@Aaol1 thank you. I found a tip locally at Tractor Supply that is similar to one you posted. It’s the one that looks like a ball point pen. About $11

 

Nice perfect!

 

Had the same issue last month.

Heard some "thumping/thudding" sounds from time to time while on the road...directly under my driver's foot rest.
Not always, not regularly......just I 'felt" something different.

- Thought new U-Joints were needed (as i was told this would be coming up soon)
- Was not the center bearing bracket as its a different kind of sound and it was recently replaced.

During that time my mechanic was doing a complete timing belt and water pump kit replacements.

He found the same as you guys did....needed grease on all the drive zerks.
Even though I religiously take it in for oil changes every 10K, apparently it was missed....EVERYTIME.

I'm taking on that task myself....thanks for the cardigan link info...didn't know it took different grease.

 

You can get away with one grease for all of them.

$15 Valvoline Palladium #2 3% Moly, Heavy Duty (HD) Grease 14.1 OZ Cartridge

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0735RLMCC

Same grease also works for some of the more-popular aftmarket suspension parts, so it's a win-win. One canister in the gun to hit nearly all the zerks you may land with.

 

I’m confused as to why it needs 2 different grease types. They’re U joints at the double Cardan just like the front and back. Or are they different? The grease fortified with moly is for metal to metal mating surfaces, that’s about all I know of molybdenum. Or all I think I know lol

 

Sorry to jump randomly into an old post. I have read that you should not mix different types of grease. What do you do if you do not know what grease was used by previous owner/shop? if any.... Preparing to grease zerks on my 2005 DC 4X4 not sure if/when that last time it was done or what grease was used.

Thanks!!!

 

I haven't heard that in cases like this, where it should generally be the same type of grease. But general rule of thumb I was taught as a kid many decades ago is "keep pumping until you see new grease if you want to replace", and be ready for some cleanup after. You're not going to do that with the slip yoke, but ...

This is just my opinion, of course. I'm not the definitive source of truth on the topic.

 

Cool. So the grease you recommend is:

Valvoline Palladium #2 3% Moly, Heavy Duty

I thought saw you rec a slightly different one in another post but can't find it rn.

Thank you!!!

 

I did recommend a different grease prior, it's Valvoline's other synthetic that's 2.5% moly (p/n: VV 985). Unfortunately, my new control arms call for 3% moly, so I've since switched to the Palladium. Either one will do you fine, though.

 

Got it. Thanks for the help!

 

Whatever you do, just don't mess with Willie's retirement grease!

 

Hey Jedi Shifty,

A few more questions... Sorry! How many pumps of grease per zerk? How do I know what they've taken in enough grease? Will I see grease escaping the seals? Also read somewhere that is bad for the seals? For the slip yoke bounce bumper up and down?

Thank you!

 

Same as any u-joint on any other vehicle, I was taught to pump until you see clean grease flow out of the joint, then wipe excess grease off. I've been doing it that way my whole life. I think it's a good general rule of thumb for anything with a zerk and boot or movable seal.

For the slip yoke, which is (B) in the 1st image of this post IIRC, I recommend following @FirstGenVol's reply here:

​

 

Fuck. I’m pretty sure mine hasn’t ever been greased.

more things to do this weekend. Yay!!!

 

Does yours clunk while stopping at stop lights, or taking off from stop lights? Mine did. It was dry as a bone. Grease fixed. I re-grease at least every oil change.