Lubing front driveshaft - where??

[JonathanBurk]

Help, I'm at 12K miles and haven't lubed my front driveshaft cause I didn't have a grease gun.



Well I went out and bought one and went to lube the sucker and I got no idea where. I look at the picture, and see that it's just right by the t-case, but there's no fitting or anything.



Do I just squirt the lube all over the u-joints and so forth?

 

[steved]

Help, I'm at 12K miles and haven't lubed my front driveshaft cause I didn't have a grease gun.



Well I went out and bought one and went to lube the sucker and I got no idea where. I look at the picture, and see that it's just right by the t-case, but there's no fitting or anything.



Do I just squirt the lube all over the u-joints and so forth?

You need a grease "needle" to get it... look for a shallow cone.



steved

 

[WhiteSheep]

Don't Do It

You don't need to lubricate the front universal joints. They are permanently sealed. If you stick a needle through the seal, you will potentially ruin the seal and expose the needle bearings you are trying to protect. The shop manual does not list maintenance of the universal joints on any of the schedules. You can replace the joints with servicable ones, but I would not recommend it. The sealed ones last a long time. Leave well enough alone.



If you want to use your new grease gun, use it on the tire rod ends. This is called for in the shop manual every 7500 miles. Just do it when you change the oil.

 

[Dieselnerd]

From 2005 and up, the front driveshaft is greaseable. Many threads on this subject. Do a search. Here is one thread with a picture.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128317&highlight=front+driveshaft+grease

 

[Bob V]

The lube button is hard to find, the transmission cross member is in the way. What I had to do was lay directly under the transmission and look from the front side of the cross member, rotate the drive line till you can see the fitting (need to jack up one front tire). The fitting is just behind the front CV joint u-joint, on the center section. This lubes the CV joint needle bearings, not the u-joint. Like I said you have to be in just the right spot to see it

 

[steved]

You don't need to lubricate the front universal joints. They are permanently sealed. If you stick a needle through the seal, you will potentially ruin the seal and expose the needle bearings you are trying to protect. The shop manual does not list maintenance of the universal joints on any of the schedules. You can replace the joints with servicable ones, but I would not recommend it. The sealed ones last a long time. Leave well enough alone.



If you want to use your new grease gun, use it on the tire rod ends. This is called for in the shop manual every 7500 miles. Just do it when you change the oil.

 

[Blakers]

You can replace the joints with servicable ones, but I would not recommend it. The sealed ones last a long time. Leave well enough alone.

Perhaps the front drive shaft joints will last a long time (mine have given no problem at 70,000 mi. ), but all the other u-joints are junk (imo). I have replaced most of mine - some twice.



Blake