I just saw this in a discussion on the other 4R forum. A member (mechanic) noticed there are no zerks on the driveshaft of his 2022 4Runner. And he mentioned that Tacomas and Tundras have been this way for a few years now with sealed driveshafts.
I do not follow the Tundra or Tacoma forums often so this was news to me.

Has anyone here noticed this on their new 4R? It seems that this started for the 2022 model year.

I wonder what prompted Toyota to do this. And if it will affect the reliability of the driveshaft, especially for hardcore off-roaders who drive through water often.

References:
Starting at post #28:
Needle bearing... | Toyota 4Runner Forum [4Runners.com]

2019 OR Propeller Shaft: No Zerks for DIY Lubrication? | Tacoma World

My 21 has them


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My 21 Nightshade has them. Unless they have moved to some kind of sealed and greased for life bearing setup then they have to have zerk fittings. If they really have moved to sealed, then you are good for a very long time. They can be kind of hard to find, even when you are looking in the right place. I used the how to thread on this forum to find mine.

greased vs sealed:

Driveshaft Universal Joint: Greasable Vs Sealed - YouTube

As far as hardcore off-roaders, sealed is actually better because it is sealed from water. Non sealed would require more careful maintenance when off-roading/fording.

On my 2018 I lube mine every oil change. If someone here has owned and lubed an older 5th Gen and now has a 2022 model, have you noticed that the new driveshaft is any different?
Is it a new sealed design or the same old one but with no zerk fittings installed?

considering most owners don't have a clue on lubing their drivetrain...its probably a good idea for 99 percent of the people out there.

Which reminds me i gotta do my yearly lube soon.

Depends. I replaced several 'Sealed' U-joints back in the day of working on vehicles for a living, that became contaminated from trail driving, that could have been lubed after 4wd trips and continued on, if they had grease fittings.

Several of my friends who are still in consumer auto repair, say the same thing.

Yes, 'Sealed' U-joints are sealed better than those with zerks, but contaminants can still get in, and then it's just a matter of time until failure.

Good point. I agree, an owner who regularly offroads and carefully maintains the grease based on use/duty cycle would be better off with non 'sealed' u joint.

Only have about 600 miles on my 2022 and have not looked, but recommended maintenance manual still has the lube propeller shaft in it. Every 15K or every 5K if on dirt or salted roads.

Made me look...lol
My 22 ORP still has zerk fittings same as they were on my 10. Three on each shaft.

Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if there’s a mix of driveshaft parts being used on 22s. Using up old stock while transitioning to new.

Maybe on a 2 wheel drive?
And I noticed they have a new 22 owners manual . They just came out with one that says post Nov build and one that has pre Nov build or something like that. I haven't looked up the differences yet .

Even if you don't off road a lot, fresh grease ain't a bad thing. Especially for cv joints, which here in Florida get exposed to water all the time, on or off road.
Hopefully the sealed driveshafts do their job for a long time.

My sealed wheel bearings last a long time.

I'm not sure how you'd seal the slip yolk. I assume it still has a grease zerk? But the u-joints might be better off sealed for most people - because they don't grease them, they grease them with the wrong grease, they over-grease them and blow the seals out, etc.

Most bearings should never need replacement grease if they don't get contaminated. I suppose never isn't really accurate. But they should last a long time with the original grease. I don't think greasing them is going to meaningfully remove contaminants unless you flush so much through that you're blowing the seals out. Bearings should not generally be "full" of grease - the theory of grease is that almost all of it is expelled from the roller bearing areas and then as the bearings heat up the grease liquifies due to the temperature and flows to the bearing surfaces to create a thin lubrication film. The goal is a little film of separation at the point of contact - and nothing more. The thickness of the grease is to keep it stuck to the outer bearing areas where it waits to be melted and flow down into the bearing areas. If you over-fill them, you'll end up with poor performance. The general rule is only 30% of a bearing cavity should be filled with grease. The airspace inside is important for cooling and proper grease flow. It's pretty common to see mechanics fill a bearing cavity completely with grease and the result is significantly shorter bearing life. Trailer bearings are probably the place I've seen this mistake most often.

I'm guessing the same thing often happens with u-joints and then the seals get blown out and the bearing is compromised with outside contamination. But there's no way to really know how full they are in a typical u-joint. So most people grease until the seals expel grease or go with the three pumps method. What else would you do?

Anyway - bad greasing probably kills more bearings than lack of greasing. So maybe Toyota decided that the odds were in favor of removing the grease zerks and going with a lifetime seal set on the ujoint caps?

But... also the same greater team of engineers designed the needle bearing in the front diff that has been a notorious failure point for 20 years and they still haven't addressed it. So I'm not sure I'm always on board with Toyota engineers on everything. Maybe instead of trying to fix a problem that isn't a problem on the u-joints they should have spent some time re-designing the 8" clamshell to have a proper bearing on the driver's side output?

My 2019 does not have the propeller shaft zerk like my 2011 FJC has.
Both have zerks for the U-joints.

The only bad greasing on a u-joint is not enough. You must make sure grease purges from all 4 caps. The seals are designed to do this and don't get blown out from over greasing. I sell u-joints for a living and this is part of the training we do.

That said, today's sealed u-joint triple lip seals are superb and I highly prefer them. Plus the crosses are stronger because they don't have holes drilled through them.

As far as the slip yoke goes. Yeah you don't want to over grease that unless it has a purge cap on it. Pressure can build up there quickly.