I'm planning to grease the driveshaft (propeller shaft) of my 2004 4Runner. I read this thread but it's about 3rd-generation 4Runners and my 4th gen vehicle seems different.

I also downloaded the 4th gen service manual from this thread but as far as I can see it does not provide clear information about how to grease the drive shaft and which type of grease to use.

So, here are a couple of photos. My car seems to have only three grease fittings (Zerks), and I've numbered them in the photos.





It looks to me as if Zerks #1 and #3 are supplying grease to their respective u-joints (cardans), and therefore most likely require regular lithium grease. Whereas the grease that is applied via Zerk #2 is more likely for some type of metal-on-metal application and probably requires lithium grease that contains molybdenum disulphide.

Am I missing any Zerks? I can't see or feel any others. Are my guesses about which grease to use correct?

Finally, does anyone have any experience with renewing the grease? Can I just keep pumping grease in until the grease that is coming out is clean stuff? Or do I risk screwing up seals that way?

You are correct #1 and #3 take Lith No2 grease and those are Spiders and #2 is a Slider and takes MolyLith. I use Synthetic Mobil1 on spiders and regular dyno MolyLith on slider. Do not overfill slider because it can pop the dust seal at full compression (3-7 pumps is enough). As for spiders keep pumping until grease oozes out of all berings then wipe extra stuff off and it is done.

Can I pump lithium grease that contains molybdenum disulphide in all three Zerk fittings?

Moly for spiders? I wouldn't. If it was advisable Toyota dealers would just use one grease (who knows maybe they do use cheaper of them two for everything).

Thank you, >>>>.

It should be obvious, but I did not make it clear in my initial post (because I was confused), that there are three grease fittings (Zerks) per drive shaft, and that my two photos at the top of this thread only show the three on the rear drive shaft. There are three more on the front drive shaft, which goes from the front diff to the transfer case.

So the six Zerks are as follows:

- Where the front drive shaft meets the front diff, there is a Zerk for the spider, requiring regular lithium grease.

- Where the front drive shaft meets the transfer case, there is a Zerk for the spider (lithium grease) and a Zerk for the slip yoke (requiring lithium grease that contains molybdenum disulphide).

- Where the rear drive shaft meets the transfer case, there is a Zerk for the spider (lithium) and a Zerk for the slip yoke (moly).

- Where the rear drive shaft meets the rear diff, there is a Zerk for the spider (lithium).

This is a car that I would not want to entrust to any kind of "quick lube" place. To position the rear drive shaft for access to the Zerks you have to either raise the rear wheels off the ground with the car in neutral and turn the rear wheels, or roll the car in neutral until the drive shaft is in the right position (the front drive shaft turns freely as long as 4WD is not engaged).

Perhaps it's a bit cynical of me but I think very few lube shops would bother to do all that. Nor would I trust them to use moly on the slip yokes. If I were not servicing it myself I'd only give it to a trusted mechanic in a small shop where I knew the person who would be doing the work.

Hi...I know this thread is old....but I've been noticing a clunking sound when I switch from Park to Reverse, or Reverse to Drive, and I'm thinking that it's time to lube the driveshaft.

I've got a 2009 Toyota 4Runner with the Urban Runner trim package (V6, 2WD)

I called Autozone, and they told me their system is calling out for high temperature grease for all of the zerk fittings.

I reached out to my local Toyota dealership. The parts guy told me that he checked with the service guys, and they get their own grease from another supplier, and that they don't sell it to the public? They also said that they use one type of grease on all of the fittings.

Any thoughts? I don't want to make a bad situation worse by greasing the shaft with the incorrect grease.

Thanks.

I use Mobil 1 synthetic grease for the spiders (zerks #1 and #3 in the photos at the top of this thread). But I get a bit frustrated with it because it's so messy to store (the oil component bleeds out of the grease gun). I'll probably switch to a different grease soon. I've read that Valvoline SynPower is also good and does not have the separation problem. I'm not criticizing the lubricating properties of Mobil 1 -- just lamenting its messiness when storing it.

For the sliders (zerk #2 in the photo) I use Sta-Lube Moly-Graph Lithium Grease. It came with a grease gun that I bought, so I didn't really choose that brand for any particular reason.

The brand is not really super important. What matters is:
1. The grease must (in both cases) be lithium-based. Otherwise it will not be compatible with the grease that is already in there.
2. The grease must (in both cases) be NLGI-2, which is a measure of the grease consistency (hardness).
3. It must support high temperatures (the drop point for the Sta-Lube is 380F, not sure about the Mobil or the Valvoline but they will be fine).
4. Do not put moly grease in the spiders.
5. Make sure you put moly grease in the sliders.

It's disappointing, but not really surprising, that the dealership you mentioned uses the same grease in all the fittings. I'd guess they are using non-moly grease all round. It seems that, to be really sure that the car is getting the type of grease that Toyota specified, we have to do this job ourselves.

Oh, and one other thing. Don't worry about the color of the grease. There is no color standard for grease. So one manufacturer's green grease is compatible with another manufacturer's red grease, as long as they are both lithium based.

Another thought. I had an email notification from the forum today saying that someone had asked a question in this thread about whether it really is important to use two types of grease for the drive shafts. I guess that message has been deleted, but the gist of the message was that the person who posted it had consulted a dealership, who recommended buying one type of synthetic grease and using it in all the fittings (in other words, no need for moly in the sliders).

I disagree. I prefer to stick with what Toyota specified. I don't think the technicians in a Toyota dealership know better than Toyota's engineers. Also, it's tempting for the dealership to save money by standardizing on one grease, even though Toyota specifies two different greases.

As an individual, I don't mind spending time and money using two separate greases in two separate grease guns and doing the job as Toyota recommended. If Toyota issues a service bulletin changing the recommendation, then I'll change how I do the job.

I just wrote a big long post about my driveshaft experience at the dealership, then I found this helpful thread...

Greasing the driveshaft will help smooth out P to R? I'm just trying to verify my dealership greased the driveshaft per toyota recommendation. So if switching in and out of park feels noticeably smoother, that could mean the driveshaft was lubed?

I just read the messages in the other thread. I think the only way to be sure that they greased the driveshaft is if you can see fresh grease on the spiders (near zerks #1 and #3 in the photos at the top of this thread), because the correct way to grease them is to keep pumping the grease gun until clean grease is coming out, then wipe the spiders clean. However, if you see no clean grease on the spiders it might just mean that they wiped them clean very carefully.

If you do not see any clean grease on the spiders the only way to be sure would be to grease them again and see what immediately comes out. If it is dirty grease, you know that they did not grease them, or at least not sufficiently. If clean grease comes out immediately, you at least know that the driveshafts are not in need of lubrication. But I lube mine every 15k and what comes out is pretty clean, so even if clean grease comes out it might mean very little on a well-maintained car.

(Note that this would not be the correct way to grease the sliders, as distinct from the spiders -- for the sliders, you definitely would not want to continue until grease is coming out.)

Also, I don't think that the lack of a clunk right after the lube job necessarily means they lubed the driveshafts. Nor would a clunk mean that they did not do it this time. Perhaps if there was a clunk before, and it went away directly after the lube, it might be possible to conclude that they lubed the driveshafts, retorqued the nuts, or both.

To answer a couple of other questions in your other thread, I think 30 minutes or less is about right for the job. And I don't know how important it really is to lube and retorque the driveshafts regularly, but my 2004 Maintenance Guide says it should be done every 10k (or 5k in salty or sandy conditions). I do mine every other oil change and I have no transmission clunk when changing P<->R.

I have been using Royal Purple, Ultra-Performance Grease | Royal Purple

In all the drive-line zerks for the past 8 years...nothing has exploded so far.

In the Toyota user's manual for 4Runner 2008 it says:
CHASSIS LUBRICATION
Propeller shafts:
Spiders
Lithium base chassis grease, NLGI
No.2
Slide yokes
Molybdenum−disulfide lithium base
chassis grease, NLGI No.2 or lithium
base multipurpose grease, NLGI No.2


So I think it is fine using Lithium base chassis grease, NLGI
No.2 on all zerks.

In the 2003 4Runner manual it says:

CHASSIS LUBRICATION
Propeller shafts:
Spiders and slide yokes
Lithium base chassis grease, NLGI
No.2


No specific differentiation of two types of grease.

Hey guys, I was going down the driveshaft greasing rabbit hole today and this post here combined with this one I think really cover all the bases. Hope this might help someone else.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to Moly all the grease fittings or actually get two different grease guns. Seems like moly all around would be just fine, I don't like what I hear about the oil separation in the Mobil 1 grease.

Amsoil NaGL2 is good. Do not Use Moly in spiders. As it was stated before it is not compatible with your NagL2 that is in there now. Just get 2 guns and 2 tubes and rest easy.