Drive shaft noise or U joint noise (LEXUS 4/06 TSB page 18) aka Driveshaft thump/bump

[4RunnerR]

The Toyota tech told me he had worked at toyota for 10 years and had never heard of a 4Runner clunk.

Right.

They replaced the faulty Toyota drive shaft with the one I picked up from Lexus as outlined in their TSB.

The drive shaft and the install was on my dime.

Just wanted to confirm it fits and solves the problem....the problem that Toyota told me doesn't exist.

I have the same issue. Which shaft needs replacement, the rear or front?

 

[TeryT]

The Toyota tech told me he had worked at toyota for 10 years and had never heard of a 4Runner clunk.

Right.

They replaced the faulty Toyota drive shaft with the one I picked up from Lexus as outlined in their TSB.

The drive shaft and the install was on my dime.

Just wanted to confirm it fits and solves the problem....the problem that Toyota told me doesn't exist.

And since he had never heard of it, of course it didn't exist! :bash: Mine was replaced nearly 5 years ago. I give it a couple shots of Mobile 1 grease every so often, and never had the infamous clunk again!

 

[TechWrench]

I have the same issue. Which shaft needs replacement, the rear or front?

It is the rear drive shaft that causes the problem. Many have had success with proper lubrication of the drive shaft slip joint. From others reporting in, it appears that replacing the driveshaft with the Lexus one will also fix the problem, but at a much higher cost. Your choice.

 

[Brian32]

Is there a diy on lubing the driveshaft and u joint I never knew this had to be done and im experancing the clunk noise..beside the driveshaft and u joint anything else I should lube up?....its for a 2002

 

[4RunnerR]

Is there a diy on lubing the driveshaft and u joint I never knew this had to be done and im experancing the clunk noise..beside the driveshaft and u joint anything else I should lube up?....its for a 2002

It's pretty straight forward. Next time you have it in for service, the shop should be able to do it. Otherwise, you can jack up the rear and do it yourself. You can't miss the fittings, they're right there.

 

[4RunnerR]

It is the rear drive shaft that causes the problem. Many have had success with proper lubrication of the drive shaft slip joint. From others reporting in, it appears that replacing the driveshaft with the Lexus one will also fix the problem, but at a much higher cost. Your choice.

Thx.

 

[Brian32]

It's pretty straight forward. Next time you have it in for service, the shop should be able to do it. Otherwise, you can jack up the rear and do it yourself. You can't miss the fittings, they're right there.

What type of lube should I use?

 

[4RunnerR]

What type of lube should I use?

Based on the responses of others, it's a mixed bag here. Some highlighted lithium, while others Mobile. My take is that any bearing/drive-line grease should work here. But that's just me.

 

[robojob]

I have a 2008 4x4 V8 4Runner with 32,000 miles and have been experiencing the drive shaft thump issue for about the last 25,000 miles. I have tried several times in the past to pump grease into all the zerk fittings along the drive shaft with mixed results. It wasn't until I read the previous post by Gordo that I realized why it wasn't working.

Everyone emphasizes that you only need a couple pumps of grease at each location, or else the grease just ends up spraying the bottom of the truck when you drive. That may be true, but it is causing everyone to insufficiently grease the slip yoke on the rear drive shaft.

I performed the "arkie 6 fix" as described by Gordo as follows:
I connected my grease gun to the rear drive shaft slip yoke zerk fitting and pumped about 20 shots of lithium base molybdenum disulfide (moly) NLGI#2 chassis grease into the fitting. The last 6 or 7 shots visibly caused the slip yoke to expand by an inch or two. Then I got on the rear bumper and jumped up and down several times to cause the slip yoke to compress and decompress. This caused several tablespoons of grease to squeeze out of the slip yoke seal. Then I pumped a couple more shots of grease into the fitting and a little more grease squeezed out, which I wiped clean with a towel. I didn't feel the need to remove the zerk fitting to allow any more grease to escape.

That's it! And unlike previous attempts which only caused subtle improvements in the problem, it has completely resolved the issue.
As Gordo emphasized, it takes a lot of pumps with the grease gun for the grease to work its way into the splines (pic) and alleviate the binding problem. The "arkie 6 fix" can successfully coat the splines with grease without having to take anything apart.

I have driven several hundred miles without even the slightest thump in the drive shaft. I will update again after I have driven several thousand miles to confirm that the thump hasn't returned.

Update: After about 5,000 miles, the thump gradually returned. I repeated the greasing procedure and it worked again. Looks like I'll just have to continue doing this approximately every oil change.

 

[Iowa4Runner]

FWIW, I replaced the rear propeller shaft with the Lexus part number and I've been thump-free for the last 7,000 miles. I've also switched from Mobil1 (red) synthetic grease to Valvoline (gray) synthetic grease with moly. I plan to give the spline zerk ~10 pumps of grease at each oil change and hopefully the thump / clunk will stay away.

 

[JohnnyT]

I just have one question about this "clunk" (which I notice).....

Does it hurt anything in the short or long term??

If not, I can live with it. Just want to know.

Thanks.

 

[Billf6531]

It hurts nothing, but a dozen or so pumps from a grease gun eliminates it, so why would you put up with it?

 

[JohnnyT]

It hurts nothing, but a dozen or so pumps from a grease gun eliminates it, so why would you put up with it?

My truck is greased as it should be. Even checked it today.

But like someone else earlier stated, it still happens after releasing the brake after a hard stop at a light (as much as I try not to stop hard at lights).

Other than that, it doesn't usually happen.

But if there is no harm, then I'm cool with it. Plenty of important things to worry about these days.

 

[Billf6531]

My truck is greased as it should be. Even checked it today.

But like someone else earlier stated, it still happens after releasing the brake after a hard stop at a light (as much as I try not to stop hard at lights).

Other than that, it doesn't usually happen.

But if there is no harm, then I'm cool with it. Plenty of important things to worry about these days.

Please describe in detail how you checked and determined that the driveshaft is greased as it should be. It will not happen after a hard stop if it is greased correctly.

 

[teamblend]

id love to hear about someone with the lexus driveshaft with 5-10k miles on it... sounds like we'll have to wait a while


also - with the # of views on this thread, and the number of other forums with this same issue... and toyotas blind eye.. im wondering why a class action lawyer hasnt picked up on this yet...

 

[Iowa4Runner]

id love to hear about someone with the lexus driveshaft with 5-10k miles on it... sounds like we'll have to wait a while

I'm somebody, at least I think I am... See reply #690

 

[teamblend]

I'm somebody, at least I think I am... See reply #690

good to know.. it took about 12k miles for my last 4runner to start clunking. Cant wait to hear more results.

So this new shaft has fitting to grease? I thought i read a while back in this thread that the lexus shaft didnt have these?

 

[Iowa4Runner]

good to know.. it took about 12k miles for my last 4runner to start clunking. Cant wait to hear more results.

So this new shaft has fitting to grease? I thought i read a while back in this thread that the lexus shaft didnt have these?

The new Lexus drive shaft has a grease fitting just like the old Toyota part. Looking at them side by side I couldn't see any difference between them. The machining on the splines looked just as poor as the original driveshaft. I'd like to know what's supposed to be different about the Lexus part. Maybe they shipped me a Toyota driveshaft with the Lexus part number on it. :shrug:

 

[JohnnyT]

Please describe in detail how you checked and determined that the driveshaft is greased as it should be. It will not happen after a hard stop if it is greased correctly.

Honestly, I can't say. I had my truck at the dealer 3 weeks ago to look into this and they told me they simply greased the driveshaft. Being as I often hear horror stories about dealer work, i didn't take their word for it. My friend (who absolutely I trust and respect immensely with this stuff) checked it for me and he showed me the bit of "fresh" grease that come outs out the edge of the whatever that indicates that the dealer greased the driveshaft 3 weeks ago like they said they did.

I know nothing underneath a truck.

But I know what the clunk sounds and feels like - and I still have it albeit recently far less often than before.

 

[Billf6531]

Stealerships are lazy. They have a kid they pay $12 an hour to do oil changes and grease jobs. Do you think he has any pride of workmanship?

The seal will leave a mark on the slip part of the drive shaft. Have your friend pump more grease into the fitting until he can see one-quarter inch of fresh slip joint. That will solve your problem.