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

[4RunnerRon]

I just remembered something. You guys are lucky that this "temporary" fix for the clunk is just greasing. My GX went thru an even worse situation. I'd say, this new driveshaft of mine, is probably the 4th or 5th driveshaft my car's ever had?!?!? It felt like they were just screwing around with my car and i would have preferred the greasing and replacement of the driveshaft only ONCE.

But i totally disagree on CV on his post at CL. IT DOES COME BACK ON GREASING ONLY.

Didn't they do the full TSB on your last service - including the new driveshaft AND rear control arm kit? That should have fixed the whole problem.

Mine was only greased. They didn't replace anything. You are lucky with the Lexus, at least they recognize it's the parts design that causes the binding. The grease just masks the real issue for a while.

 

[rx900]

Didn't they do the full TSB on your last service - including the new driveshaft AND rear control arm kit? That should have fixed the whole problem.

Mine was only greased. They didn't replace anything. You are lucky with the Lexus, at least they recognize it's the parts design that causes the binding. The grease just masks the real issue for a while.

Yes they did, but that was after like 3 or 4 driveshafts and about 3 or 4 greasing up too. My point is that it's better off getting it greased for now, until they release the TSB again. At least you don't get frustrated (like in my previous driveshafts) that the clunk is coming back after getting a new driveshaft(previous TSBs).

 

[4RunnerRon]

Ahhh... I see. Didn't know Lexus had previous TSBs. I had heard of driveshaft replacements before, but wasn't sure if it was a Toyota solution or Lexus. Bummer you had to deal with it so many times. I hope it's fixed for good now!

 

[Baba Booey]

I found this grease that is apparently specially formulated to help eliminate driveshaft clunk. This grease cost $34:awais: I have no idea why it costs so much, but this website sells other products that appear to be reasonably and fairly priced.

I wonder what it is and whether it would work for the T4R clunk. Maybe I will call them for more info on this....

Spline Lube

 

[oua]

Count me in for a class action lawsuit!!

This clunking just became apparent at ~19000 miles. Mostly happens during a hard stop. So far I have added ~1000 mile since the clunking.

I will get the grease gun out tonight. Hopefully some waterproof marine full synthetic grease will fix it. That is what's currently in the grease gun.

 

[naseeb]

I found this grease that is apparently specially formulated to help eliminate driveshaft clunk. This grease cost $34:awais: I have no idea why it costs so much, but this website sells other products that appear to be reasonably and fairly priced.

I wonder what it is and whether it would work for the T4R clunk. Maybe I will call them for more info on this....

Spline Lube

I just used Mobil 1 Synthetic grease. It works great! Going on 12months without the problem.

There is no reason to spend $34 for grease. The $3 stuff works just as good.

 

[rx900]

By reading a couple of your guys' sigs, I'm kinda curious as to why some of you 06 4wd owners still have the clunk , when Toyota/Lexus should have used their new updated driveshaft that my Lexus dealer told me that all the 06 GX470s have and supposidly to save money, they should use the same thing, right? The new 06 GXs with the new driveshafts are what they used as their new TSB when they found out that it doesn't clunk anymore. Apparently that isn't the case unfortunately. Does this happen to V6 4wd owners too, or just V8 4wd? There must be a slight design flaw in this driveshaft as the problem will be lingering as long as this 4th gen runner (and possibly some 1st gen GXs) is on the market.

 

[toto]

The Lexus TSB didn't come out until April 19, 2006. They wouldn't have put the change in production much sooner than that, so the dealer's wrong. Given the timing, I would think that at least 50% of the 2006 Lexus GX's could have the same problem.

One would think that 2007 GX's and 4Runners would be OK, though.

 

[oua]

Still haven't got around to pulling out the greese gun. I will kick my self in the butt and do it by this weekend or bust.

Or maybe I should just take it to Toyota and complain/demand a new driveshaft.

----

I did pull a pair of pwc today (~2000lbs load) and it was more apparent than ever.

The clunking only happens during braking just right before the vehicle comes to a complete stop. (without the load of the pwc - it only occurs while hard braking)

Could this be another related problem since most of you are reporting clunking on the initial take off after the stop????????

 

[oua]

Got the grease gun out today. I have a manual hand squeeze pump so the pressure was very easy to monitor.

The 4 nipples on the joint only took 2 squeeze to fill up. Fill until it began to spill out.

The 2 nipples on the actual shaft took 25+ squeeze to fill up. Filled until there was slight pressure build up on the hand pump.


-----

After the greasing - the drivetrain felt smoother. I used to hear a soft hummm during acceleration. Now that humm is gone. Maybe that hummm could just be my head.

Back to the original problem - the dayem clunking hasn't change one bit. - time to seek warranty claim/new drive shaft.

 

[claydoctor]

I get E-mail notices every few days from new posts on this thread. I keep expecting to open one that says "Good News, Toyota has just posted a TSB on this problem" but so far nothing, zero. This is unbelievable when you think about how many people are having this problem that is being ignored by Toyota. Aren't any of you other guys out there lawyers?? I'm trying to get my brother to buy a 4-Runner. He'd have this straightened out in about a week!

 

[oua]

another thought.

I would speculate that most drive shaft comes from the factory without enough grease to properly provide the necessary lubrication. (WTF - I had to put in 25+ squeeze to fill it up)

My hypothetical reality is: Once the clunking begins - the damage is already done[b/] and it is too late.

-----

I only wish I knew about this issue and maintained the greasing of the drive shaft since day 1. Then maybe there will be no clunking.

 

[naseeb]

another thought.

I would speculate that most drive shaft comes from the factory without enough grease to properly provide the necessary lubrication. (WTF - I had to put in 25+ squeeze to fill it up)

My hypothetical reality is: Once the clunking begins - the damage is already done[b/] and it is too late.

-----

I only wish I knew about this issue and maintained the greasing of the drive shaft since day 1. Then maybe there will be no clunking.

Are you sure you got all the zerts? I used to get clunking right when I released the brakes after coming to a hard stop. It went away for almost a 1 year before I had to regrease. I'm sure you are experiencing the same problem as all of us. Try adding more grease in a couple weeks.

 

[Thai]

I only wish I knew about this issue and maintained the greasing of the drive shaft since day 1. Then maybe there will be no clunking.

Yup, if only you found this forum sooner!

 

[oua]

Are you sure you got all the zerts? I used to get clunking right when I released the brakes after coming to a hard stop. It went away for almost a 1 year before I had to regrease. I'm sure you are experiencing the same problem as all of us. Try adding more grease in a couple weeks.

How many zerts are there??

The front drive shaft have 3
and
The rear dirve shaft have 3
for
a total of 6.

Am I missing one or two zert(s) somewhere???


The first time it began clunking was at ~19000 miles... I drove it like that for 1000 miles until I found this thread and greased it at 20000 miles. I bet the damage is already done. Good thing it is still under warranty.

Stupid toyota - this maintaince procedure should been in the manual - in BOLD!!!!


I will try repacking the grease again. Hopefully this helps. This is sooo annoying... Almost makes me want to trade this thing in. Just can't seem to find another SUV that fits my taste and wants.

 

[greasefingers]

Six total is correct. Three on each shaft

 

[06RunnaLTD]

Just wanted to let you all know my 4runner has been replaced with a 2006 Subaru Legacy GT, a bit more fun to drive. But all the way up until October 6th when I traded it, It didnt clunk anymore. So for me the one time greasing worked. It may return for some but its worth doing for whatever time it eliminates the thunk.

 

[bluduk15]

How about some good news on the clunking? I have a 2003 4WD v8 Limited that had the clunking issue from about 5k to 20k mile period. After that I had the local lube and oil place lube the shafts. No problems.

It seems to me that it is almost a break in problem, at least for me. I recently lubed the shaft with the lithium and moly greases. There are two different kinds of grease for different applications.

Sounds like some have used whatever grease was in the gun. This might explain the recurrence issues.

Search here for the guide on how to do it properly. It has pics and shows which zerts to grease and what grease to use. I used Amsoil's syn. grease (moly and reg lithium).

 

[4RunnerRon]

Just an update on the clunk in my 06 Sport Edition...

Had an oil change at 5000 miles and reported the clunk to the dealer. They lubed the driveshaft and it helped for a while. I now have 5550 miles and the clunk is returning. It's not as bad as it was this past summer, but it's back. I was hoping to get more miles out of it before it returned. It's ridiculous that I may have to take it in every 500-1000 miles to keep it quiet.

 

[rx900]

Just an update on the clunk in my 06 Sport Edition...

Had an oil change at 5000 miles and reported the clunk to the dealer. They lubed the driveshaft and it helped for a while. I now have 5550 miles and the clunk is returning. It's not as bad as it was this past summer, but it's back. I was hoping to get more miles out of it before it returned. It's ridiculous that I may have to take it in every 500-1000 miles to keep it quiet.

See exactly what I said. Sorry guys but i don't think there's light in your future according to Toyota. GX owners are having a little difficult time getting parts for their vehicles. But I do have a friend who has an 06 Sport 4wd V8 and he says (or maybe doesn't know it) that he doesn't have the clunk. I remember my clunk came out at about 3-5k miles. And I thought that only happens to people like me because we were the Guinea Pigs on the GX/4Runners. :twak: