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This time I didn't put my friend's GX in neutral. I just put the truck on jacks (all 4 corners) and turning the drive shaft was relatively easy. Neutral is only if the any of the wheels are touching the ground. The pics below are captioned. Just quick notes, (1) denotes the slide yoke zerk fitting and (2) is the spider U-joint zerk fitting. The pics are also in the order I did it, which is rear to front. Why do I do it from rear to front? In my garage, the passenger side is 2-3 feet from the wall while the driver side has plenty of room. When I slide under the truck from the driver side, it's just easier for me to start from the rear and then shimmy my way towards the front. This is only the second time I've done this job. My friend's GX has 125,000 miles and I swear on my life it drives just like mine which only has 32,000 miles after doing this job. I also did his oil, oil filter, coolant, steering, brake, engine air filter, cabin air filter, and tire rotation. The whole thing took me a little less than 5 hours total, but I made zero mess. Only spider U-joint zerk fitting (2) all the way to the back of the truck where the rear differential is. Close up shot of the spider U-joint (2) all the way to the rear of the truck. The other end of that rear drive shaft right before the transfer case has a slide yoke (1) and a spider U-joint zerk fitting (2). Here's another angle of the rear drive shaft behind the transfer case. The LockNLube quick detach/attach is at a weird angle going up and over, but it was very doable for the slide yoke zerk (1). The quick detach/attach was too long however to slide into and reach the spider U-joint (2). In this angle of the same part of the rear drive shaft, since I couldn't reach the spider U-joint with the LockNLube quick detach/attach, I turned the drive shaft so that the zerk fittings pointed towards the passenger side. This is a close up of the same thing. Now, I'm able to reach the spider U-joint (2). The front of the truck is to the left and the rear is to the right. This shows the drive shaft before the transfer case. If you turn the drive shaft so that both zerk fittings point towards the driver side, it's a piece of cake to reach with the LockNLube quick attach/detach. The LockNLube is on the slide yoke (1) here. Another angle of the same thing, but this time I have the LockNLube on the spider U-joint (2). There's only a spider U-joint zerk fitting (2) all the way to the front of the front drive shaft. Here's another angle of the very front of the front drive shaft. The accessibility for the LockNLube is perfect.
This time I didn't put my friend's GX in neutral. I just put the truck on jacks (all 4 corners) and turning the drive shaft was relatively easy. Neutral is only if the any of the wheels are touching the ground. The pics below are captioned. Just quick notes, (1) denotes the slide yoke zerk fitting and (2) is the spider U-joint zerk fitting. The pics are also in the order I did it, which is rear to front. Why do I do it from rear to front? In my garage, the passenger side is 2-3 feet from the wall while the driver side has plenty of room. When I slide under the truck from the driver side, it's just easier for me to start from the rear and then shimmy my way towards the front. This is only the second time I've done this job. My friend's GX has 125,000 miles and I swear on my life it drives just like mine which only has 32,000 miles after doing this job. I also did his oil, oil filter, coolant, steering, brake, engine air filter, cabin air filter, and tire rotation. The whole thing took me a little less than 5 hours total, but I made zero mess. Only spider U-joint zerk fitting (2) all the way to the back of the truck where the rear differential is. Close up shot of the spider U-joint (2) all the way to the rear of the truck. The other end of that rear drive shaft right before the transfer case has a slide yoke (1) and a spider U-joint zerk fitting (2). Here's another angle of the rear drive shaft behind the transfer case. The LockNLube quick detach/attach is at a weird angle going up and over, but it was very doable for the slide yoke zerk (1). The quick detach/attach was too long however to slide into and reach the spider U-joint (2). In this angle of the same part of the rear drive shaft, since I couldn't reach the spider U-joint with the LockNLube quick detach/attach, I turned the drive shaft so that the zerk fittings pointed towards the passenger side. This is a close up of the same thing. Now, I'm able to reach the spider U-joint (2). The front of the truck is to the left and the rear is to the right. This shows the drive shaft before the transfer case. If you turn the drive shaft so that both zerk fittings point towards the driver side, it's a piece of cake to reach with the LockNLube quick attach/detach. The LockNLube is on the slide yoke (1) here. Another angle of the same thing, but this time I have the LockNLube on the spider U-joint (2). There's only a spider U-joint zerk fitting (2) all the way to the front of the front drive shaft. Here's another angle of the very front of the front drive shaft. The accessibility for the LockNLube is perfect.
So just to confirm, the transmission was still in Park, and w/ the truck in the air you were able to rotate both drive shafts? So Park is somehow bypassed when the tires aren't grounded?
Okay, garage report from me. I did this last night and it took me maybe 15 minutes max. I jacked up my GX and then put it in neutral. The only place where you have to slide deep under your truck is for the drive shaft behind the center differential, three zerks. For the other three zerks in front of the center differential, you just have to stick your head and arms in and it's very, very easy to reach the zerks if you use this, unless of course the zerks are pointing towards the passenger side. In that case, you'll have to slide under a little deeper. There's no need to remove anything. The quick disconnect tip of the LockNLube linked above is the perfect size (length and width) to reach the zerk fittings. Thank you, by the way, to those who recommended it. I can't imagine a better grease gun for our trucks, to be honest. Also, last but not least, the 8-10 for the slip yoke, I used 10. The 4-6 for the spider U-joints, I used 6. It was exactly at 6 when I heard the crack. Not much old grease came out. I saw the tiniest amount squeeze through which I cleaned using a wooden bbq stick with a shop towel at the tip, creating a long garage Q-tip version.
Considering that my GX is a '22 and only 2 years old (only 32,000 miles), the 'thunk' when going from 'P' to 'D' or 'R' to 'D' was not at all loud, but that sound and the way it jerked was noticeable enough. After performing the above, I drove it around for maybe 6 miles total, parking, stopping, etc. and I can't believe how all of that went away. The foward thurst/jerk also softened by a LOT! It's barely even there anymore. I would dare say that if your truck is brand new, way before this maintenance is required, if you feel the same thing going into 'D', grease your drive shaft. Perhaps you won't need 8-10 for the slip yoke or 4-6 for the U-joints, but it does help.
See my earlier posts above regarding lubing the 19-21 GXs and the TSB information above...they will replace the driveshaft. (Toyota may extend that to '22 models)
So just to confirm, the transmission was still in Park, and w/ the truck in the air you were able to rotate both drive shafts? So Park is somehow bypassed when the tires aren't grounded?
I was able to turn the drive shafts while the GX was on 'P' and in the air, yes. I was very surprised. It wasn't easy but I turned it one-handed. I'm going to do it again to my own GX when it's time the same exact way I did my friend's GX.
That makes 2 of us who are surprised! Thanks for the pioneering! Can anyone else comment on how/why this works? To date I was under the impression that the transmission is "locked" while in Park, making driveshaft rotation impossible. Is the Torsen responsible for this behavior?
That makes 2 of us who are surprised! Thanks for the pioneering! Can anyone else comment on how/why this works? To date I was under the impression that the transmission is "locked" while in Park, making driveshaft rotation impossible. Is the Torsen responsible for this behavior?
The wheels are rotating in the opposite direction to match the input shaft speed (which is zero).
The drive wheels turn in the opposite direction when a car is jacked up because of the way the differential works. The differential is a device that allows the wheels on an axle to turn at different speeds, which is necessary when going around corners. When a car is jacked up and one of the drive wheels is turned, the differential causes the other drive wheel to turn in the opposite direction. This is because the differential is designed to transmit power to both wheels equally, but in opposite directions.
Looking for the right grease to use and noticed a change in manuals. For my 2022 and also the 2023. It only calls out to use only “Lithium base chassis grease, NLGI No.2” for Spider and Slide Yokes. I find that interesting, since 2021 and assuming prior years from all the threads I’ve been reading called out Moly for
the Slide Yoke. I’m wondering why the change?
I confirmed that one can rotate the rear drive shaft by hand while all 4 tires are in the air, with the truck in Park. So that's great! It also appeared that the rear wheels moved in unison in the same direction as each other, while the fronts also moved in unison but opposite the rears. I didn't observe or try the same with the front drive shaft but will next time. The LSD center diff is definitely a different animal!
I confirmed that one can rotate the rear drive shaft by hand while all 4 tires are in the air, with the truck in Park. So that's great! It also appeared that the rear wheels moved in unison in the same direction as each other, while the fronts also moved in unison but opposite the rears. I didn't observe or try the same with the front drive shaft but will next time. The LSD center diff is definitely a different animal!
10-14-23, 07:36 PM
This is only the second time I've done this job. My friend's GX has 125,000 miles and I swear on my life it drives just like mine which only has 32,000 miles after doing this job. I also did his oil, oil filter, coolant, steering, brake, engine air filter, cabin air filter, and tire rotation. The whole thing took me a little less than 5 hours total, but I made zero mess.
