driveshaft / prop shaft greasing.

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k-lr4

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HI all. I have been trying to get some information on this but hardly anything shows up when I search this forum and even on the general internet.

I have a 2013 LR4 HSE LUX with HD package that we have owned since new. I have been regular with maintenance. BUt for the love of me I cannot find articles that explain how to grease the front and rear drive shafts - both the slip and the U-joints. From what I was able to review and upon speaking with my local dealer - is it true that the LR4 has sealed drive shafts (both front and rear) from the factory? And that servicing them essentially involved removing them from the vehicle and refitting them with serviceable after-market parts??

IF this is true, then what is the estimated life of these "so called sealed for life" shafts?? mainly urban and suburban use with about 2 offroading trips per year (mild to moderate offroading - example the schnebly hill road and broken arrow trails around sedona, AZ type level of difficulty, nothing MOAB). we have about 120K miles on it now and dont think that the drive shafts have even been touched for any sort of maintenance.

Honestly, the only reason I stumbled upon this query is when I was looking at comparable maintenance on the land cruiser over on Ih8Mud forum. Had a face palm moment as it had never occured to me for the LR4 and neither had the dealer ever mentioned it (considering that they love to add on services all the time).

Any input would be appreciated.
 

Strizzo

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They most likely are, as nearly all oem u-joints have been sealed non-greaseable for a while now. The OEMs don't want to add the greasing to the maintenance schedule because it adds to cost of ownership, and unless you're doing water crossings you don't have to worry about them going bad for a pretty long time. I've had two vehicles go 150K+ on original u-joints, the last one even had quite a bit of water time on the trail and during hurricane harvey that took out a unit wheel bearing.
 

k-lr4

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They most likely are, as nearly all oem u-joints have been sealed non-greaseable for a while now. The OEMs don't want to add the greasing to the maintenance schedule because it adds to cost of ownership, and unless you're doing water crossings you don't have to worry about them going bad for a pretty long time. I've had two vehicles go 150K+ on original u-joints, the last one even had quite a bit of water time on the trail and during hurricane harvey that took out a unit wheel bearing.

hmmm.... that's good to know... coincides with what my dealer told me. dunno about most OEMs but the land cruisers' (LC200) are most definitely serviceable... but then again it is an early 2000s design..so things may have changed in a decade or 2.
 

thevinrod

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HI all. I have been trying to get some information on this but hardly anything shows up when I search this forum and even on the general internet.

I have a 2013 LR4 HSE LUX with HD package that we have owned since new. I have been regular with maintenance. BUt for the love of me I cannot find articles that explain how to grease the front and rear drive shafts - both the slip and the U-joints. From what I was able to review and upon speaking with my local dealer - is it true that the LR4 has sealed drive shafts (both front and rear) from the factory? And that servicing them essentially involved removing them from the vehicle and refitting them with serviceable after-market parts??

IF this is true, then what is the estimated life of these "so called sealed for life" shafts?? mainly urban and suburban use with about 2 offroading trips per year (mild to moderate offroading - example the schnebly hill road and broken arrow trails around sedona, AZ type level of difficulty, nothing MOAB). we have about 120K miles on it now and dont think that the drive shafts have even been touched for any sort of maintenance.

Honestly, the only reason I stumbled upon this query is when I was looking at comparable maintenance on the land cruiser over on Ih8Mud forum. Had a face palm moment as it had never occured to me for the LR4 and neither had the dealer ever mentioned it (considering that they love to add on services all the time).

Any input would be appreciated.
Well this is quite bizarre. I'm just learning about greasing the driveshaft on my 2019 land cruiser and started to google whether I needed to do it on my 2013 LR4 Lux. What a small small world...
 

ryanjl

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Probably isn't needed as much on a vehicle like an LR4 where the front and rear differentials are forever stationary relative to the center differential. The 200 series still has a live rear axle, so the drive shaft will still bend, shrink, or extend as the axle moves through its motion.
 

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