About to buy my first grease gun…

[andyp]

I’m pretty new to DIY maintenance, but a trip to our local Toyota dealer (coming from Audi/Merc) didn’t inspire too much confidence. I’m trying to put together a list of what actually needs to be greased up, how often, and with what lube. I searched around, and it seems like there’s a good bit of debate on the latter.

Is there a resource with all of this easily accessible?

 

[andyp]

I should add ‘19 with 30k miles. New to me at 24,000.

 

[radman]

One of these (or similar) is life changing!

Amazon product ASIN B00H7LPKKU

 

[CharlieS]

A cheap $20 grease gun from the local tractor store has lasted me a few decades. Having a flexible hose instead of a straight shaft is a nice feature for getting at some zerk fittings.

A lock and lube setup would be deluxe, but I’ve managed this long without one. Maybe I’ll ask Santa for one…

Over time if you DIY much, you’ll end up with several. I have one for marine grease, one for multipurpose grease, one for red and tacky.

Once you have one, you start to see all
of the zerk fittings in on boats, trailers, tractors, mowers and vehicles.

Friendly tip: store them in a 5 gallon bucket so when they make a mess, it is contained. I keep some rags in the bottom to absorb mess.

On the 200 there isn’t much to grease: driveshafts and universal joints.

Search ‘mud for tips, you might want to avoid putting too much grease in the driveshafts. Others have posted better advice than I could give.

 

[Weedhopper]

Clean the fitting really well. ^^^ flexible hose is almost a must , usually sold as an accessory.

 

[Sandroad]

There are only 6 grease fittings and you are smart to do it yourself. Dealers skip this important lube job. Here’s a good thread on how to do the front driveshaft. So 4 universal joints and 2 slip joints and you’re done. Any name brand grease that meets the specs in your owners manual is fine. I use Valvoline synthetic.

How I grease my front driveshaft

I've seen a few threads asking for advice on getting the front driveline lubed, and even a couple asking whether there are even zerks up there. Had to do my drivelines recently and figured I'd take some pictures of what I do. First off.. the equipment. No fancy grease gun or nozzle here. Just a...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[andyp]

Thanks guys!

 

[andyp]

All went well. Looked like it hadn’t been done since the thing left the factory. Thanks for the help.

 

[andyp]

Let me add that I made a hell of a mess.

 

[CharlieS]

Great job!

Your post inspired me to put some grease into mine yesterday. I always forget that those universal joints zerks are a pain to get to.

I may have to pick up the lock n lube tip mentioned above to see if it helps make it a little easier.

Overall a pretty easy job once the skids are out of the way. I suspect this is one of those service items that get overlooked on a lot of vehicles.

 

[andyp]

Great job!

Your post inspired me to put some grease into mine yesterday. I always forget that those universal joints zerks are a pain to get to.

I may have to pick up the lock n lube tip mentioned above to see if it helps make it a little easier.

Overall a pretty easy job once the skids are out of the way. I suspect this is one of those service items that get overlooked on a lot of vehicles.

I tried one of those tips - couldn’t get it to fit in the spider joints.

 

[bloc]

I tried one of those tips - couldn’t get it to fit in the spider joints.

I was going to say my basic century-old-design tip works great and barely fits.. anything more and it isn’t gonna work.

 

[CharlieS]

Good to know. I’ll save the $30 and stick with what I have. Thanks!

 

[Sandroad]

Let me add that I made a hell of a mess.

Well at least we know you actually did it. Making a mess is pretty much standard operating procedure.

 

[terdrocket]

Milwaukee M18 Grease Gun is my jam.