Steering Prop-shaft U-joint Greasing

[Gretsch]

I have been searching on this all day on this but have not come up with anything definitive. A few threads about replacing the prop shaft and joints, but have seen very little about maintaining it. The FSM I have does not have anything on the steering components that I could find. So at the risk of exposing my utter noob-ness, are the U-joints on the Steering prop-shaft greasable? I think I figured out there is a zerk fitting in the lower part of the shaft (covered by a heat shield) that you can hit with a grease gun, but I do not see a zerk anywhere in the upper U-joint near the firewall (still in the engine bay)that would allow me to pump grease in there. The U-joint there has what look like grease seals that would indicate its somehow greasable but I just don't see any way to get the grease in there. Perhaps I am just missing where the fitting is on the joint (trying to spin the shaft a bit at a time and look for a fitting) or maybe these have needle type fittings that is covered over with dirt or something or it can only be seen from underneath. I only had a minute or two to look last night but will have another look tonight if I can when I have more time. Perhaps there is no fitting and you need to use a syringe to inject grease in this joint? Again sorry for getting noob on everyone. As always, thanks in advance for the replies.

 

[OSS]

U-joints on steering shaft are not serviceable. No grease. But the siding shaft is serviceable and the maintenance manual even highlights that it should be greased occasionally. To re-grease it, remove the heat/dust shield, then loosen both clamp bolts in both ends of the steering shaft. Then slide the shaft forward until it clears the splines.
Remove the shaft and pull it apart (taking note of its orientation for reassembly). Completely clean out all the old grease & apply new grease - then re-install. Put some anti seize grease on the splines to protect them and make future removal easier.

 

[Gretsch]

Thanks OSS, just what I was after. When you say slide the shaft forward, you mean forward towards the steering gear and front of truck right? I imagine the shaft will slide forward towards the steering gear until it comes off the U-joint near the FW, and then you can remove the shaft on the steering gear side to get the shaft out. Sound right? I am sure once I get the heat shield off it will be clear what needs to be done, but hoped to clarify before I get into it.

Also I noticed it looks like the rubber boot near the steering gear side seems to be cracked on mine. Is that an issue for these or is that boot just a dust shield of sorts to keep water and debris out. Mine is mostly there but looks to have a few splits in it. Not even sure a replacement is available but thought I would check if its even needed. Thanks for the help here.

 

[OSS]

Take note of the orientation of the shaft when the steering wheel is centered straight. You want to re-install it in that same orientation. The lock bolts on the clamps at both ends of the shaft need to be completely removed in order to slide the shaft towards the front (to remove it). Although the shaft is two pieces that slide in and out, old grease and stiction can make compressing the shaft very difficult since there's no "breather hole" on the end.

After I removed mine, I installed a grease zerk at the rear end (like the FJ62 models have) to allow easy greasing, and also allows easy sliding of the shaft when the zerk is removed.

The steering shaft dust boot is still available. PN: 45222-60031

 

[Gretsch]

Great info OSS. I'll take a look at mine and see how bad the boot is, perhaps replace it. There is nothing currently wrong functionally with the steering setup in mine but I imagine this is one of those maintenance items that gets overlooked and most likely has never been done so would like to get it right. Thanks again for the help.