The freeze plug on my rear sleeve yoke on my 2002 Taco decided to jump ship, which i'm guessing is the direct result of having my friend help me grease my drive line and over fill the thing. Oops.

Just to be clear what i'm talking about, please look at the fsm page here scroll to the bottom, and look at the last prop shaft illustration.

Obviously i need to get that thing plugged up, and I've come up with a few ideas:

1. buy a new sleeve yoke for $160. I really don't want to have to do this.

2. weld a freeze plug in place and make a vent hole.

3. find a used sleeve yoke with a freeze plug, and swap sleeve yokes, or just steal the freeze plug.

I've checked all of the auto parts stores in town, and no one has a 36mm freeze plug.

Currently, I'm leaning toward just welding a freeze plug in place. I've had several local toyota mechanics (in the process of looking for a used sleeve shaft to steal a freeze plug from) just tell me to weld one in and drill a vent hole. My only concern here is that water could get in when the truck goes swimming. Is this a relevant concern?

Please let me know what you would do in this situation.

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=freeze+plug+36mm