2021 4runner, so far so good?

We pay tax on the earnings when the contribution is made so still death and taxes...just earlier

 

Going to pickup a new 21 SR5P Tuesday for the wife. This will be her second 4Runner and my 3rd. 88, 01 and now this one. We are trading in a 13 Explorer Limited with all of the bells and whistles, so this will be a bit of a change. Hoping for the best but this should be the last car we have to buy.
Stopped by the dealership on a whim and they had a Black TRD that we drove. I really wanted that one but my lovely wife wanted a Moon roof and needs third row seats for the G-kids. Oh well, her car her rules LOL.
So be it, I have 4 other 4x4s in the stable to play with, so not a big deal.

 

My 2021 TRDP only has a couple thousand miles on it at this point, but it has been awesome so far (knock on wood). It has met or exceeded expectations in all ways.

 

We have two in the garage. A 2020, and my 2021 in super white. No problems, no squeaking, no rattles. No problems with having his and hers lol.

 

I have the exact same thing! Dealer tried balancing tires twice and then I went to a local shop and had them road forced. It didn't fix the shimmy so I bought new goodyear tires and now I'm having the exact same thing! What the hell 4runner! I don't believe I got 2 sets of bad tires and they are not balancing after 2 road force bal.

 

1,200 miles on my 21 SR5P I had some pulling to the right. Dropped it off yesterday to the dealership and they fixed it. They said it was a mixture of the alignment and PSI over inflated. who knows! but glad it is fixed.

 

Did you wait until your first service, or did you take it in prior to have your alignment fixed? Thanks in advance.

 

2020 Off road with 17k miles and no issues other than a couple paint chips on the hood and side of truck by the off road decal. Not a big deal but a little frustrating only a year in.

 

I took it in with only 1800 miles on it. So no i didnt wait.

 

I do not know the validity of this statement, however, I have read of a few folks that have swapped to aftermarket upper control arms with a lift, eliminating, or highly reducing, the shake. Perhaps this is due to stronger UCAs? I can't recall where I read that, but I swear I have.

 

just about to hit 5k mi. and the thing 4 wheels excellent. make sure you stay at about 32psi.

 

Have you resolved the noise issue? I’m having a very difficult time dealing with the dealer to warranty my 4Runner.

 

It’s actually quieted down since i got it. Occassionally i might hear it when i have the extra weight of a passenger, but it’ so inconsistent, that my chances that a dealer will hear it a pretty much nil

 

Nope. Put on all terrains the day after I got my 2021 ORP in may, and have had issues since with wheel shimmy around 60 that everyone talks about, as well as an issue with it tracking right. The shimmy/shake is intermittent so sometimes difficult to diagnose. These tires were the new Cooper Rugged Trek’s, and I figured maybe they are difficult to balance - with them being brand new there aren’t many reviews out there. I had them road force balanced 3 times, at two different Discount Tire’s. I then purchased new KO2’s, and had them road force balanced twice. No improvement.

I called Toyota and they basically said take it to a dealer, which I did, and this is where I also got my first alignment done. They screwed up and had the steering wheel off center, so I had to take it back the next day to get that fixed. They also only did a toe alignment and said caster couldn’t be adjusted (lol). The tracking was no better and they said they couldn’t feel the shimmy.

So now I contacted a highly regarded specialty shop in my area, who always has a couple week wait to get in. They are great and got the alignment sorted out, but the road force balance they did only very marginally helped with the shimmy. So now I’m waiting to take it back for them to look at the wheels and tires closer (and possibly something in the steering or suspension).

Unfortunately I don’t know if this shimmy existed prior to putting on that first set of tires, as I didn’t have much of a chance to drive at around 60 before putting on that first set of tires. I find it very unlikely that over at least two sets of tires that I’m just dealing with bad tires here but I suppose it’s possible. Still, the 4Runner is WAY over sensitive to this and I attribute so many people having this issue to a design flaw on it over anything else. I’m 40 and have owned/driven multiple trucks, Jeep’s, old school Durango’s, etc, and have never had a vehicle so sensitive to balance.

I haven’t been able to enjoy my new truck, and am seriously considering just selling it - thankfully I think I could make a slight profit if I did that.

 

Got mine back in March, I'm almost at 8k miles on it and have had no issues whatsoever so far.

 

21' TRD/ORP/SR in MGM. 2,300 miles and no issues so far.

I've read numerous posts here on the front differential bearing failure. Seems like it happens to about 25% of the 4R owners, and shows up early on. Same thing with past FJ owners. Fortunately, never had the problem with my 10' FJ Cruiser. And so far, not with the 4R. Seems like after all these years Toyota would have fixed this. I've read where owners would get this fixed under warranty. But the dealer would replace it with the same type of bearing which appeared to fix the problem half the time, and half the time not. But the after market fix seems to be permanent.

Rick

 

Just over 1000km on my '21 ORP, still all stock.

Here are some of the issues (quirks?) I have noticed;
-Rattling noise on the rear passenger door when shutting it. Not sure what it is, goes away when I shut the door firmly when hand held on the door but appears if I push-close the door. Will have dealer look at it doing first service.
-A squelch from the steering wheel areas when I and turning the vehicle our of park to drive. Not sure if this is an issue or a quirk or something off.
-Burning smell. It was really bad the first day or two (obviously) but it comes back during continuous driving/long trips. Shrug?

My only planned mod is KO2s or some other all terrains but I am worried about all the vibration/balancing issues owners are reporting here.

 

Is it a burning smell from the rear tire well? Because that never goes away.

Well, it might go away after like 80,000 miles.

 

Had a 20 TRDORP and now a ‘21. Here’s the issues I’ve had so far - all minor things unless NVH bothers you (like it does me)

- Exhaust Rattle when backing up at parking lot speeds and turning (chassis flexed): worse in the ‘20, mild on the ‘21. Engineering had a case open on my ‘20

- Windshield rattle/tapping noise from the black corner pieces: happened on both. Resolved by felt tape

- shimmy at highway speed like many others: happened on both trucks. Seems to be a characteristic of the car. Personally road force balanced every tire and verified alignment specs on an aligner - all normal.

- popping noise from sunroof - only on ‘21. No water leaks, no wind noise = not having a dealer tear apart my headliner for it.

In short, mostly all noise concerns. Still loving the truck personally due to the mechanical reliability and simplicity.

 

Has anyone had much luck with fixing the steering wheel shimming @ about 60mph? 3000 miles in and I already have that and the needle bearing noise in the front differential. I’ve never had any problems with previous Toyotas but gotta say I’m pretty disappointed and haven’t even made my first payment yet

 

From what I’ve read, most will say road force balance. Multiple times in many cases. Then you’ll see some saying theirs was fixed only after a regular balance, while others will say you need a flange adapter, a haweka adapter, or a lug centric balance (despite these being hub centric wheels). I’ve also seen some have their shimmy fixed by something completely non-wheel/tire related. Go to the dealer, go to a 4x4 shop, turn smart weight off, and so on. Then of course there are many who are happy to live with the issue, or don’t have the issue.

What it boils down to, in my opinion, is that these vehicles are WAY too sensitive to balance, and that to me is a flaw. I want to love my 21 ORP but it’s been a very frustrating experience.

 

Just got my 2021 yesterday, but drove a 2017 limited for 4 years and the only issue I ever had was the hands-free phone gave all kinds of feedback. Could not hear anything wrong on my end but everyone I called complained about about it.

 

This thread is scary. A shimmy on a new truck is a deal breaker. My friend inherited an older Highlander. Loves it still. Then he leased a new one for his wife. He hates it, says it over corrects the steering constantly. Blames it on the up-and-coming self-driving features, lane departure, etc. For the 4Runner, there is already too much electronics on what many purchased as an off-road vehicle. Going to get worse and probably the 4 cylinder is coming next.

 

So here is something my dad told me when I was a young man. Get used to the noises each individual vehicle makes. As long as that noise stays the same it's all good.

 

4 months and 7k miles in, about 12 hours of actual off-road including some decent wheeling for a stock setup and no real complaints. Recently started feeling vibration at about 45mph, but pretty sure that is either my alignment being off from my last trail session or that I dropped my tire pressure to test different pressures and gas mileage. Just adjusted pressure this morning and will see if that changes .

My biggest issue at this point is I cannot find enough excuses to get it to the trails, and there are not a lot of dirt roads in dfw.


Update: was tire pressure. After adjusting slightly vibration is gone.

 

be glad it’s not the wrangler JL problems

 

Yeah, this thing probably not affecting too many trucks.

 

I should have mentioned the "burning" smell when exiting after driving. Noticed this from day one. Now with 3k miles, I notice it a bit less. (Or maybe I'm just getting use to it LOL). But a new issue surfaced:
The driver's side outside mirror. Works and functions fine. But it's developed a strange, cloudy, white, fog-like substance around the outer circumference of the glass. And it appears to be very slowly creeping inward towards the center of the glass. It's still usable. But I can see down the road it will likely get worse. My best guess is that the glass itself was not well sealed to the plastic backing, allowing water to enter between the glass and the backing. I'll take a couple pics and post it on the Forum and see what you guys think. Will probably have the Dealer replace the glass during it's first service.