Planning to Buy 2007 4runner 2WD SR5 with 140K miles

Need your help, to decide to buy or not. During my test drive I liked the drive but when I took a U-turn I heard a metal rubbing sound somewhere in the middle of the vehicle and it is consistent. It did not happen when i made turns left or right. Only on U-turns and it starts when I am almost finishing the turn for a second or so and then stops. The dealer (honda) mechanic looked at it is saying no issue and they are saying they greased the vehicle and it is not happening now. I am going to test drive again tomorrow and wanted to know what may be causing this and what to look out for. Any help greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

No input on what it could be, but be very cautious with the dealer. Greasing could just be a ploy to disguise a larger issue.

I would take it to an independent mechanic for a prepurchase inspection. I don't know where you're located, but if it's an area where they use road salt, these have a nasty tendency to rust badly underneath. The independent mechanic can check the frame integrity as well.

If the dealership won't let you take it anywhere for inspection, walk away.

Also, this should be relatively cheap. There's not a large market for 2wd 4Runners, they should be happy to be rid of it. A big reason people like these is the 4x4 off-road capability. If you have even a little bit of interest in that, pass on this one and get a 4x4.

 

If its making a sound while test drive, the seller knows about it. He could have rectified it, but dint. Either because he dint care, or it was expensive to repair.
In both occasions, I would walk away.
But for the noise, it could be anything, serpentine belt, tire rubbing, wheel bearings or even low power steering fluid. If you must have it, take your trusted mechanic with you or take the car to your trusted mechanic.

 

On a side note, I wish I could see a 2wd 4Runner next to a 4wd 4Runner and try to measure and see how the 2wd 4Runner has significant less ground clearance than 4wd 4Runner.

 

I have a '07 and if there's a noise during the test drive I would recommend taking it to your own mechanic and whatever they say take it off the sale price.

 

Does the metal rubbing sound happen only when moving at full steering lock?

At full lock, the steering stop on the knuckle is pressed against the lower control arm. If the vehicle is moving and the suspension is moving up and down, then the steering stop rubs against the moving lower control arm and makes noise. IF that is indeed your issue, then the established remedy is just to put some grease on the steering stop, and it would be just noise with no durability concern.

 

Do they have less ground clearance? I would think it's the same, I would imagine they have the same suspension and everything, just no front differential and CVs. And unless they run smaller tires, clearance under the rear differential should be exactly the same as well.

 

I had a 1984 Supra back in the day, and it had steering stops - very similar. A dab of grease on each side took literally 30 seconds once you knew where they were. Dry, they did make a nasty sound on full-lock turns when there was wheel travel up and down.

 

My bad, I was thinking 5th gen 4runner where 2wd got 9.0in clearance vs 4wd got 9.6in clearance.

4th gen having smaller tires I think they have even less ground clearance less than 2wd 5th gen 4runner. But not sure as I haven't own 4th gen to know much.

 

Well, if it's a 2WD who really cares about ground clearance. You don't need 9 inches of ground clearance on the road, haha.