Another rattle thread...

So I’m new to the 4Runner but not new to Toyota’s and forums. I searched and searched before starting this thread.

I’m coming from a 2017 Tacoma.

I just bought a brand new 2021 4Runner trd offroad premium.

it had 120 miles on it when I bought It and now has about 360.

I have been having this rattle sound coming from the undercarriage of the vehicle. It only happens when the vehicle is in drive or reverse, at low RPMs and I’m turning the wheels or applying input to the steering wheel (for example, pulling into my garage). It sounds like a loose heat shield but I have done everything to try and remedy the issue. I put hose clamps around the cat heat shield, all the way up to removing the heat shield, yet the rattling persists.

I checked the skid plates and all other possible bolts and everything is tight.

Im beginning to think it’s normal for a brand new $50,000 4runner to rattle or make this noise

I am planning on taking it back to the dealer to raise hell next week but I’m sure I will be told it normal or they can’t reproduce the issue.

in the mean time, any other suggestions?

Again, this is a brand new 2021 vehicle with no rust or anything.

maybe It’s me?

 

Our 2021 is dead quiet. There must be something abnormal. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it might be haha.

Did you drop the skid plates to see if there's something rattling around above them?

 

No I didn’t. I’ll tackle that tomorrow when I put the factory cat heat shield back on. Aside from the rattle I love the way the truck drives. I just hate rattles and I know this sound isn’t normal

 

Before raising hell, ask to take a drive with a Sr Tech at the dealership to replicate the sound for them and go from there.

 

This.^^

Let the dealer fix it for you.

 

Get a rubber mallet and bang on your skid plates, muffler, cat, spare tire, etc. to duplicate the rattle.
Check the spare tire chain. Mine would rattle so I took about an 8 inch length of split foam water pipe insulation to cover the free hanging section, then shove it back up into the hub area to buffer it. Tighten the chain well so the spare doesn’t move.

Another rattle that occurs is the back hatch door latch. It can rattle against its striker plate/bar. One solution is to re-position that striker. If takes some loosening, pounding, tightening, and repeating until it’s aligned just right. The easier fix is to clean the latch bar and wrap black electrical tape around it a few times to take up some room and snug it up. If and when it deteriorates just re-apply the tape.

 

So I’m pretty sure the rattle is coming from my skid plate. I hit it and it rattles. I checked the bolts though and they are all tight. I want to confirm by removing the skid plates first though. Maybe new rci skids will be the first mod

 

It could be as simple as replacing bolts, adding washers or grommets of some sort. Dealer should be able to sort that out for you, unless you're looking for a good reason to buy new skids haha.

 

I had a skid plate rattle and it was due to a couple of rocks sitting up there!

 

Likely the issue

 

But it’s brand new! lol .

here’s a video

I havnt had a chance to pull the skids to verify but this is the rattle sound. It’s not the cat that’s for sure. I completely removed the heat shield shown and it still makes the same noise.

 

Can’t figure out how to upload the video

 

A small rock can’t make it into the skid plate because why? Because it has 300 miles in it? Of course it can happen. Being new has nothing to do with it.

 

Here’s the video. Again, it’s not the cat heat shield as I completely removed it and the sound still persists. Still no time to pull skids yet but maybe this will help with diagnosing

https://youtu.be/kvR5QqHfD7I

 

It’s hard to exactly tell from the audio, but it sounds like a buzzing noise. If you can’t take the two skids off, (just four bolts in each), try pushing on various items to see if the buzzing stops or changes tone. That may give you a clue. Push with a rubber mallet or even your boot on skids etc in various locations, or maybe a 2x4 on hot items like the cats or exhaust. Good luck.

 

That sucks to deal with this on a new truck. Seems like you have no issues duplicating it....I would honestly let the dealer fix it.

 

I would definitely let the dealer take care of it. If you do too much on your own they could claim tampering. I wouldn't put a wrench on a brand new vehicle other than oil changes or tire rotation.

 

^^This. Good luck.

 

Have you messed with the exhaust ?

 

You keep saying it's new and it is I get that but you did acquire it with 120 miles on it enough for something to happen. I agree about something sitting on the skid plate maybe rolling around. I can't hear anything in your clip. Take the plate off and put it back on you may fix it and not even know what it is you did.

 

I know exactly what it is. I had it on my 2020 and have it now on my 2021. It only happens when the chasis is torqued in reverse or drive and when the wheels are turned. For me, at the middle of the exhaust, the torque on the body was causing just enough flex for the exhaust pipe to touch exhaust flange. Confirmed by having a tech friend get underneath and push at the pipe where it was touching. Went away. Dealer said they couldn’t duplicate it (on the 2020 although they said they did take the VIN and escalate it to an FTS) and since it happens rarely on the 2021, I’ve just lived with it. It was bad on the 2020 I had though.

 

how about the heat shield ?

 

LOL me too.

 

Just ruling things out. So it’s not the skid plate.

I completely removed the skid plate and the rattle is still there.

I narrowed it down to my exhaust system. GaokS mentioned the flange and I loosened and tightened those bolts and same noise persisted.

I was able to get the noise to stop when I pushed up on the flange area slightly. So I now know this noise is for sure coming from the exhaust system. However it does sound louder towards the muffler vs the flange as GaoKS mentioned. I’m curious if something is loose inside the actual muffler or if it’s rattling on something that I just can’t see.

when I take it in I’ll tell them and point this out

 

Here’s what I came up with for now...

I put a hose clamp on the exhaust hanger and that seems to have cured the rattling.

 

I wonder if a new exhaust System would cure the issue?

 

I’m having the same sort of issue and it started when I added the Pro Exhaust. I was going to mess with the coupling right there to see if that fixed it.

 

Those clamps work wonders and the heat won't bother them either. I've had one securing a heat shield on my accord for years now. Honda wanted to replace the Shield for like 300.00 I forget exactly. I stopped the rattle with a 1.98 clamp.

 

turns out mine was caused by this gasket disintegrating

 

I have a 2021 toyota 4runner trd pro, and I'm having the same noise. It's stumped 4 dealerships so far and no fix yet!