Problems to watch for!

Hi Folks; I have been a dedicated owner of "north american" cars for too many years to admit. My current vehical is a 2005 Envoy, which is only still running because it has had an easy life. I am considering a 2 or 3 year old 4runner as it seems to be the best fit.
I am finally going to give up on the big 3, due to a number of issues that I feel are bad design. Just wonder what problems can I expect, or should be watched for in 2018 or 2019 4runners?

 

Only issue I have had on my 16 is an ABS speed sensor. Easily avoided with some skids for them, bad design that allows dirt, mud, or snow in them. Other than that, I cant think of any issues. These trucks are built solid and as long as you maintain your vehicle these trucks can run forever.

 

Thanks JB, wheel sensors have been an issue on my GM's too. Fuel economy seems to be a big complaint, but I'm used to terrible milage with the Envoy; 13.8 Litres per 100 km average not sure what that is in MPG (US)...

 

These trucks are no better when it comes to fuel economy. Granted im lifted with a bumper and off-road tires, i average 15 mpg (roughly 16l/100km). My opinion the 4Runner is probably the best SUV on the market in terms of reliability.

 

I've heard about rust issues on the frame and melting/cracking dashboards, sticking brake calipers, Have they addressed this in 2016? Rust may not be an issue in Texas, as much as Canada.

 

Having too much fun driving and not wanting to go back home is the only problem I can think of...

 

Thanks! I am trying to keep an open mind at this point, but nothing else looks as good. Tahoe is too big and no doubt more of the same GM problems, Jeep doesn't sound like it is as reliable as the 4runner.

 

Something you might encounter is the 60 to 70 mph steering shimmy. It seems common with the 4runners. There's a good mixture of people who were able to correct it and others still dealing with it. Mine has been doing it off and on right out of the dealership lot on stock Duelers! My work truck is a 2019 Tacoma TRD sport (all stock) and that thing has a slight shimmy above 70 mph as well. It's not anything serious from what I read, just more of an annoyance.

 

Those were older gen 4runners, being in Canada i would suggest coating your frame every winter, but I would do that to any vehicle if I had to deal with a winter.

 

I’ve owned a Chevrolet/GM product since I started driving. I purchased my 4Runner back in June, and I could not be happier. The one thing that sold me was the small if any issues that 4runners have, and someone on this site more than likely knows the answer if you do have a issue. Hope this helps!

 

Only issue I've had with mine are your have to change the oil and rotate the tires.

 

I have some concern with the 60 MPH shimmy. Although it does not seem to affect all T4R's, it seems to have frustrated many owners. My minimal research so far has not pointed to any particular solutions. I'm still in love with this car without ever owning one, but my clunker Envoy still rides as smooth as ever after 15 years..
Thanks for all the input, guys.

 

Welcome.
I've run multiple Tacomas and 4Runners over the years and initially figured the front end shimmy was simply a frustrating idiosyncrasy with the brand. What I have learned over time is that before road force balancing I was at the mercy of the tire techs skill set. Since road force balancing has become available the shimmy seems to be a thing of the past. I will point out that one has to ask if the shop has the equipment and specifically request that road force balancing happens. Walmart, Costco and generic tire shops are many times lazy, untrained or they simply don't have the equipment. This is my experience.

 

The shimmy is due to tire balance. I noticed it driving off the lot. These trucks are sensitive when it comes to that.

If you have a good tire shop that can do a proper balance, you won't have a problem. As mentioned above, people have the most success with a Road Force Balance and more specifically a shop with a Hunter's Road Force Balance machine.

 

The only issue I had was the alignment and tire balance with my 2021 TRD Pro. (Didn't have that on my SR5/ TRD Offroad/ Limited). I bet TRD Pro is at lesser quality having these problems because some of the components are installed in USA (as far as I've heard) vs others have better quality because they directly come from factory in Japan.I did an alignment at Les schwab & tire balance at Discount Tire with my own money (as I do not trust the warranty workmanship of Toyota dealership). Now the Pro drives good as my other 4Runners.

As for the problems like speed sensor, I never got those because I used top notch 4x4 shop to install lifts and they know exactly how to do it so I never get Christmas lights on my dash. I think those problems may occur people try doing lift watching YouTube.

I also see problems people install after market headlight housing and using INJ fuse for DRL functionality.

I see problems in KDSS with lifts and not proper cleaning. Hence the reason I make sure non of my 4Runners have KDSS.

I hear Xreas suspension tend to leak just like KDSS system so I swapped Xreas to regular shocks when I lift my Limited.

I see problems in white paint in general so I stopped buying white Toyotas even though I've never experienced any problems with my white Toyotas in the past. I just don't like to take any risk.

I've heard that Toyota frame does not stand well in long-term against rust, so I apply rust protection spray when I install sliders and skids.

4runner is not good on mpg which I like because I feel that it is built for longevity vs fuel economy.

A minor fact if you are OK with no moon roof you get more head room. My SR5 didn't had moonroof and had better headroom than others.

 

Look out for insanely high prices right now!

Also, at about 25 - 35 mph, listen for the front differential needle bearing noise. It's like a grumbling type of noise and will go away if you put it in 4hi. Do this only while going straight! (This might seem like common sense, but I just wanted to mention it.)

 

Thanks again guys! After hearing about the shimmy issues, I started to reconsider the Tahoe...but my wife thinks it's a school bus and I don't want more GM engineering, even if it looks nice! I thought about a Mazda CX-9...4 cylinder turbo---nope. Hyundai palisade---you lost me at 'Hyundai'. I think I'm really falling for the 4runner. I need to learn more about the various trim levels; pro, limited etc?

 

There are so many trim levels now that it is utter silliness. But, trim level depends on some considerations and for me they were:

Premium vs non-premium at the SR5 and Off Road trims - I wanted the synthetic leather of the premium models and avoid dealing with fabric.
SR5 and Off Road and Limited don't have the same off road options, e.g., Limited comes with full time 4-wheel drive while the SR5, OR, Venture, Field, Pro come with part time 4 wheel drive with active traction control (ATC). Unlike the SR5, the OR, Venture, and other trims come with multi-terrain selection (MTS) - I got the OR trim to have access to ATC and MTS for desert two tracks, beach driving, and snow.
OR Premium and Pro are essentially the same except for the roof rack and the upgraded suspension parts on the Pro.

I started my 4Runner purchase adventure with a desire for the Telluride (Kia's version of the Pallisade) before finding out the Telluride was, at best and most expensive, an AWD vehicle. For an AWD and what I wanted to do, it was just too expensive.

I knew I wanted something for camping in the forest, desert, and beach and for driving out here in the eastern OR desert, OR beaches, and to be able to hit the national parks in MT, UT, and ID and not worry about finding myself on desert flat land, forest fire roads, two tracks, mud, snow, etc.

EDIT - Re: the shimmy...I didnt have any shimmy with the stock Duelers. I think I have a bit of a shimmy on the new Wildpeaks, but have to drive more to confirm.

 

I wouldn't let the 60 MPH shimmy stop me from buying what I want. I think they're just sensitive to off balance tires. Sometimes a rebalance or even adjusting tire pressure corrects it.

 

Mine is not a daily driver. If I let it sit all week, it feels a little more like flat spots than anything else. When I do get on the freeway and get the tires warmed up, most of the time it goes away. Occasionally it is a slight difference in tire pressure. I currently run Nitto Ridge Grapplers. I would not trade this truck for anything else currently on the market.

 

Mine isn't, either. But, I still manage to put 25K miles a year on it.

 

My Off Road Premium has less than 1000 miles.I get a very slight shimmy at about 60mph for the first 3 or 4 miles then it completely goes away.
Coming from driving an Escalade with a 6 Liter Max and premium fuel,the 4Runner seems like a gas miser.Not nearly as quick though.
I like the 4Runner,glad I went with it.

 

I saw that. I bought mine the end of September 2018, and I just went over 20k in August. My 2015 Tacoma on the other hand... Just turned 97k this week.

 

Nice! I had a '15 Tacoma from 2017 until 2019. I wanted to get back into a 4runner, but I would love to have both!

 

Learning more every day! Thanks again. Some dumb questions; Is full time AWD available only on the T4R Limited? My thinking is the part time 4WD is preferable for the sake of milage and wear on drive train (?)
Also, if the car is generally sensitive to wheel balance, are different suspension (off road) options more or less prone to the shimmy issue?

 

Yes.

As far as fuel economy; I was curious, so I checked fuelly.com. looking at 2019 4Runners, it appears that the Limited actually get slightly better fuel economy on average compared to the overall average of all trims. I looked at a few other model years data and it's not really consistent. But, It seems that the Limited get similar fuel economy to the other trims.

I haven't really experienced the shimmy much since I lifted mine. Usually when I have it has been after off-road trips when a bit of mud would get stuck in a wheel.

I can't say whether the difference is due to the suspension components, alignment, or tires though. I'm curious to hear what others have experienced.

 

It's primarily a tire balance thing.

Alignment and suspension could be out of whack enough to exacerbate the problem (or create a different one), but balancing is the main culprit.

 

Just to be clear, this problems like shimmy does not exist for the 4runner that came directly from factory in Japan right?

These problems occur only for models like TRDPRO & Venture where some of the components like wheels and tires are assembled after they land in USA? (Or XP package in some regions where wheels are tires swapped at dealer level) right?

Or after people change wheels and tires on their 4runner right?

I highly doubt this problems occur for the 4runners that came directly came from Japan.

 

I think you're right.

One thing I've noticed is that the kids that install tires at some tire chain stores can't seem to get a proper balance.

I believe a some people have had the issue with the stock tires. I can't recall specifically whether I did because my stock tires only lasted a few weeks.

 

I had a shimmy at 60 on my TRD Off Road premium on test drive new from Japan. Turns out it was a tire balance problem for me checked the balance on all 4 wheels, all but 1( left rear) were out of balance & tire pressure was 50psi. I did the balance & reset tire pressure fixed it smooths glass now.