Hey guys, so I HAD to get back in a 3rd gen 4runner SR5 I just bought a 1996 SR5 it was a Florida truck, family owned and passed on to children of children, now to me! I live in Michigan so it was exciting to see such a flawless body and frame! Now here's the one and ONLY problem with the truck. When in 4WD it likes to pull slightly to the right and I am almost positive I might hear a slight "whined" up "motor" type sound
As soon as I take it out of 4WD the pulling to the right and the noise goes away. So for now I've decided to leave it out of 4WD. Note: the 4WD otherwise worked flawlessly.
I have yet to dig into the problem much seeing as I just got it and my plate is full as it is.

So far my "educated guesses" are low fluid in the front differential, or worn bearings in the front diff.
I took a quick look at the CV Axle and it doesn't seem to have torn boots, I am planning on getting and alignment soon. Except I feel that if it needed an alignment it would always pull whether in 4WD or not I am just hoping maybe 4WD makes the possible bad alignment in the front worse... high hopes!

Thanks for checking out my post, and any feedback is appreciated. Unless it's one of those negative remarks cause someone already asked this. Every situation is different.

Sweet where at in Traverse are you? I am in Leroy which is just south of Cadillac

My house is actually in Williamsburg :-)
That's awesome
How often you get up this way? What do you have?

Bump for feedback :-)

Questions - are you sure it only does it in 4wd? Does the whine get worse in 4lo? Does it get worse when steering left or right? If you put the truck on four jack stands and put it in gear, can you replicate the sound? Can you pinpoint it?

If not, you'll have to isolate by process of elimination. There's a lot of things that could cause the steering pull. Low diff fluid is probably not one of them. I'd make sure it's topped off anyway, and then rotate the tires and make sure the alignment is good - those aren't likely causes of your pulling, but they're easy to rule out. After that I would do wheel bearings on both sides, and when you do I'd swap the CV shafts from right to left. If you still have the trouble, and it didn't follow the CV shaft, then as a last resort I'd take it to a driveline shop and get the diff checked out.

Considering the whine, I'm inclined to blame a bad bearing somewhere too, but do the easy stuff first.

I am not in Traverse vary often, i work part time construction and my boss is building a house out there so i am there once or twice a month. I have a evergreen pearl 97 4x4 V6 4Runner that i just bought back in september and are in the process of fixing up. Good to know there is a fellow 3rd gen owner in the area, 4Runners are pretty scarce in these parts, and are you enjoying all the snow we have gotten recently?

Oh man well we will have to meet up I love the 3rd gens
My car is my real pride and joy but because these are scarce in good condition I want to work on this truck once my car is paid off this spring
There's a lot of 3rd gens up here but not clean frame ones

Now that ice read the notice on my visor above my head I don't think I'm suppose to use 4wd for normal driving or if I am I may have locking hubs?

so i have had some very similar experiences.....

have you ever had a diff replaced?

does it feel like the truck binds band in 4wd on pavement at slow speeds while turning? -say like you put it in 4wd and drive down your street and then turn around to come back, when you make that turn does the truck come to a stop on its on, like you applied the brakes?

have you driven it in 4wd on the pavement, does the truck feel like its pitching and rolling and or bucking while in 4wd on the street?

does it require an abnormal amount of throttle when in 4wd to move the truck or sustain speed?

when was the last time you changed out diff fluid or Tcase fluids?


my runner was pulling hard to the right in 4wd both on and off roads, would growl or whine while in 4wd, and would require an abnormal amount of throttle to get up to speed and stay there, i only just figured out what my problem was...

Well it slows down and stops on its own in 4wd doing a sharp corner which I know means it's working

The howling type sound is very quiet but only in 4wd

I just bought it all I know is it was family owned and passed down to family over time

I don't think they EVER put it in 4wd and I read you have to for approximately 10 miles a month recommended by Toyota to keep everything lubed

Today it doesn't seem as bad so ima drive in 4wd today and see how she does over next couple days

Sound like a good start maybe? If it's not lubed up due to all of use this could be all she needs under easy driving conditions of course
No abuse

It seems to appear well maintained they had documents and the fluids from up top all looked fairly new it doesn't require an abnormal amount of throttle either

But does slow down on its own more in 4wd than 2

I hope this helps

What did you figure out with yours?

I know when the wheel bearings went out in my FJ it would pull to one side only in 4 wheel drive. Easy check is to jack up the front and try and wiggle the wheels. If they wiggle at all the bearings might be going out. Just a thought.

Most of these folks have much more educated guesses, but I did want to point out that alignment issues can most definitely be magnified by 4WD. I had a 1988 Nissan pickup for a short time, and when I first got it I could tell a bit of pull in 2WD, but I didn't think too much of it. Then one day it snowed and I put it in 4WD...the damn thing wanted to careen off the road! It was pulling REALLY hard to the right. After I got it aligned, all was good! (at least, until the head gasket went out 3 months later and I had to sell it for less than half what I paid for it )

ok so alignment issues will not cause this, if it was that, it would happen in 2wd as well as 4wd, same with wheel bearings or outer diff bearings or the ADD tube bearing(outer), these would all have the same issue in 2wd as 4wd. if the 4wd had been neglected ie no used in a long time, it would only take a little bit to lube everything back up. it would only maybe take a mile or so for everything to be lube sufficiently


when on dry pavement does it take substantially more throttle to move the vehicle and sustain speed, especially speeds greater than 20mph, in 4wd as compared to 2wd?

when in 4wd and making a slight turn ie a turn/bend in the road ect and you let go of the wheel, in the turn, does the truck rock/pitch back and forth/side to side while yanking the steering from side to side?

when after driving in 4wd and going to take it out of 4wd does it want to stay engaged or have a hard time coming out of 4wd? is it hard or sometimes almost impossilbe to get the transfer case shifter out of 4wd while moving?


im thinking at some point a differential was changed, and you have two different gear ratios, ie 4:10s and 4:30s... its not enough of a change to break things like CVs or transfer cases, but enough to make the growling sound and stop the vehicle if no throttle is being constantly applied. and it will cause the pitching and rolling or bucking affect on dry or wet roads, and on snow and ice it wont be as apparent, but traction at higher speeds like 25mph and above will be terrible, almost like youd be better off in 2wd. this i will also exhibit itself in a hard pull to the right typically -not the left unless actively turning left and then at some point it will switch over and pull left. but if left in a "neutral" steering setting it will default to a right pull.

You had good questions

But I did notice other day in 2wd it was wanting to pull just not as bad so I looked at the tires and the passenger side tires are bald on the outer edges an the driver side tires look great all around

Also when in 4wd on snow it's not as bad but when hitting dry pavement the humming gets louder and more noticeable

And I swear once in a while I think it bucks a little when I turn one way or the other while in 4wd but I could be imagining it!

AND when I switch from 4HI TO 2wd it doesn't stick ever it switches just fine

oh youd know if it it was bucking from two different gears, it would feel like you are driving on oval tires/wheels. if its pulling in 2wd then yeah it might be a bad CV or bad wheel bearings.

Okay so a bad wheel bearing could get worse when in 4wd and hum louder on dry pavement is what you're saying COULD happen not for sure but possible