I as well. My 2018 SR5 has maybe 3500 kms on it and I've noticed the burning rubber smell since the first time I got home.

I also notice that smell on a suburu sti that i used to own and, low and behold, I had premature tire wear that burned through a set of expensive tires within 10K kms -I had positive toe issues where the fix was just to zero out the toe angle).

I assumed the burning rubber smell was the same thing so I've been watching my tread wear like a hawk. Nothing so far -no premature wearing on either side of the tires, no cupping, even wear across all tires (the rears are marginally worse off but that's cause I like hamming the gas on snowy days and doing donuts -nothing a rotation will fix).

Good to hear I'm not a cursed owner that seems to be attracted to vehicles that need saving.

Can't imagine it'd be burning from just the right rear tho. Only exhaust is on that side. Plus, the rear wheel alignment is damn near parallel on a solid rear axle.

All signs point to something in, touching, or near the exhaust.

Its present on my 2017 SR5 as well.

I assumed the exact same thing.

First time I smelled this about a month ago I jacked up the back and inspected everything... couldn't find anything and tires look perfectly fine.

I notice this smell after driving up a steep dirt mountain road for five miles on a weekly basis, year round, up to Arctic Valley. At first I thought it was a hot rear diff, but I was very careful when I serviced that regarding lube level. But just recently it occurred to me as I was smelling it again that it was prop shaft grease flung onto the muffler. Explains why you only smell it on the rear passenger side after the engine has been working hard.

Carry on....

Scroll down and read the part titled "Do you smell something?" Just something I read that might be something to look at and rule out.

Internal Error

We're having the same discussion regarding 200-series LC and LX570 over here: Burning rubber Smell | IH8MUD Forum

Seems to be the same problem, but on the driver's side (where our exhausts are).

I HATE MUD??? Is that where the Mall Crawlers, Asphalt Queens and Pavement Princesses hang out?



JFWY...

I smelled the rubber smell again for the first time in years last week when I got out of my truck to take a pic of the sunrise over Morro Bay. This was after about 10 miles of mostly uphill along HWY46.
Here’s the pic. Scratch and sniff for the smell.

Attached Images

 

Gotta revive this and see if anyone has figured it out, stumps me, I had a 4th gen and never had this smell, just got a 5th gen SR5 about a week ago and smelt this for the first time today, it is definitely coming from the passenger rear wheel well aswell with a lot of heat and a crackling sound in the muffler, I almost panicked at first as I had just put up lights for Halloween but noticed it was coming from under the car, I was driving hard and I’m sure the exhaust was hot. I have read every single post on this thread and thought about everything throughly but still cannot pin point what it’s coming from, this is my first time smelling this on my new 4runner and it does have me concerned and confused. I hope someone is still active here and can possibly get back to me with what it is IF it’s been discovered.

Similar to 1engineer, I did not have the smell on my 2016 SR5, but my 2022 SR5 Premium, picked up a week ago, has it.🤷*♂️🤔

I have seen everything from people worried about axle and wheel hub components, rubber exhaust hangers, fender liner material, etc.

I am under the opinion it is simply a poorly designed/cheap muffler.

There was a member on here who posted a picture of the internals of the muffler and also would measure temps with an IR thermometer.

I had the smell back when one of my shocks was misting oil. Just a thought.

Idle the car in park after sitting overnight. Does it begin to smell?

If not, and it only does it after a drive, I’d suspect moving parts such as a tire out of alignment.


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Funny this thread popped up as I've been wondering about this for a while now, even this morning when I got to work. To me it smells strongest by pass front fenderwell.