Bouncy Hood

nc-grayson

nc-grayson

Member
Happy Holidays T4R friends,

My hood has been vibrating and bouncing around on bumps for the past year or so. It's definitely latched securely, I have no fear that it's coming unlatched when driving. Over every day bumps and humps, it's not a huge deal - I can see it out of the bottom of my eye but "it is what it is".

Lately though, as in the past few weeks and definitely on the way to work this morning, the wind has been howling. Cruising 60 on the highway this morning, the hood was bouncing up and down pretty aggressively from the wind on a very smooth section of highway. It got to the point this morning that now, now is the time to do something about it.

Here's the kicker. Since I've had this issue on and off for at least a year now, I'm very well versed in the black rubber, "screw type" bumpers under the hood on the inner fenders. I've adjusted them every way I can possibly think - up, down, down some more, up some more, and yet I still have the annoying bouncy hood.

I guess I'm looking for some suggestions on how to adjust these black rubber bumper things to minimize hood vibrations and bounces. Anyone got any simple tips? It baffles me how I've been able to adjust them numerous times over the year and the hood still is bouncy.

Thanks friends!
 
Register to hide this ad
nc-grayson said:
Happy Holidays T4R friends,

My hood has been vibrating and bouncing around on bumps for the past year or so. It's definitely latched securely, I have no fear that it's coming unlatched when driving. Over every day bumps and humps, it's not a huge deal - I can see it out of the bottom of my eye but "it is what it is".

Lately though, as in the past few weeks and definitely on the way to work this morning, the wind has been howling. Cruising 60 on the highway this morning, the hood was bouncing up and down pretty aggressively from the wind on a very smooth section of highway. It got to the point this morning that now, now is the time to do something about it.

Here's the kicker. Since I've had this issue on and off for at least a year now, I'm very well versed in the black rubber, "screw type" bumpers under the hood on the inner fenders. I've adjusted them every way I can possibly think - up, down, down some more, up some more, and yet I still have the annoying bouncy hood.

I guess I'm looking for some suggestions on how to adjust these black rubber bumper things to minimize hood vibrations and bounces. Anyone got any simple tips? It baffles me how I've been able to adjust them numerous times over the year and the hood still is bouncy.

Thanks friends!
Click to expand...





I’m In the same boat...

All 3 of my 4runners do this hood flap thing on the freeway where the wind seems to want to make it go up and down, almost as if it’s loose.

I too have adjusted those rubber screws and even added more with no positive affect. Next, the latch.. it doesn’t seem like there is anyways to adjust it because the screw holes are fixed.

Perplexing
 
dNcHjZD.jpg

eZRTfq0.jpg

lMafUUX.jpg


I got my rubber bump screws adjusted out to three threads exposed, which "pops" my hood up when I pull the release, they were lower before I adjusted them and my hood didnt pop then so I know now they are being compressed. Check the bolts at the hinge maybe?
 
This is fairly common, especially if you have the OEM bugshield. My highway shake was so bad, I was afraid the hood was literally going to fly right off. I swear it was moving up and down a good 1/2" at the corners.

What completely fixed it for me was installing the additional bumper at the center of the cowl trim that was found in later Tacomas. Toyota obviously figured out that this was a problem, and fixed it with the added bumper. I borrowed one from a 2001 Taco, but I am sure you can make your own version. Or you might be able to grab the whole Taco cowl piece, they may be interchangeable (but don't quote me on that).

Here it is on my truck:

zuYuLxg.jpg
 
Last edited:
4Runner4Leon said:
This is fairly common, especially if you have the OEM bugshield. My highway shake was so bad, I was afraid the hood was literally going to fly right off. I swear it was moving up and down a good 1/2" at the corners.

What completely fixed it for me was installing the additional bumper at the center of the cowl trim that was found in later Tacomas. Toyota obviously figured out that this was a problem, and fixed it with the added bumper. I borrowed one from a 2001 Taco, but I am sure you can make your own version. Or you might be able to grab the whole Taco cowl piece, they may be interchangeable (but don't quote me on that).

Here it is on my truck:

zuYuLxg.jpg
Click to expand...

Fantastic! Thanks Leon!
 
nc-grayson said:
Thanks [MENTION=115463]Slobo[/MENTION] & [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION]

I've never tried the wedge shaped rubber on the sides....are they adjustable too?
Click to expand...

I took a small piece of rubber vacuum hose and put it inside the smashed side of that wedges. It helped a bit to make the hood more stable
 
I think they all do that. Mine noticeably shakes when going down the freeway, so I’ve learned to accept it. For reference, I had a 2018 SR5 as a rental two weeks ago, and it did the same thing on the freeway doing 70-75 as well.

I’ve come to accept the fact that, unless you drive a luxury vehicle, these little details are not going to be looked after. My e90 never did that, but it costs more than a modern day fully loaded SR5 when it was new, for a car the size of a Corolla.
 
An E90 isn't luxury lol. The hood is not supposed to bounce or flex in my 20 years of experience with these. I was always able to fix this by adjusting those screw in bumpers up front. However, on my uncle's Sequoia they were so flattened that I told him to buy new ones. Problem fixed.
 
T4R2014 said:
An E90 isn't luxury lol. The hood is not supposed to bounce or flex in my 20 years of experience with these. I was always able to fix this by adjusting those screw in bumpers up front. However, on my uncle's Sequoia they were so flattened that I told him to buy new ones. Problem fixed.
Click to expand...
I wonder if the hinges can get some play in them with time? Most of the guys seem to be complaining about movement at the back of the hood.
My hood is still good (only a few mm of movement at highway speeds).

-Charlie
 
T4R2014 said:
An E90 isn't luxury lol. The hood is not supposed to bounce or flex in my 20 years of experience with these. I was always able to fix this by adjusting those screw in bumpers up front. However, on my uncle's Sequoia they were so flattened that I told him to buy new ones. Problem fixed.
Click to expand...

Yup, the hood should not be moving. Unless you're convinced it's the latch with the issue, just replace the rubber bump stops.

I'm guessing the ones that are on the OP's frame are just past their prime.
 
As I said, my hood was doing a heck of a dance after I added the OEM bugshield. No bugshield = no flex. Bugshiled = flex. Google it for T4R's, it'll light up like a Christmas tree.

I checked the front bumpers, the side bumpers, and the hinges, all were fine and tight. But the center of the hood flexed a lot, causing the corners to move up and down. Something about the funky aerodynamics with the bugshield.

The taco bumper on the cowl stopped it cold.

Everyone may have a unique situation of course, this is what worked for me.
 
4Runner4Leon said:
As I said, my hood was doing a heck of a dance after I added the OEM bugshield. No bugshield = no flex. Bugshiled = flex. Google it for T4R's, it'll light up like a Christmas tree.

I checked the front bumpers, the side bumpers, and the hinges, all were fine and tight. But the center of the hood flexed a lot, causing the corners to move up and down. Something about the funky aerodynamics with the bugshield.

The taco bumper on the cowl stopped it cold.

Everyone may have a unique situation of course, this is what worked for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it could be. Mine has the bug shield from the factory and my hood is as solid as a rock. Unless I forget to latch the hood down all the way.
 
T4R2014 said:
An E90 isn't luxury lol. The hood is not supposed to bounce or flex in my 20 years of experience with these. I was always able to fix this by adjusting those screw in bumpers up front. However, on my uncle's Sequoia they were so flattened that I told him to buy new ones. Problem fixed.
Click to expand...

It is in a sense that they pay attention to details like that when designing and building those cars. Not super lux, but entry level luxury that benefit from higher end models. Another part of that design that I found intriguing was the way the sheet metal was offset by mere one or two millimeters to reduce wind noise, something the Americans and the Japanese would never come up with on their own. By comparison, Lexus GS has the hood flutter as well, as I drove one on the freeway on a windy day, and while not as pronounced as our 4Runner hoods, it is visible. Some car companies make it a priority, some don’t.
 
I had this issue. It appeared that the metal on the top part of hood itself where the latch locks on to had worn down just a bit. After going back and forth with my mechanic he ended up welding on and repairing, smoothing out etc a bit of extra metal in the spot that had worn out. That was around five years and my hood has been great ever since.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 386 (members: 3, guests: 383)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,309
Messages
3,554,067
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top