Hood Flex

My hood flex is/was (slightly depressingly) noticeable from the moment I turned the engine over on the test drive, but honestly it hasn't taken away from the fact that this truck has a pretty damn good ride and solid feel.
For me, the facts are... the engine could sound better, the brakes could feel better, the transmission could shift better, the bass speakers could rattle less, the radio display could be brighter, the ground clearance could be higher...
but it's still the best truck I've ever owned and puts a smile on my face every time I get behind the wheel. (maybe it's just a wince from the lumbar support:biggrin2:)
 
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The hood flexes like crazy on my 4R. Any small bumps/washboard and I can easily see the area between the scoop and the windshield vibrating. It's one of those things that is a minor annoyance, but you just have to live with it.

Rob
 
I see the flex in my 2nd gen TUNDRA as well, but not as bad with a bug guard install.

They are trying to reduce weight on vehicles for MPG I guess.

I remember the hood of an old 1972 F 250, you could build a COROLLA with the metal that thing had in the hood!
 
I think the hood flex is more noticeable if you're tall enough to see the edge of the hood just in front of the wipers.
 
Thanks to this forum finnaly I have noticed hood flex too. I was driving on highway and remembered to look at the hood. I must say I had to pay close attention to the hood to notice flex. I was doing around 75-80mph to see the flex, but if you guys don't tell about flex here I probably would never notice it. Ususally I don't watch hood where the wipers are when I'm on highway.
 
Had to bring this back up....

Had a rental a few days ago Mercury Mariner Premier, that thing had some serious hood wobble/flex at highway speeds! It was new (Black 11' w/ 20 miles).

I know some people have in on their 4R but I have yet to see it on mine at any speeds.

Toyota is not the only one cutting back!
 
This is nothing new. My 98 Limited flexes a lot above 65. I never noticed it until I put a bug deflector on it, which I'm sure messed with the natural air flow.
 
I have absolutely no hood flex on my 10' SR5. It didn't move at any speeds without the bug deflector, and it doesn't flex with the hood protector on now, at any speeds.
 
Mine does it too !!!

Not bother some , just disappointing that Toyota quality is getting that crappy to use what i call inferior metal and braces under the hood to prevent that.

It just should not be this way on a new pricey vehicle.

My 4th gen had the scoop also and had a much more solid hood than this one does. Same way with the doors . Sad !!
 
Took my 2010 limited through the car wash and on the way out the blower pushed in the hood. I mean it really had me worried that it had permanently put a sizable dent at the top of the hood where it meets the window, but it popped back out. This can't be normal I have never seen this happen on any other vehicle.
 
Bump! Is it really as bad as it sounds?

I'm going to be in the market very soon for a new vehicle, and for a $40,000 investment, this definitely shouldn't be happening. Would anybody be able to take video of the hood flexing in the car wash?
 
I've had my new TE on the highway, in high winds, and I still don't notice this. Haven't been through an auto car wash yet. It would be horrifying to see your hood get blown in though; can't be good for the life of the paint.

For my money, I wish they had made the skids heavier duty first, and then added some bracing under the hood.

:cowboy:
 
Don’t let hood flex be the deciding factor - there’s a dozen ways to make it stop. The LTD's seem to have less flex out of the box - probably the tires. Make sure the test drive vehicle has properly inflated tires, since some dealers don’t properly prep the car after it comes off the carrier and the tires are way over inflated to prevent flat spots.
 
I copied the below reply from another thread. It might help Yotaguy91 understand what might be going on.

As you know, hood flex has been talked about a lot over the years. I too had the concerns. Here is what I did quite by accident! But this stopped the hood flex completely. First, for completely other reasons (mostly aesthetic), I bought a AVS bug shield. After installation, I noticed the "gap" between the top of the front grill and the bottom of the front of the hood had been almost eliminated. (It looked better). But I also noticed that the hood flex had been greatly reduced!

I then bought a hood liner that normally comes standard with the limited model and installed it on my SR5. After that, absolutely no hood flex. Again, I purchased the hood liner for aesthetic reasons, but this was the additional benefit. Yea!

So I got to thinking as to the possible reasons why. I always noticed that some of our 4 runners have a large gap at the front hood area, others did not. Fit and Finish issue that I was surprised to see on a Toyota. (See posted photos of the various members vehicles). Now, with your observations OP, I think this clinches it. Too much air flow coming into the engine bay here it was not designed to come in, is at least one cause of the flex. Filling in the gap, (with my bug shield) and putting a little more strength or thickness to the hood itself (hood liner), solved the problem with mine.

If others here have hood flex concerns and you have a gap between the top of your grill and bottom of the front center of your hood, (say more then 1/2 inch, mine was over an inch I think) try this. Get a piece of foam pipe insulation. You know, the foam tube with a slice down one side.

Get a piece large enough to fill the gap of your hood. Get up to speed where you normally see the flex. (Make sure your on a smooth road) See if stopping the air flow from that gap doesn't help or maybe even stop the flex completely.

If so, you can adjust the hood as 1engineer suggests, or maybe there is a way to adjust the grill? Or fill the gap like I did. OR? Be safe.
 
Yesterday, I took my new TE on its first relatively long trip, about 400 miles. On the highway, I averaged about 65 mph, although for various stretches of my trip my speedometer read 70-80 mph. I can tell you honestly that my TE exhibited none of the infamous hood vibration/hood flex discussed above and in other threads.

As an aside (from the topic of this thread) I'm also happy to report that even with the a/c running- and including driving through some small towns with stop and go traffic- I averaged 19 mpg.
 
YotaGuy91 said:
I'm going to be in the market very soon for a new vehicle, and for a $40,000 investment, this definitely shouldn't be happening. Would anybody be able to take video of the hood flexing in the car wash?
Click to expand...

A vehicle isn't an "investment," it is a depreciating asset unless you are buying a rare classic. Even if the 4Runner is to become a rare classic, your ROI would be better in a savings account, given the amount of time it would take for appreciation to start to accumulate.
 
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