lumbar support 'crunching'

So I had my seatback replaced and it was fine for a bit but its been about 2K miles and it is happening again so obviously Toyota has a major lumbar support issue. Im not too sure what the next step should be. For everyone else out there, you can get your seatback replaced but it is bound to happen again.
 
I just posted a new thread on this issue! I have the same problem. Mine is 2011, has 5000 miles now, and it's been doing the crunching since the 1000 miles. T
This is what the dealer says: the district manager came to look at other 4Runners in the dealer lot and concluded that this was "normal"...yes, they did!
I called Toyota Headquarters and talked to them. They said that the district manager is the "last word", however, since I was assigned a case number, they said that if this ends up being a problem encountered by more owners, that they will look into a recall and they will inform me.
I think that all of you having this problem should contact Toyota's headquarters...the more noise we make, the faster they will take care of this defect.
Jorge Jimenez
 
I just posted a new thread on this issue! I have the same problem. Mine is 2011, has 5000 miles now, and it's been doing the crunching since the 1000 miles. T
This is what the dealer says: the district manager came to look at other 4Runners in the dealer lot and concluded that this was "normal"...yes, they did!
I called Toyota Headquarters and talked to them. They said that the district manager is the "last word", however, since I was assigned a case number, they said that if this ends up being a problem encountered by more owners, that they will look into a recall and they will inform me.
I think that all of you having this problem should contact Toyota's headquarters...the more noise we make, the faster they will take care of this defect.
Jorge Jimenez

What phone and address should we use??, we should also print out all the threads regarding it.
 
Info on lumbar crunching case

I'm glad we can get this thing rolling. I called Toyota national headquarters in Torrance,CA. THe phone number is 1 (800) 331-4331. Choose option to report an experience with dealer or service. If
It helps, my case number is 1106171614. I'll continue checking
The forum.
 
i brought mine into the dealer for the lumbar crunch and an intermittent —but maddening— creak that seems to be somewhere in the seat assembly itself. the dealer was very good about it; went for a ride with me (rep driving) but i was waiting, so they didn't go tearing it all apart.

haven't yet brought it back to leave it with them, but i did open a case with Toyota HQ the other day so it is documented.
 
I just called it in as well. At first it was barely noticable. Something I could have probably dealt with.

But now, every time I turn, hit a bump, or reach for the radio, it does it. And it's getting worse.

The girl I spoke with told me to also contact the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration).

She said that complaints to them are what trigger recalls. She even told me to have eveyone I know that has the issue call them so they will eventually have too contact Toyota and look into the issue from a safety standpoint.

So I say we all call. You can do it online at Home | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or call 888-327-4236.

I just called (as I was typing this up). They only deal with safety issues, so I told them it could be safety related for causing a distraction and the seat back may fail (even thought I doubt it would happen). It sounded like she thought I was crazy, but it's now documented!

They will ask for your VIN. I didn't have mine handy, so she said I would be getting a hard copy of the formal complaint in the mail. I'll need to make any corrections and put in my VIN and mail it back for it to be documented correctly.
 
Lumbar Issue

My dealer confirmed the lumbar issue in my 4-Runner, but will not replace the seatback until Toyota does a redesign. Has anyone else heard this. Very frustrating since they want me to bring it in again to reconfirm. They obviously do not trust their technician who documented the problem for my 2011. Are their only a few of us that have this problem? Toyota customer service is clearly not what it used to be.
 
I had the lumbar "crunch" since early on in my 2011 T4R SR5. I had the seatback replaced by the dealer yesterday and its fixed for now. BUT they said the part hasnt changed so it may come back. :crybaby: :gun6:
 
the problem is a design flaw and Toyota really should, in fact, redesign the seatback and lumbar. this issue is nothing new, either; there are multiple TSBs re: this issue for the 4th gen including:

NV011-06 10/20/2006 Interior - Driver's Seat Noise/Shifting Sensation
NV005-06 06/16/2006 Interior - Front Seat Track Squeaking Noise
NV004-03 04/26/2003 Interior - Front Seats Squeak/Creak
NV010-02 11/28/2002 Interior - Front Seat Squeak/Creak Noise

that should at least give the dealers somewhere to start when looking into a temporary fix for the 2010+.

oh, and if you have the sunroof rattle when tilted, there's multiple precedents for that annoyance as well:

NV013R-03 09/07/2004 Body - Moonroof (Sliding Roof) Rattles
NV013R-03 11/20/2003 Body - Moonroof Rattling Noise
NV003R-03 06/11/2003 Body - Moonroof/Headliner Rattles
 
New Seat back

Picked my car up yesterday from Alton Toyota and they replaced my seat back and fender flare. They told me that my seat back is the corrected back from Toyota, a different part number all together. The lumbar crunch is gone and I will post pics of the service ticket before the weekends end, can't do it right now. So according my my dealership, Toyota is aware of this problem and has resolved it with a newly designed seat back. We will see what the experts say when I post my service ticket which includes the part number. They may be confused though.
Regarding the fender flare, they were just going to pull it and replace the double sided tape with a stronger version, but they cracked the original and had to order a new one. It was painted and the color match of my BWP is marginal, tolerable at best. I'll also post a clear pick of the color match. Sorry I'm not providing any substance, but if any of you log on to kill time this afternoon as I'm doing now, maybe this will give you a little something to be excited about. Hope I'm not spreading false misinterpreted information. Anyway, my car is fixed minus a few minor issues that I will explain in detail later. Happy holidays!
 
Picked my car up yesterday from Alton Toyota and they replaced my seat back and fender flare. They told me that my seat back is the corrected back from Toyota, a different part number all together. The lumbar crunch is gone and I will post pics of the service ticket before the weekends end, can't do it right now. So according my my dealership, Toyota is aware of this problem and has resolved it with a newly designed seat back. We will see what the experts say when I post my service ticket which includes the part number. They may be confused though.
Regarding the fender flare, they were just going to pull it and replace the double sided tape with a stronger version, but they cracked the original and had to order a new one. It was painted and the color match of my BWP is marginal, tolerable at best. I'll also post a clear pick of the color match. Sorry I'm not providing any substance, but if any of you log on to kill time this afternoon as I'm doing now, maybe this will give you a little something to be excited about. Hope I'm not spreading false misinterpreted information. Anyway, my car is fixed minus a few minor issues that I will explain in detail later. Happy holidays!
sounds promising? please follow up and at least post the part #s for the "new" seatback so we can compare to the parts catalog and verify that it's indeed a new part.

hope your seat stays quiet and crunch-free! :D
 
New part number please

Please provide us the new part number. Called a couple dealers and both told me that the back unit part number has nit changed.
 
the problem is a design flaw and Toyota really should, in fact, redesign the seatback and lumbar. this issue is nothing new, either; there are multiple TSBs re: this issue for the 4th gen including:

NV011-06 10/20/2006 Interior - Driver's Seat Noise/Shifting Sensation
NV005-06 06/16/2006 Interior - Front Seat Track Squeaking Noise
NV004-03 04/26/2003 Interior - Front Seats Squeak/Creak
NV010-02 11/28/2002 Interior - Front Seat Squeak/Creak Noise

that should at least give the dealers somewhere to start when looking into a temporary fix for the 2010+.

The 4th Gen seat issue was more related to the base of the seat rather than the back in fact - quite a few had it - symptoms were more akin to the seat coming loose from the rails
 
I just fell victim to this whole Seat lumbar
Crunching thing today :dammit: I got in
my 4R to run some errands the second i
sat in it i heard some crunching creaking
type sound and it was coming from the
seat. Everytime i would move it would get
louder and worse. I deflated the lumbar support
a bit and it went away some but i would
sure like Toyota to replace my seat or Lumbar
support i mean damn i only have 13k miles
on it and i'm having this issue plus the Foggy
film on top of the headlight housing. I'm pissed :mad:
 
Sorry for the delay, it's been a busy weekend and a busy night. I've got a picture attached and it does state "new design seat back" just as the service department said. I don't have any other part numbers to compare to.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k278/mc1200s/IMAG0273.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
I don't know how to make the picture any bigger, so I'll just do this the manual way.

Customer states popping noise in seat back. Install spring assy per tech line ensuring popping noise is repaired drivers side. Install new design seat back and reinforce support 711991 3.6 hr FC91-14.
1) 71640-35050 Spring Assy, FR S
2) 53848-35903 Extension, FR WHE
3) 75396-35020 Clip, Outside mou
 
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