My 4runner feels like a rollercoaster! Help!

clemsonxplorer

clemsonxplorer

New member
Can anybody help me figure this out?

My 4runner is all over the road. The alignment was just fixed 2 weeks ago for the same reason. It was better at first but now it is just as bad. It tracks straight on a perfect road but if there is any change in the road it jerks me. Just changing lanes results in whipping me side to side. You can feel every bump in the road and there is a ton of body roll. Everything is stock. I had two tacomas before this and they didnt do this at all. I also had an 04 Grand Cherokee and it didn't do this either so I know its not because its an SUV.

Lets assume the alignment is in the green. What else could it be? Everything up front is tight. Could something be wrong with the steering linkage or sway bars? Tires? Could it be the shocks? They have 85k miles on them.

Ive read alot about FJ springs improving the ride, but there is no way the ride is normally this bad. On the interstate it feels like I'm getting blown all over the road by wind, but its not windy.
 
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Mine was like that all over the hwy when there was dips in the road, I replaced all the shocks & 1" spacer in front to even out the ride height to match the back & got it alligned & now no more problems! other than I think I may have broke a abs wire so be carefull not to do that !
 
03dfw4runner said:
Mine was like that all over the hwy when there was dips in the road, I replaced all the shocks & 1" spacer in front to even out the ride height to match the back & got it alligned & now no more problems! other than I think I may have broke a abs wire so be carefull not to do that !
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Im glad to hear you say that.....makes me feel a little relieved. I have a leveling kit and wheel spacers waiting to go on once I find some young FJ springs and struts to go on with them (cheaper than replacing shocks). I was hoping my plans were going to fix it but it is so bad I wasn't sure. So, again, Im glad to hear you say that.

How many miles were on your old shocks? How much did it cost and where did you get your new shocks?
 
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I was debating between the bilsteins or the factory tokico's, I ended up getting all factory brand new from dealer for like 320 $ out the door which I thought was a good deal Almost same price as bilsteins , But I wanted a nice ride so I went with factory which I would recomend , The others I was told were gonna be too stiff so I am glad I did not get those, I had 97k miles on my factory ones! So you cant go wrong with them , Wow what a huge difference!! rides so smooth over bumps & very stable no top roll like other suvs even with the inch spacer & looks amazing! Also I got new tires 265'70'17 so it fills in the gaps ah lil more...... Me & my neighbor did the instal Then I took it to get allighned Now just got to figure out which abs wire we messed up! =(
 
I would think about shocks. Double check the swaybars, make sure they're ok and the bushings look ok.

Do you have XREAS?

I am having trouble with the alignment. I don't understand how you're ok and in 2 weeks it all went bad. Are you sure?

I'd check the tire pressure one more time for good measure too.
 
Mine's very similar to what you describe except for the body roll. None at all and it only have 44K on it so I doubt it's the shocks. I've had it gone over heavily by a dealer that is a friend and it's all in spec. Tracks straight unless there's a groove or dip in the road. One wheel is cranked all the way to keep it in spec though so something is bent - previous driver. My dealer/friend says eventually I won't be able to keep it in spec and will have to figure out and replace whatever is bent, or he says lifting it a bit will actually help because it will bring the geometry back in the right direction. I was bummed to hear something was bent but sort of happy to hear a lift may actually help. :shrug:
 
CJ3Flyr said:
Do you have XREAS? I dont think so

I am having trouble with the alignment. I don't understand how you're ok and in 2 weeks it all went bad. Are you sure?
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Its worse on the interstate, which i was just on for the first time since the alignment was fixed. So maybe the body roll never really went away after the alignment. I did notice it wasnt handling well on bumps and small dips, but I thought it was minor and that new shocks/springs from an FJ would fix it. But when I took a 2 hr trip on the interstate and realized it was much worse.
 
clemsonxplorer said:
Its worse on the interstate, which i was just on for the first time since the alignment was fixed. So maybe the body roll never really went away after the alignment. I did notice it wasnt handling well on bumps and small dips, but I thought it was minor and that new shocks/springs from an FJ would fix it. But when I took a 2 hr trip on the interstate and realized it was much worse.
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Ok, in your 1st post I read FJC springs and 85k miles. I assumed you retained the OE shocks and did just the springs.

Do you FJ shocks too? If so and they're low miles then a shock issue is very unlikely.
 
CJ3Flyr said:
Ok, in your 1st post I read FJC springs and 85k miles. I assumed you retained the OE shocks and did just the springs.

Do you FJ shocks too? If so and they're low miles then a shock issue is very unlikely.
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Sorry for the confusion. I am still completely stock with 85,000 miles. I am hoping upgrading to FJ springs and the newer shocks that would come with them will solve my problems, but it so bad that i am worried it wont.
 
clemsonxplorer said:
Sorry for the confusion. I am still completely stock with 85,000 miles. I am hoping upgrading to FJ springs and the newer shocks that would come with them will solve my problems, but it so bad that i am worried it wont.
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That combo will make it better than it's ever been:D :bigok: If you want to take it one step further do a swaybar bushing upgrade...
 
I have the exact same problem and only have 15K I have a 08 limited with Xreas had it aligned bought 4 new tires sway bar bushing upgrade and nothing scared to drop anymore money on it unless I find out the reason. I thought shocks but my mehcanic said why at those miles...
 
I will update for sure.

More notes on this issue:
When I first got my 4runner I noticed the front would come down and hit the bump stops when going over a speed bump and my first thought was that the shocks are bad, but my alignment guy said he has seen that before and another 4runner owner said it is normal in another thread.

While driving today I tried to focus on it being the shocks and not the alignment and I believe that is the case (bumps don't steer me off the road, but they do created rocking) however, if you do the bounce test by pushing down on the front a couple of times and then counting the bounces it only bounces once or twice......what is the rule of thumb?...If it bounces 3 times you need new shocks?
 
How do I know if Xreas is working? I know about the cornering part it does that fine but just wondering if it was ever tampered with before me? It has a real rough bumpy ride and you can feel every bump and when you hit a little dip in the road the truck dips that way and then the other I feel like a milkshake Anyway to test the system to see if it is 100%?
 
bbumbles said:
How do I know if Xreas is working? I know about the cornering part it does that fine but just wondering if it was ever tampered with before me? It has a real rough bumpy ride and you can feel every bump and when you hit a little dip in the road the truck dips that way and then the other I feel like a milkshake Anyway to test the system to see if it is 100%?
Click to expand...

that is pretty much what mine is doing. I don't think i have XREAS because the only lines I could find were the brake lines.
 
kyb for a close to stock ride with no lift, or one of the bilstein strut/shocks. if you want to level the front a bit, try bilstein 5100 adjustable for 0-2.5 front lift,they will be firmer than the kyb, have much less nose dive, & may give you the handling you need/want. most times they are on back order (at toytec) but wheelers offroad may have a few left in stock. goodluck
 
If stock ride quality shocks (kyb) are going to be anything like what Im dealing with now then I don't want them. I came from a Tacoma TRD Sport 4wd and if bilsteins will give me a ride more like that then that is what I want. To me, the tacoma had a perfect ride. Silly me for assuming the 4runner would ride the same.
Are the adjustable 5100s stiff like the HDs that I linked. Also, can you adjust the height easily?
http://www.shockwarehouse.com/index.cfm?mode=results&selected_model=4468&selected_year=2006
 
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