New Member, teach me the ways!

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R1ceRocket

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Now, yet another forum to be a part of!

Bought a 2008 4Runner Sport Edition in natural white a few weeks back.

First SUV in my life; bought it as a "family car".

I'm ready to mod, but nothing extreme. Just a few simple aesthetic ones first (HID's and LED's, cleared black housing headlights and Weathertech window visors).

I don't know if this is blasphemy on these forums, but I would ideally like to drop the suspension about an inch in height, and add some 19" black matte wheels with some knobby tires; basically for looks only.

I do have a few questions on problems I've experienced right off the bat at 0 miles.

  • When depressing the brake it makes a "whooshing" noise, like an air pump. Very noticeable sound in the cabin.
  • When first starting the car and moving the steering wheel, after turning the wheel, and proceeding to go straight, there is a metallic "twang" noise from the steering column. Happens every so often, mostly in the beginning after the car starts.
  • At 60 MPH+, there is a huge amount of vibration in the steering wheel. I've tried to research it, and don't know if the problem stems from the A420 tires? I have them inflated to 33psi, and the problem exists only at 60-75ish MPH.

Any input would be greatly appreciated; it's my first Toyota and I want to get accustomed to it. Thanks for helping a newb!!!
 
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R1ceRocket said:
Now, yet another forum to be a part of!

Bought a 2008 4Runner Sport Edition in natural white a few weeks back.

First SUV in my life; bought it as a "family car".

I'm ready to mod, but nothing extreme. Just a few simple aesthetic ones first (HID's and LED's, cleared black housing headlights and Weathertech window visors).

I don't know if this is blasphemy on these forums, but I would ideally like to drop the suspension about an inch in height, and add some 19" black matte wheels with some knobby tires; basically for looks only.

I do have a few questions on problems I've experienced right off the bat at 0 miles.

  • When depressing the brake it makes a "whooshing" noise, like an air pump. Very noticeable sound in the cabin.
  • When first starting the car and moving the steering wheel, after turning the wheel, and proceeding to go straight, there is a metallic "twang" noise from the steering column. Happens every so often, mostly in the beginning after the car starts.
  • At 60 MPH+, there is a huge amount of vibration in the steering wheel. I've tried to research it, and don't know if the problem stems from the A420 tires? I have them inflated to 33psi, and the problem exists only at 60-75ish MPH.

Any input would be greatly appreciated; it's my first Toyota and I want to get accustomed to it. Thanks for helping a newb!!!
Click to expand...

congrats on the purchase. as far as the vibretion, I'd take it somewhere to get the tires balanced/rebalanced and rotated. that happened to me about a week ago. if it is worse when braking, then it could be a warped rotor which I still haven't fixed on mine. but you have joined a great forum and you will find lots of info on mods, and other things.
 
Congrats on the purchase and welcome.
I would take the 4runner back and let them know about the noises I am asuming you bought it new?
As for lowering it burtman industries has lowering springs for about 515.00 I just checked they also have a bunch of 4runner stuff. And as for lowering my policy is if it is 2wd slam it 4wd lift it.
 
The vibrations at 60mph is def. not a normal thing. I took my brother back to school last weekend, which was a 3 and a half hour trip, and we were cruised controlled anywhere between 85-90 with no problems... oops:D
 
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Yeah, it's a brand new car, but I recall something about the vibrations at 60 MPH+ being a common occurrence with 4th gens?

I will definitely be bringing it back to the dealership to get all these stuff taken care of; I just wanted to get an idea if anyone else experienced it, and what their findings were so I could present it better to the service manager.

I will check out Burtman Industries. I think a few inch drop on my 2wd will be fine, especially since I won't be off-roading or anything in it.
 
This is funny - I just bought a used 2006 SR5 and am experiencing each of those 3 issues, everything else is going great. I haven't looked into it enough yet as I just bought it last week. Let me know if you find anything out!
 
R1ceRocket said:
Thanks for the feedback guys!

Yeah, it's a brand new car, but I recall something about the vibrations at 60 MPH+ being a common occurrence with 4th gens?

I will definitely be bringing it back to the dealership to get all these stuff taken care of; I just wanted to get an idea if anyone else experienced it, and what their findings were so I could present it better to the service manager.

I will check out Burtman Industries. I think a few inch drop on my 2wd will be fine, especially since I won't be off-roading or anything in it.
Click to expand...

You are correct about the vibration and harmonic noise at certain RPM's, in your case you are talking the MPH's at 60, but drop your car into 4th and you will get the same thing around 2100 RPMs. This has been well discussed on this forum, but many of the threads don't show up in a search if they have not been updated this year. I'll see if I can dig up some older ones. THere is a TSB for Lexus to fix the vibration but the TSB has not been issued for the 4Runner yet.
 
Here is the TSB for Lexus. Some people on here have been successful getting their Toyota dealer to do this for the 4runner. Many of us have not had luck. I remember one guy took this all the way up in Toyota and through an arbitrator Toyota took back the 4runner.



A STEERING VIBRATION & DRIVELINE VIBRATION/DRONE
CAUSE: INSTALL UPDATED PARTS FOR VIBRATION
ST004-04 STEERING VIBRATION & DRIVELINE
VIBRATION/DRONE

1 41196-60010 DAMPER, DIFFERENTIAL
2 90080-10167 BOLT, WASHER BASED H
1 52380-60061 SUPPORT ASSY, DIFFER
1 51405-35101 COVER S/A, ENGINE UN
1 45219-60090 YOKE, STEERING SLIDI
1 45203-60120 SHAFT SUB-ASSY, STRG
FC: 44,99
PART#: 41196-60010
COUNT: 1
2727 DRONE NOISE, SERVICE BULLETIN ST3010
 
I had the same steering vibration. Told Toyota and they replaced the steering column. They said something about the steering damper or something like that was bad. They knew what is was right away.
 
Sounds good guys, thanks for the feedback.

Bucky, thanks for pointing out the TSB. I saw something like that before, but couldn't track it down.

I will attempt all these fixes at my dealership and see how it goes and report back.
 
i have the steering wheel vibration too but it comes and goes. my 4runner is at another toyota dealership and they can't seem to reproduce the issue. i have the exact same vibration as you.. mine happens at 63mph usually. im not sure what i can do now. i told them about the lexus tsb and they said its not the same.

my 4runner has been roadforced 3 times so far and toyota says its fine.

<shrug>

did u ever get a resolution to the "whooshing" noise when braking? cuz i get the same noise on my new 4runner.

bummer :(
 
Thanks again Bucky; I've been doing searches and reading as much of those old threads as possible.

useport80, I feel your pain, bro. This is my wifes babymobile and I'm very disappointed in how a brand new vehicle has so many bad quirks.

I haven't had a chance to take it in yet, but the "whooshing" noise, and the steering wheel "twang", and the vibration in the steering wheel at 60ish mph, is all very apparent so the service department should be able to fix it.

Once/if I get it all resolved (in the next few weeks) I will let you all know exactly what it was.
 
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