Noise/Vibration 2011 Limited Edition

[kl67]

Recently purchase my 2011 4Runner and immediately found that at highway speeds I get a aerodynamic moaning sound accompanied by a high freq vibration in the floor board and steering wheel. The defect is directly proportional to wind speed...meaning if I am driving into a 10 MPH headwind the noise occurs sooner (65MPH), no wind it happens at 75MPH, 10MPH tailwind it occurs at 85MPH. At any speed if I disrupt the airflow by drafting a vehicle in front of me the noise/vib goes away.

Took it back to the dealer and they recognize there was a problem...drove 2 other Limited 4 runners and neither made the noise/vib. Dealer modified a heat shield and told me it fixed it. On the way home I found it to not be fixed...still defective. Call the service manager back and he told me he would contact Toyota tech. He called me a few days later and recommended I take it in to the Toyota dealer closer to my home...I did and they, for some reason insisted on road forcing the tires and to my amazement it did not fix the problem! What they did tell me was one of their service managers has the same vehicle and it does the same thing...I requested to take a ride in this vehicle to hear it for myself...still waiting on that...

Toyota corp, since this dealer stated another one made the same noise, is calling it an inherent condition and will "monitor" the situation. When I asked Corp if they were going to have the tech team look at it since they were the experts...they stated no!

Has anyone out there experienced the same defect I describe? This is my second Toyota in a row...and I am getting the feeling they hired some of Chrysler's executives to work in Corporate???

Anyone out there...before I go to the AG to begin the Lemon process???

 

[1engineer]

Mods...Move this to the driveline vibration thread please. How do you know your headwind or tailwind exactly? Wouldn't happen to have an anemometer mounted on your glass would you lol.

 

[Falls]

I noticed this on mine and now I only do depending on wind conditions (strong one's) . It was wind noise I could hear and since i moved my cross rails on the roof I do not notice it as much. We may be talking about something completely different.

 

[kl67]

Mods...Move this to the driveline vibration thread please. How do you know your headwind or tailwind exactly? Wouldn't happen to have an anemometer mounted on your glass would you lol.

20 years flying in the Navy you learn quickly...additionally you can pull out your smart phone and Weatherbug will give you wind speed and direction for you current GPS location...or you can pull over and feel the wind..LOL? This is not a drive line vibration it is something in the airstream as indicated by my discription of it going away when drafting another vehicle...

 

[kl67]

I noticed this on mine and now I only do depending on wind conditions (strong one's) . It was wind noise I could hear and since i moved my cross rails on the roof I do not notice it as much. We may be talking about something completely different.

Falls,

No cross rails on mine...although I know harmonic vibrations can travel, mine feels like it is coming from the floor pan area...thanks for the response.

 

[1engineer]

20 years flying in the Navy you learn quickly...additionally you can pull out your smart phone and Weatherbug will give you wind speed and direction for you current GPS location...or you can pull over and feel the wind..LOL? This is not a drive line vibration it is something in the airstream as indicated by my discription of it going away when drafting another vehicle...

My point was I posted in the driveline thread because even though it says "driveline" it is really undefined vibration, with tires being a strong suspect. I do not know if my vibration is caused by: Tires, Mechanical component or Aerodynamic stress. I do know the symptoms and when the vibrations happen, but that is all. I hope you are right and you find the fix and it helps me and the other guys. If we find the fix I will be sure to post it in your thread just in case it could help you. BTW I just talked to two friends of mine: Number one had 21 years in the Navy, fixed and rotary wing pilot and number two owns and flies a Cessna Citation Bravo. Number one spent most of his time based off of carriers. He said the only wind you can determine in a vehicle is crosswind, and usually not with any accuracy. Number two (Citation owner) said no way does he know if there is a headwind or tailwind when driving unless there is a flag on a pole right next to the road and he is driving by it. So you guys disagree. Also Weatherbug only updates at the speed of your connection and usually only every 1-5 minutes. I went to their FAQ page for confirmation. Good luck and I hope you find your problem.

 

[kl67]

My point was I posted in the driveline thread because even though it says "driveline" it is really undefined vibration, with tires being a strong suspect. I do not know if my vibration is caused by: Tires, Mechanical component or Aerodynamic stress. I do know the symptoms and when the vibrations happen, but that is all. I hope you are right and you find the fix and it helps me and the other guys. If we find the fix I will be sure to post it in your thread just in case it could help you. BTW I just talked to two friends of mine: Number one had 21 years in the Navy, fixed and rotary wing pilot and number two owns and flies a Cessna Citation Bravo. Number one spent most of his time based off of carriers. He said the only wind you can determine in a vehicle is crosswind, and usually not with any accuracy. Number two (Citation owner) said no way does he know if there is a headwind or tailwind when driving unless there is a flag on a pole right next to the road and he is driving by it. So you guys disagree. Also Weatherbug only updates at the speed of your connection and usually only every 1-5 minutes. I went to their FAQ page for confirmation. Good luck and I hope you find your problem.

1engineer

You either work for Toyota or need to find better use of your time! Keeping it short (although I am sure you will respond) my examples were general in nature...the vib happens quicker (lower vehicle speed) when a headwind is present than when not. I gave some numbers to provide a simple example for people to understand...? Thanks for your input...tell your friends and yourself to turn down the radio, stop texting and you really can tell if your driving in a headwind or tailwind by paying attention to your surroundings...good day, I hope you find your problem as well.

 

[1engineer]

Do you have the SR5, Trail or Limited? BTW I have kids in college so no rookie here as well.