Undercarriage very noisy over light bumps/potholes. Faulty X-REAS?

[SkidPalace]

My 2015 LE with only 9500 miles has been experiencing a lot of banging/clacking over rough road conditions and light potholes.
I had it in to the shop for the 18 month free service and of course the mechanic couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. All suspension links were tight, no rattles.
This is the first X-REAS equipped truck I have owned and I have read about several instances of costly failures on this forum with most people ditching the X-REAS for standard shocks after the warranty expiration.
I am wondering how does a faulty X-REAS system let you know that is bad? Is it just a leak that gives it away or does it start to make nose or handle poorly?
I am planning to bring it back to them and tell them to find the problem once and for all.
Thanks.

 

[wcjeep]

Find a section of road that consistently causes problems . Buy some cheap FRS radios. Use tape or zip ties to key up one of them. Move the FRS around while you drive the same section of road. Keep moving the FRS to isolate the noise.

 

[SkidPalace]

Well it's back in the stealership to have them look at it again. It's like 8 degrees out and I lasted about 2 minutes under the truck to try to inspect it myself.
I'd really like to hear from someone that had a failed X-REAS system to know if the clunking is the shocks or not.

 

[SkidPalace]

I guess not too many people are interested in this topic but, for the record, my X-REAS system is in fact blown with less than 10K miles on the clock.
Parts are ordered by the dealer and a complete system replacement will take place next week under warranty.
Gotta love that Toyota quality.

 

[NoLight]

Wow 10k glad they are fixing it for ya, but gotta wonder what will happen in the next 10k

 

[jfm1982]

I guess not too many people are interested in this topic but, for the record, my X-REAS system is in fact blown with less than 10K miles on the clock.
Parts are ordered by the dealer and a complete system replacement will take place next week under warranty.
Gotta love that Toyota quality.

Did they tell you which part failed?

 

[bcolts]

I guess not too many people are interested in this topic but, for the record, my X-REAS system is in fact blown with less than 10K miles on the clock.
Parts are ordered by the dealer and a complete system replacement will take place next week under warranty.
Gotta love that Toyota quality.

Bad luck, but on the bright side you get a new system for free. I'm on my second 4Runner, both with xreas. The first one had 270,000 miles on it and this one currently at 149,000 and no xreas issues with either (probably just jinxed myself). My bro in law has a 2008 he bought new with no xreas issues either. I read plenty of posts on here where people have a different experience and in fact remove the system before "it goes bad". Maybe they are heavy off-roading fans--I'm more interested in a daily driver that can get me through snow or let me occasionally play on the beach--but I am definitely in the pro xreas camp. Don't give up on it yet!

 

[Jhalko]

I guess not too many people are interested in this topic but, for the record, my X-REAS system is in fact blown with less than 10K miles on the clock.
Parts are ordered by the dealer and a complete system replacement will take place next week under warranty.
Gotta love that Toyota quality.

Doubt it's lack of interest, blown Xreas this early doesn't seem to be that common, but it happens. On this forum you will see a very high replacement rate because we just can't help ourselves. I would have assumed the system would have leaked to the point there wasn't much fluid for a clunking noise. If that was the case it also had to drive pretty poorly as well?

 

[SkidPalace]

Did they tell you which part failed?

They did not. I will be sure to ask for a visual inspection before they get started.

 

[1engineer]

I guess not too many people are interested in this topic but, for the record, my X-REAS system is in fact blown with less than 10K miles on the clock.
Parts are ordered by the dealer and a complete system replacement will take place next week under warranty.
Gotta love that Toyota quality.

It could have been just a large pothole hit at speed. Anything that would blow a regular shock could also screw up XREAS. I have been unlucky to have blown a shock in just a few hundred miles and lucky enough to have shocks go 100K+. It's always a speed/force thing. Now with XREAS you have a bit more componentry that could get damaged too, or it could be bad from the factory although that is fairly rare with the 4Runners.

 

[SkidPalace]

Bad luck, but on the bright side you get a new system for free. I'm on my second 4Runner, both with xreas. The first one had 270,000 miles on it and this one currently at 149,000 and no xreas issues with either (probably just jinxed myself). My bro in law has a 2008 he bought new with no xreas issues either. I read plenty of posts on here where people have a different experience and in fact remove the system before "it goes bad". Maybe they are heavy off-roading fans--I'm more interested in a daily driver that can get me through snow or let me occasionally play on the beach--but I am definitely in the pro xreas camp. Don't give up on it yet!

That was my thought exactly when I bought the vehicle. I thought it drove nicely compared to my third gen, and compared to the Trail with KDSS and Pro with it's Billys. I hope the replacement parts hold up indefinitely, but I don't expect to own this truck forever like my 2000 that I loved and lost to frame cancer.

 

[SkidPalace]

Doubt it's lack of interest, blown Xreas this early doesn't seem to be that common, but it happens. On this forum you will see a very high replacement rate because we just can't help ourselves. I would have assumed the system would have leaked to the point there wasn't much fluid for a clunking noise. If that was the case it also had to drive pretty poorly as well?

Yeah, that's the weird thing. I have never seen a single drop of fluid under my truck. It would also be impossible for me to see a small leak, since I completely coat the underside of my truck with Fluid Film to prevent corrosion. As far as poor ride quality, I didn't really notice. It definitely did not bounce or wallow like you would think a car with no shocks would do. Just the noise.

 

[SkidPalace]

Got the truck back yesterday. Looks like they replaced everything. Front and rear shocks, all hard and soft lines and hangers and both center control absorbers.
Never did get a chance to ask the tech what parts failed. Nice to have a quiet cush ride again.

 

[Jaxrunnr]

Hmmm, now I'm wondering if mine is faulty. I just purchased a 2016 Limited with 14k miles. Shortly after, I noticed a lot of creaking in the front end and such when applying the breaks and going over bumps etc. I also have some occasional slight chassis vibrations.

Think my Xreas could be faulty?

 

[MarkWalker]

2012

My previous 4R was an 11 and at about 80k when I had it in for service they told me had a slightly leaky shock. $800-$900. I did not have it repaired as I was preparing to trade the vehicle, which I soon did. That was the only mechanical issue I ever had with the 4R.

If I had kept it, I would have just ripped it all out and gone aftermarket. $800 would be a very good start on a full suspension.

If I get that far (leaky shock) with my '16, XREAS will get replaced. I've got 9k on it now and its been flawless, but this is in 3 months and lots of highway miles. Fingers are crossed for no issues.

 

[Da8ron]

Hmmm, now I'm wondering if mine is faulty. I just purchased a 2016 Limited with 14k miles. Shortly after, I noticed a lot of creaking in the front end and such when applying the breaks and going over bumps etc. I also have some occasional slight chassis vibrations.

Think my Xreas could be faulty?

With that many miles, nothing should be remotely wrong. Definitely go get it checked out just like OP did.

OP, you really should've got an explanation from the dealership for your own sake and the community's knowledge base. Tisk tisk, man!

FWIW I just replaced my 2014 XREAS with an icon setup after over 50k miles. The XREAS never gave me any trouble at all and I actually thought it was a great daily driving, highway system.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[SkidPalace]

Hmmm, now I'm wondering if mine is faulty. I just purchased a 2016 Limited with 14k miles. Shortly after, I noticed a lot of creaking in the front end and such when applying the breaks and going over bumps etc. I also have some occasional slight chassis vibrations.

Think my Xreas could be faulty?

Depends what you mean by "creaking". With mine, I first noticed it just after I put on running boards this summer at ~6700 miles. I thought my installation was at fault so I checked and rechecked all of the bolts. Nothing loose. For the summer months it didn't make much more than an odd clunk or rattle typically over small bumps where you wouldn't expect any noise at all. Recently, however, the noise became obvious that something was really wrong. Significant metal on metal rattle over any road imperfection.
What I have heard is that if your x-reas is failing, you will see leaks. I could not see leaks due to my use of the Fluid Film rust inhibitor, making everything look wet.
Climb under your rig and look at the shocks for signs of a leak and also the center aborbers mounted outside the frame rails under the rear seats.

 

[Bulleit]

I know this is an old post, but I wonder if this was your problem...lower rear trailing arm bushing. May help others who have same issue. See this "Car Wizard" video, starting at 14:35:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=875&v=AelnAhmdLT8&feature=youtu.be