Vent behind rear bumper
- Thread starter MandAtaco
- Start date
MandAtaco
Member
I like driving around enjoying the fresh air to much to keep my windows up! Part of the desert experince is having the wind in my beard. LOL
I built a custom rear bumper with a swingout... the sides dont remove anymore and its a bear to take off! Otherwise it would be pretty easy to get to.
MandAtaco
Member
Dirt was everywhere behind the interior trim!
To clean it out I put a box fan in one of the rear doors, then used compressed air to blow everything out. The dirt coming out from the gap in the sunroof was like a fog.
I shoved some foam I had in the vent, duct taped the top closed, and poked a few holes in it. Should keep out the dirt for the time being. I've got a new vent on order that I'll hold onto until such a time I have to pull the rear bumper off. Hopefully not for a while!
Hopefully no more cab full of dirt! If you wheel, may want to check your vent out to see if it's still there or not!
To clean it out I put a box fan in one of the rear doors, then used compressed air to blow everything out. The dirt coming out from the gap in the sunroof was like a fog.
I shoved some foam I had in the vent, duct taped the top closed, and poked a few holes in it. Should keep out the dirt for the time being. I've got a new vent on order that I'll hold onto until such a time I have to pull the rear bumper off. Hopefully not for a while!
Hopefully no more cab full of dirt! If you wheel, may want to check your vent out to see if it's still there or not!
TheDurk
Elite Member
...which means the filter will plug up, eventually. Not that that is the end of the world. Just sayin'.
So can this part be removed just by reaching up behind the side of the bumper or does the side of the bumper or the interior panel need to come off? I have had the dust issue for awhile now and when I went to reach my hand up there half the frickin' rubber flap came falling out. It was no longer flat or very pliable.
pluton
Senior Member
I accessed it by pulling back the left rear plastic interior panel. I just wanted plug it, not remove it, since I didn't have the replacement part at the time. Once the replacement part came, I was consumed with apathy, since the ventilation seemed fine with the old vent sealed.
Falonious
New member
I think part if it's being there is because of needing a place for the air displaced by airbag deployment. If all of them deployed at once it would cause a major pressure increase in the truck without having a means of expelling the excess in an instant.
That and the door shutting easier thing.
Thanks for the link of the new part. I am in need of one.
I do get a ton or road noise through mine too...well when it was still in one piece....anyone deal with that?
That and the door shutting easier thing.
Thanks for the link of the new part. I am in need of one.
I do get a ton or road noise through mine too...well when it was still in one piece....anyone deal with that?
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pluton
Senior Member
All modern cars have a 'flow-through' vent of some kind, somewhere on the car, usually near the rear. My old land Cruiser FJ 60 had the vent 5 feet off the ground on the D pillar, so dust ingress was never as much an issue as with our 3rd gen 4Runners.
I can report that shutting the doors still feels normal, even with the vent sealed.
The airbag angle, I have to admit, I never thought of.
This vent design is B.S., just like the headlight bracketry in the 3rd gen.
I can report that shutting the doors still feels normal, even with the vent sealed.
The airbag angle, I have to admit, I never thought of.
This vent design is B.S., just like the headlight bracketry in the 3rd gen.
Chuckles89
New member
I stuffed a fiberglass filter in there and haven't had any dust coming in (so far)...
Trail Taxi
New member
To make a new fully operating flap I just cut a piece of thin rubber sheet to match the opening and glued it to the top of the opening and it works perfect. Don't tell anyone but I cut the needed flap from one of my wife's old yoga mats (this is Calif after all).
I used several dabs of shoe goo/Amazing goop on the top inside of the flap where it mates with the housing then added another full length bead of the thick adhesive to the outside top surface - should last longer than the original flap.
I can't help but believe that the exhaust duct serves an important role in some function of the SUV -- airbag air displacement relief or a HVAC/vent need. If Toyota could have saved $1 by leaving it out they would have if the vent had not provided some important role.
John.
I used several dabs of shoe goo/Amazing goop on the top inside of the flap where it mates with the housing then added another full length bead of the thick adhesive to the outside top surface - should last longer than the original flap.
I can't help but believe that the exhaust duct serves an important role in some function of the SUV -- airbag air displacement relief or a HVAC/vent need. If Toyota could have saved $1 by leaving it out they would have if the vent had not provided some important role.
John.
phattyduck
Elite Member
EVERY (modern) vehicle has a one-way vent in a similar location. Sometimes one on each side. They often have little plastic flaps that last longer, or they are in the trunk and the vehicles don't go off road, so failed valves aren't noticed as much.
-Charlie
Trail Taxi
New member
The gen2 4runners had some vents just behind the rear windows.
John
John
Tyler James Inc
Senior Member
Haha yeah, it definitely does.
If it wasn't there, your fresh air flow would be not flowing at all. It makes the doors close more easily too.
Go turn your HVAC fan on high and feel how much exhaust comes out- you'll be amazed. Even on recirc, there is a surprisingly high flow of air exiting that vent.
Trail Taxi
New member
Great observation -- wish I would have tried that when I had everything apart. I guess that I can still stick my fingers up under the bumper and feel the flow.
John
