whirring noise at 70-75mph

[LTWU]

i have a constant, whirring noise that starts around 70mph ('05 SR5 4wd V8). it gets REALLY bad at 75mph but then goes away if i'm going 80mph. only in the front. it gets really bad when it's cold not so much when it's warm. i had several dealers check it out, only one said they found the problem but didn't have time to fix it. so when i brought it back the problem magically disappeared and it was fine.

definitely not the tires, had the front differential checked out, said it was fine. could it be the front bearing? anyone else experience this?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Does the noise vary when you turn? If you have more or less noise in the turn I'd look at the wheel bearings for sure...


Let us know what you find.

:cheers:

 

[LTWU]

ok so i went to the dealer today and had one of the head mechanics ride along with me and thank goodness he was able to hear the noise. i've had some dealers look at me like i was crazy 'cause they could never duplicate it. he barely heard the noise but he definitely felt some vibration on the floor with his feet. he thinks it's the bearings, and yah definitely makes a little more noise when turning at speed. when it's colder, metals aren't heated up, so it makes more noise. 'cause it makes the most noise when i first drive it in the morning.

i have 61k miles on it right now but i've had it checked out at 25k miles, 30k miles, and 33k (before warranty ran out). they're gonna take it in next thursday and tear the bearing apart. said they can pull up my service records from the national database so i don't even really have to find my service records and if it checks out, then toyota should cover it. thanks for the heads up Flyr. i'll post again after it gets checked out.

in the meantime what i did last weekend

 

[V8Limited4wd]

you sure it's not the harmonic vibration that is a known issue with the 4th gen? it only happens for me when its cold out around 70-75mph... but i havent heard it since i got the trd exhaust installed.

 

[LTWU]

you sure it's not the harmonic vibration that is a known issue with the 4th gen? it only happens for me when its cold out around 70-75mph... but i havent heard it since i got the trd exhaust installed.

never heard about that before, that's why i posted here. when you had that was there a vibration if you put your feet down flat? the noise is definitely more noticeable on the driver's side than the shotgun side. if it is the harmonic vibration then it's just a normal thing?

 

[V8Limited4wd]

look in the problems/warranty section you'll see it near the top as a sticky thread.

 

[LTWU]

said it was the bearing and the housing of the bearing. apparently at 27k when i complained to the dealer then they had replaced the bearing but they didn't replace the housing it was in so pretty much it was doomed to happen again. ehhhh dunno how much i believe that but the vibration is getting very bad and annoying now. best case scenario is that toyota will pay for the parts and I will pay for the labor to replace it. still sucks but i'll be madder if i pay for this and it still doesn't fix the problem

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Which bearing are you talking about?

 

[TC4Rnr]

I'd check your axle fluid. every time you run through water deeper then your rear differential, there's the risk of water getting in via the breather. gear oil expands when heated, it's only filled halfway in the housing, plenty of air in there, too. the breather is there to release the air out so the pressure doesn't build up inside the housing(high pressure can cause axle seals to fail). when you drive through water, the axle along with the gear oil all chilled suddenly, the hot oil will contract, if the breather is submerged, water will be sucked in. oil doesn't like water much, water doesn't lubricate very well.

the front is extended up to the engine so the rear is the only one with this kinda problem. that's why many many have the rear breather mod, just a few bucks and has been proven effective.

4Runners.org - Type R Rear Differential

any way, either it's the problem or not, it doesn't hurt to check and too cheap to pass on. you need to change it every 20-30k miles anyway.

sound travels through the frame, some times you heard it from the front, it may be coming from the rear.

 

[TC4Rnr]

as for the bearing, there's simple way to test it. mainly it's to test the front but, most of the cases if the front bearing are bad, the noise would come up around 30-40mph, not 70. remember normally you have a very small chance of bearings on both sides go out the same time.

find a empty open road or freeway, try to get the noise to come up, keep steady speed then make a semi quick lane(2 lanes) change to the left, then to the right. see if the noise goes away.

when making a LEFT turn, most of your vehicle's weight is supported by the Right side tires, your left bearing is unloaded, if the noise goes away, that means the problem is the LEFT bearing.

so, if noise goes away on the Right turn, then it's the Right bearings.

by the way, when was the last time you greased the zerks on the drive shaft, U-joints? check your owner's manual.

 

[M1911]

I'd bet it is harmonic vibration of the front diff. There's a TSB out for the GX470, which has the same issue. The solution is adding dampers to the front diff.

 

[LTWU]

does that actually fix the problem though? i read thru the other previous threads circa '04 and '05 and it seemed that a lot of ppl had issues, but was unclear whether or not this actually worked. seemed like a lot of ppl who had the harmonic vibration just had to deal with it.

 

[LTWU]

I'd check your axle fluid. every time you run through water deeper then your rear differential, there's the risk of water getting in via the breather. gear oil expands when heated, it's only filled halfway in the housing, plenty of air in there, too. the breather is there to release the air out so the pressure doesn't build up inside the housing(high pressure can cause axle seals to fail). when you drive through water, the axle along with the gear oil all chilled suddenly, the hot oil will contract, if the breather is submerged, water will be sucked in. oil doesn't like water much, water doesn't lubricate very well.

the front is extended up to the engine so the rear is the only one with this kinda problem. that's why many many have the rear breather mod, just a few bucks and has been proven effective.

4Runners.org - Type R Rear Differential

any way, either it's the problem or not, it doesn't hurt to check and too cheap to pass on. you need to change it every 20-30k miles anyway.

sound travels through the frame, some times you heard it from the front, it may be coming from the rear.

definitely not the differential. this sound has been going on pretty much since the 10k mile mark. also after i trudged through the water in the pics above, i went in for my 60k service the week after and said there was no water in the rear differential. though thanks for the heads up on the mod. i'll definitely look into it. wanna get this all fixed up so i can get ready for a 3" toytec lift =) that in conjunction with those black TRD FJ rims. but if this is something that persists, ehhhh i hesitate to dump anymore $ into this thing which makes me sad 'case you have no idea how much i loooooove this truck.

 

[LTWU]

Which bearing are you talking about?

front left though they were replaced at 27k miles (had no idea but that's what the toyota dealer said when they looked it up on my history). now it's at 61k miles, i thought bearings were supposed to last a longer, but they said the last time the casing wasn't replaced . . . . . so ehhhh i dunno. like i said just don't want this to be a recurring problem

 

[LTWU]

ok so $190 later, toyota picked up the cost of the parts (bearings and casing/housing) if i paid for the labor. . . . . got it replaced

verdict: eh the sound is definitely gone, but the vibration is still there. if i put my left foot flat on the floor to the left to the left of the brake i can still feel it. it's not nearly as bad as it used to be but still a little noticeable.

i actually had brought in a copy of the tsb for the lexus gx470 but service dept was like, "oh it's for the lexus and it's only for a constant shake of the steering wheel, not a problem in the 4Runner." so getting them to add dampeners didn't happen.