BluYot

Hi all,

Well, we were excited for our first new purchase and our dream vehicle but this was quickly dampened by a reoccurring shimmy/vibration in the steering wheel. Anyone else experiencing this? Please post!

All said the dealership has been great at least acknowledging the issue as I've read elsewhere dealerships are claiming this as a characteristic of the 4Runners and dismissing the problem altogether...ha, ya right.

Here's an account of the events since we've owned this truck.

Account of Events:

October 27, 2012: Picked up 2012 Toyota 4runner with 7km on odometer

• On the drive home I noticed a slight shimmy (vibration) in steering wheel when I reached 95km/h. This occurred about 30 minutes after being on the road when I increased the speed from 85km/h to 95km/h.
• Stopped off at someone’s house, truck sat for about an hour and we proceeded home.
• Went on highway and noticed upon acceleration towards 100km/h that shimmy was back. I backed off gas to 90km/h and it subsided.

October 29, 2012-November 2, 2012:

• Drove to work in morning and again noticed shimmy, this time more pronounced, at 105km/h. Backed off throttle to just below 95km/h and subsided.
• Drove home and again noticed shimmy very apparent from 95km/h – 105km/h

*The rest of the week I drove the truck daily and vibration in steering wheel did not subside. However, the vibration was intermittent and varied in intensity but was 95% of the time present to some degree ie it was noticeable.

Contacted dealership the week of October 29, 2012 to get service appointment as we suspected this was wheel balancing issue

November 3, 2012:

• Brought truck in for service to get wheel/tires balanced
• Was off a bit and test drive by mechanic didn’t reveal vibration.
• First 30min of driving shimmy not apparent as much; very, very slight vibration but much better at first.
• Once we got to highway and got the vehicle up to 105km/h shimmy was back and consistent.

At this point we figured we’ll wait until snow tires and new steel rims are put on before pursuing this any further.

November 9, 2012:

• 4 brand new winters with new steel rims installed and balanced from from local reputable shop.
• Drove truck that evening up to 100km/h and shimmy still present.

Didn’t drive truck at higher speeds ie 95-105km/h that week until weekend.

November 17, 2012:

• Drove truck for 45 min on highway and steering wheel vibration present the whole time.

November 20, 2012:

• Drove truck on highway up to 110km/h and steering wheel vibration very very apparent. Vibration was extremely visible and was almost undriveable at this speed so backed down to 90km/h where it subsided. This was the worst it has been.

We've been scouring the internet for others with issues like this an have found some other owners on another forum with same issues. Lexus has issues a tech bulletin for the GX460 where they are replacing the steering rack preload spring and this appears to solve the problem.

At this point the dealership is waiting to hear back from Toyota. Meanwhile, we don't want to drive this and cause other problems on a brand new vehicle. I've bought old civics that were smooth sailing at highway speeds not to mention my old 3rd gen that had well over 300,000km; this shouldn't be happening and Toyota should be not only acknowledging the problem, but actually dealing with this. We bought toyota for the quality and reliability but are starting to lose faith...

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

how are the roads you drive on? any ruts from heavy trucks etc?
try another dealership

BluYot

Roads are 4 lane highways but also had on two lane highways at 95km where it starts. Yes there are semi's but, funny thing is our other car doesn't do this and cars in the past haven't. I drive to work everyday, same lanes etc and no issues with other cars. It feels like wheels are out of balance and recently it has been shaking our seats a bit...I'm thinking driveline maybe too?

BluYot

Bump...sooo anyone experience this issue? Perhaps there aren't many 5th gen owners out there yet?

One of the only solutions (besides the Lexus TB) that I've read works (and it was discovered by accident) was owners noticed the vibration went away after installing a lift (not body) with new rims/tires and that pretty much cured it. As much as I'd like to use that as an excuse to get my wife on board with that, it is still a little suspicious and of course there's the whole matter of the principle of the issue! Any feedback or advice would be much much appreciated. Thanks again all.

fillsrunner4

Have you had the tires balanced? could be bad balance, or d-shaft balance

BluYot

fillrunner: We've had both sets of tires balanced twice (all season and winters)...not too sure what machine they use at the dealership (road force etc). At first I didn't think it would be a driveshaft issue because the vibration is isolated in the steering wheel, however recently at 110km/h (+-2) the seats start to vibrate ever so slightly. Perhaps I'll explore this further...thanks!

fillsrunner4

Do you know if the driveshaft has ever been removed?

rworegon

Sounds almost like something is not torqued down properly.....engine mounts, tranny mounts, front diff mounts, suspension components, rear driveline center carrier bearing (if equiped) not aligned........

BluYot

To my knowledge it hasn't. We picked it up with 7km and it was shipped from across the province to our dealer. Unless something happened in between...perhaps during the PDI but I'd imagine something fairly evident would have to be wrong for them to drop the dshaft. I've read where in two instances new owners who've experienced this vibration noticed excess grease in and around the u-joints...could that really cause a shimmy?

rworegon - good point; our concern is that something is not quite balanced or buttoned down, both of which have the ability to cause premature failure on other components if this keeps up. I haven't tinkered too much with this new vehicle as I want 100% liability/responsibility on dealership and Toyota considering we just passed our 1600km/1000mi break-in.

My concern is still that this is happening to at least 15+ (estimate) other 5th Gen 4Runners on another forum which I have yet to join. This is a small percentage of total units sold yet there may be others who have not voiced their experience.

Again, your thoughts on this are much appreciated.

rworegon

Agreed...I wouldn't be poking too deep either. Hoping this was something obvious, however, this may not be the case as others are reporting the same issue. Interestingly, several models of Toyotas are having similar issues and also Lexus which had a TSB issued earlier this year.

Keep updating...I'm curious where this leads. 'scribed

2big4arunner

If I had that big of an issue with a brand new truck and they told me I had to wait I would be on the phone with Toyota customer service yelling and screaming until they personally replaced the truck with another one (with upgrades) A vibration like that is serious and could be fatal if they dont know what it is.

They should at least give you another vehicle as a replacement until they fix it. That would be my minimum.

Hope they get it done quickly. Dont let them sit on their haunches and it should be a couple hours to get a decisions on what to do from Toyota when something driveline or steering is involved.

ps... I am a big pain in the ass for dealerships. I got my mother a full upgrade on her Chevy when the service manager blamed her for her faulty brakes.

BluYot

2big4aRunner: Ya, agreed, it's go time. I'm a nice guy but I'm a nice guy who doesn't like to get screwed. The rural dealership is usually really good (our family has purchased a few vehicles from them the last 12 years) and that why we went with them and not from a dealership in the city. However, the lemon law in Canada states that after 3 visits with a new vehicle and the issue doesn't get resolved, we get a replacement. We've been in once, so I'm sure they are being careful and want to make it count when we come in. The service manager said "I'd like to talk to Toyota before a start throwing parts at it"...they haven't even done a second inspection though. We're ready to drive it down and drop it off and get them to pay for a rental, or our payments for the time the truck is in the shop.

rworegon

There is a good chance a replacement rig will do the same thing.......my 0.02 after a bit of googling last night.

BluYot

True. I'm hoping the '13s will have this issue ironed out as they've just been released here a couple months back from what I've heard. They were rolling in as we picked our '12 up. I'd entertain the idea of a '13 Trail if they can't fix our issue.

I'm getting on the horn tomorrow (no pun intended) with the dealership as it has been 2 weeks since they said they would get back to us. Will give an update...thanks again

BluYot

The vibration was ridiculous today but started at 85km/h but I spoke with the service dept. this afternoon. We're dropping the truck off in a couple weeks and we'll be taking them for a test drive to show them the vibration. Following this, they are going to Road Force balance the all-seasons first to establish a baseline (didn't mention our winters but I'll cross that bridge later). Furthermore, I've got confirmation that Toyota is on board with this. They are sending in a Toyota field technician (which is a good sign ie. this demonstrates the mothercorp acknowledges the issue by spending time and resources when the dealership hasn't even performed an initial inspection only done balancing). All said, they are providing a loaner car while the 4Runner is with them for the week. Will update when new info comes in. Merry Christmas!

2big4arunner

good to hear. Keep us updated.

BluYot

New Year Update:

Dropped off the 4Runner earlier last week and the dealership has had the it for the whole week. They called on Friday and said they couldn't get the truck to shimmy despite me leaving detailed instructions on when it typically occurs, and how to trigger it by accelerating heavily (not pinned) up to 105km/h and letting off slightly.

It's odd however, because it's been freezing (-30C or -22F) and it seems to be not as prominent. They parked it in the heated bay overnight but still couldn't trigger it so are keeping it a few more days. I have a feeling that they won't be able to find the issue let along trigger the vibration...and as soon as we drive home, it'll come right back

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

Why not ask them to ride with you? Then let them have another vehicle follow you as backup for their use on the way back

BluYot

Hmmm ya I might, good call. The issue is the dealership is an hour away so they might be cruising with me for a while until I can open it up to hit those speeds on a straight. At this point, probably worth it for both parties. I suppose they could always just follow us in the loaner car they gave us (9th gen Corolla with 150,000 miles) and if the vibration comes back we'll keep the loaner...again.

BluYot

So talked to the dealership today. They have been trying it 2-3 times a day (except on the cold cold days and freezing rain). They are trying tomorrow and said if they couldn't get the vibration are giving it back until warmer weather...whatever that means.

Sure I said it was doing it frequently in the fall temps but it was doing it the day before where it was 14 deg Fahrenheit and many other days in the winter.

What I don't get is why do they really need to see this happen. If I go in to a shop and say, "my steering wheel is vibrating" you'd think you'd be able to deduce from there: Wheel balance...check, driveshaft balance...check etc. Recheck if things are tight enough.
A steering wheel vibration is a steering wheel vibration. It makes my hands shake, done. It's not like I'm saying, "well it's this noise, that goes 'wah wah wah', and it's coming from the back but when I turn right it disappears and then you hear it in the front right."

Huh, we are just so frustrated. What would you guys do? Tell them to keep it until they can find it? I just feel like now we're at a loss and it only just has over 2000km. Are there particular things to say at this point where a dealership would respond? Any advice (other than simply screaming and yelling) would be much appreciated!