Well, with 211,000 miles, I appear to be having my first mechanical issues with my 03 4Runner.
It started making a vibration sound, I thought was coming from the tires.
I took it by the tire guys, they said not tire noise.
The sound is like real aggressive lugged tires on pavement, but I am not running a mud tread..
Took it to my Toyota dealer, test drove it with a tech. He thinks it is a front wheel bering.
The noise goes away with a quick right turn. (taking load off of rt front wheel) but stays with quick left turns.
I did not get a estimate for replacement/repair, but I was getting the impression it might be expensive. Is it a sealed unit? Not repackable?
Any one with more knowledge than me on this (which I think must be everyone) please throw in a suggestion.. Anyone else had front wheel bering issues with a 4th gen 4 runner?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

the front wheel bearings should be a sealed unit. im not entirely sure about the 4th gen runner but i know they are on 3rd gen and i doubt they would ever revert to non-sealed. replacement should entail removing the spindle, and CV fron the spinlde, probably removing a snap ring, then pressing out a retainer, ABS reluctor, and then the wheel bearing itself. if you have a press its really not that hard, if not im sure that if you are able to remove the balljoint and tierod end yourself you could bring the spindle into a machine shop with a new wheel bearing and retainer and have them do the presswork for very cheap.

good luck
~austin

 

FYI,
It's about $200 worth of parts and about 2 hrs labor to get a front one (left it turns out) replaced.. So not as bad as I had feared.

Peace and quiet again..

Jeff

 

I had the left front wheel berring replaced.. OK, well, shortly after that when I hit the brakes....not much there.. pump it a time or two, ok..
Well, I drive a lot, so it was 2500 miles later I was able to get back to the dealer. The brake caliper on that side had froze up.. I was told it pushed the berring back out, the wheel was loose, and the brand new berring was cooked.
Ok, so they need to replace the berring again, (on them) and also replace the caliper.. (on me) I'm going ahead and getting the front rubber boots replaced. Found a guy to rebulid the universal joints and re-boot them fort $70.. I'm just going to get the other side done too..
Question, if the caliper was rusted and stuck, and I had to pump it a time or two could that have "pushed out" the wheel berring? Or was the wheel berring installed incorrectly in the first place, and that caused me to pump the brakes and overheat the caliper??
If one of you more mechanically inclined guys would respond, I'd appreciate your opinion.
Thanks,
Jeff