2.1

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
77,500 miles

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problem #2

May 012012

4Runner

  • 155,000 miles
As I know other people have posted, I have the classic 4runner rear differential seepage. Mine is a 1996. Seems to be due to a bad casting from factory. Never have I run into this before. Vehicle was regularly washed, hardly any rust on entire vehicle, but for the rear differential casting to be rusted through/porous enough to seep gear oil through the interstices while maintaining structural integrity (safety issue?!!!!!) is a major failure for Toyota as far as I'm concerned and should be redeemed by company. I see from reading online blogposts that I am 1 of many that have experienced this problem. I've had many other older vehicles, one in my possession now (1989 Ford F-150 which has been used in winter but sat all last summer, and hasn't been washed in years) that has no problems remotely like this related to the rear axle. Somewhere along the line Toyota put out faulty rear axle housings, and I'd like to see them stand by their product and fix these---as I'm seeing through investigation that this is a common problem with many Toyota owners. Same problem. Toyota has failed to address the issue, and I'm afraid they will lose many customers (including myself) if they continue to ignore the issue. Too bad. The truck still runs and looks great otherwise. Seems like a large price to pay as far as loss of business for Toyota, but to not address a simple mistake like this and make the customer happy?-----their choice. If you can address this issue with Toyota and make them repair their mistake, I would greatly appreciate it, as I'm sure many formerly happy Toyota customers would agree. Thank you for your time, a concerned consumer.

- New Era, MI, USA

problem #1

Nov 142011

4Runner

  • miles
Differential/axle housing rusted out. I purchased the truck this past week and noticed a significant amount of rust on the differential housing and where the suspension parts connect to the housing. This is what holds the differential/axle assembly to the truck. If left unchecked the cover will eventually rust out and leak oil and could potentially lead to a crash if the differential locks up due to no fluid. Also the brackets could rust out causing the suspension parts to break away from the housing causing a crash. This is a know issue on 4runners and well documented on many internet forums.

- Beach Lake , PA, USA