Front Suspension Control Arm problems of the 1998 Toyota 4Runner

Excessive frame rust caused rear driver side control arm mount to rust right off the frame while my daughter was driving it. At the time her speed was slow as she was pulling into grocery store plaza.

While on a city street with a 45mph speed limit, when the accelerator was pressed the back end of the car started to fishtail to the side. The vehicle was taken to a Toyota dealership where they discovered the frame of the vehicle had rusted and broke where the rear control arm to the driver side rear axle attached. The vehicle had been well maintained by the only owner and the body is in near excellent condition with no accidents.

The contact owns a 1998 Toyota 4runner. While driving 25 mph, the vehicle shook violently without warning. It was diagnosed that the chassis and control arm were rotted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 180,000.

Passenger frame rusted out bad where control arm attaches.

I was travelling on the highway, when all of a sudden my car started to move violantly to the right. I almost went under a commercial truck as I could not control the movement of my truck. . I managed to exit the highway and stopped and checked underneath my truck for damage , but could see nothing. I drove slowly to my local mechanic and my car still kept moving to the right at 20mph. My mechanic looked at it and said the rear trailing arm had brok due to rust, and I was very luck to be alive. (it happenen on a Saturday morning with little commuter traffic otherwise I might have been killed) he said it was a common problem with 4 runners 1998 and later years. I called Toyota but they said they were not obliged to issue a recall from nthss?? or whatever it is called. My mechanic did a welding job to repair the issue which cost me $750. Oo to fix. I had no recourse due to toytotas reluctance to fix this dangerous issue. I encourage you to please force Toyota to issue a recall on this issue before innocent lives are lost. Please do not wait for a a tality before doing something about this. I feel I should be remursed for repairs I incurred but Toyota do not want to know!! I beg you to investigate immediately. My car is in perfect mechanical order except for rust and rotting underneath, because Toyota did not adress this issue when manufacturing this model. I am still scared driving this car but am forced to do so and pray nothing happens going forward. (problem : rear control arm both sides broke due to rust in chassis).

The drivers side rear lower control arm bracket rusted and broke free from the frame of the vehicle at full freeway speed during am rush hour traffic. Nearly lost control of the vehicle. Managed to make it to the nearest exit ramp aprox. 1/4 mile. Took the vehicle to my repair shop and was told to take it to a frame repair shop. The frame was rusted so bad they could not even give me a estimate for repair. I contacted Toyota to check on recalls and register a complaint to no avail. The vehicle is currently in my garage soon to be junked.

I was driving and suddenly it felt like the rear driver side tire fell off. Further inspection showed that the driver side rear control arm bracket was rotted out of the frame. There is no way I can drive my truck anymore. I had someone look at the frame and was told its completely rotted and the truck is a total loss. I do not understand why there is not a recall for the 4runners when the frame is similar to the tacomas. The tacomas did have a recall for rotting of the frame. There should be a recall for the frame on the 4runners since this is a serious safety hazard. The axle of the 4runner could fall out and could cause a fatal accident.

Vehicle started shaking and clunking. I was near home and able to get it back to my driveway. Upon towing to the mechanic, it was discovered that the rear control arm had rusted out and detached from the frame. Frame rot was discovered on the side rails. Car is considered undriveable and should be totaled.

Frame is rusted out around rear control arm brackets. Numerous rust holes in frame. This vehicle is unsafe to drive in this condition and Toyota does not want to do anything about it. I have seen hundreds of the same model vehicle online with this same issue. This needs to be a recall, just like the tacoma frames. Vehicle is in excellent condition and has been well maintained. It is a shame this 4runner is unsafe to drive. Beautiful truck, unsafe frame.

I was driving down the road and I hit a bump didn't think anything of it until I went on the highway, the rear end started jumping as the car increased speed. I started to lose control so I slow down and eventually pulled over. I exited the car and proceeded to inspect the car's under body, I didm;t see anything so I proceeded to drive home doing under 20miles per hour as to not make the rear end jump. When I arrived at home I lifted the car up and further inspected the under side,I then notice that the rear lower control arm on the drivers side was completely dislocated from the frame upon further investigation I noticed the factory wield disengaged from the frame.

I was driving on a back road, hit a pothole and the rear drivers side control arm ripped away from the frame. Found out frame was rusted from the inside out, and should not have been inspected. I had just recently bought the vehicle, and it had gone through PA inspection two months before I bought it. Its a shame, the rest of the truck, motor, interior, body panels, was in perfect condition.