One problem related to steering tie rod assembly has been reported for the 2003 Toyota 4Runner. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Toyota 4Runner based on all problems reported for the 2003 4Runner.
The driver side inner and outer tie rods completely stripped out the adjustment threads on the driver side, resulting in the outer tie rod decoupling and the driver wheel assy swinging out of phase with the passenger tire, thus immobilizing the vehicle. This incident occurred in a parking lot, thank god, as a freeway speed failure would have resulted in potential catastrophe. I scanned the internet for similar failures and got multiple hits. The dealer does not show this failure in any safety recalls. This vehicle is the limited edition with a v8. This seems like a safety issue the gov. 't should look at if my case turns out not to be isolated. Car was aligned by a Toyota dealer approx 1 yr ago.