2005 Toyota 4RUNNER Tires Problems

“These tires are not safe. They do not provide adequate traction on dry or wet surfaces. They are extremely slippery and dangerous. They spin when accelerating from a stop at a traffic light on both dry and wet roads. I've had numerous instances where they've spun my wheels or caused my car to fishtail. Yesterday, they caused a serious and scary incident with my son in the car. We were put in a situation where we could have been seriously injured or killed. While turning left at a signal at low speed the tires slipped and caused my car to go sideways in different directions. …”

“The TPMS sensors on my 2005 Toyota 4runner failed when the metal valve stem caps provided with the car corroded to the valve stem threads. The vehicle had roughly 60k miles on it when this began to occur. I inquired about this at the dealer and was told that the issue was caused by road salt and the metal caps on metal valve stem threads (dissimilar metals). I was also told that Toyota recognized the cause of the issue as the metal caps and replaced them with plastic caps on newer 4runners. …”

“The cable on the spare tire lift mechanism freyed and became stuck. The spare tire would not come down all the way. When I did get it down, I inspected the cable and it was badly damaged by the retraction mechanism. Cable could have easily failed and dropped the spare tire onto the road while driving. Toyota has recalled a similar mechanism on the sienna model, however, they told me it was not on recall for the Toyota 4RUNNER. Failure of that cable on the expressway could cause a serious accident. Toyota wants $250 to replace the mechanism which is a poor design and will fail again.”

“I had just begun acceleration from a stop sign when I heard a noise and the 4runner became loose on the back left. It was making a noise like I had never heard before. I was able to pull to the side of the road after about 100 yards. On inspection, the sidewall had blown in a straight line from about 2 inches from the rim toward the tread creating a nearly straight gash that I could stick my entire hand into. I took the vehicle to gosch Toyota (the dealer who sold me the vehicle 8 months ago). They said they do not take care of warranty issues with tires. …”

“2005 Toyota 4 RUNNER sr 5 spare tire bracket/ holder severely prematurely rusted. Dealer unable to remove spare tire. Lubricant applied by dealer to no avail. Bracket/holder defect makes spare tire unavailable for use and can lead to bracket/holder failure. Dealer unable to remedy leaving vehicle owner with no spare and potential for catastrophic event while vehicle in use.”