Toyota 4Runner Recall

May 18, 2005

Toyota Motor Corp. said it is recalling about 880,000 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks worldwide because of a defect that could affect steering.

In the United States, 774,856 Toyota SUVs and pickup trucks have been recalled, including the 2001-2004 model years of the Tacoma, the 2001-2002 versions of the 4Runner and the 2002-2004 model years of the Tundra and Sequoia. Toyota’s recall announcement also affects 22,000 vehicles in Japan, 22,000 vehicles in Europe, 14,000 vehicles in Australia and 10,800 vehicles throughout the rest of the world.

Toyota 4Runner Recall

The recall was prompted after the discovery that a defect with the front suspension ball joint could lead to wear and tear over time. Excessive wear or looseness in the ball joint could force drivers to exert more effort when steering, allowing the vehicle to drift and increase the amount of noise from the suspension.

Possible Toyota 4Runner Rollovers & Accidents

While Toyota said it was unaware of how much the auto defect will cost the company, there have been two minor accidents without injury reported in the U.S. because of it, as well as one report of an accident in Japan possibly linked to the problem. So far, it is unclear if there have been other accidents elsewhere because of the Toyota auto defect. NTSHA has not reported any Toyota 4Runner Rollover being caused by this problem, but by the very nature of the recall it is very possible that a Toyota 4Runner accident could be caused by the steering / ball joint drift problem leading to a rollover accident.