2005 SR5 Traction Issue

Good evening all.

Have a 2005 SR5 two wheel. For the last 5-6 years now we’ve had traction issues. When the roads are wet the vehicle starts driving like it’s on ice when you past 40mph. Seems like it’s worse on wet concrete than pavement.

It only has 161K miles on it and we do not drive it much, mostly because of the traction issues.

We’ve taken it to our reliable garage, another highly recommended place that specializes in Japanese cars and our local dealership.

They’ve all said that we need tires of some sort. From March 2017 (133,817 miles) through February 2022 (155,197 miles) we’ve bought 12 tires. And still the same issues comes up. I’ve also taken by local auto parts stores to run codes and nothing comes up.

Have any of you fellow 4 Gen owners had the same kind of problems?

 

Have not had this issue. My first thought was tires but you say you have replaced them. Are you having any abnormal tire wear? Next guess would be suspension and frame integrity - give it a good visual check. Make sure your suspension components are in place and not loose. Make sure springs are not broken and struts/shocks are not leaking. Also verify frame is not rusted away. Any collision events that might have bent the frame or control arms/wheel hubs? If all that checks out, I would have the wheels aligned. They won't be able to align it if suspension is bent or sloppy so that is a good check. I don't think a true 4 wheel alignment is possible but they can check the rear wheel thrust angle to make sure it is not dog tracking. Finally, may want to replace the shocks/struts.

 

Thanks for the feedback. None of those items came back as concerns on the work report from the dealership. I’ll look at other report and see. May be time to see if someone else would like to pick up the ball from me and sell it.

 

Where are you located? What kind of tires are you buying?

Traction has some limited items that relate. Are you comparing it to how other vehicles drive, ones with better traction control systems?

A rear-wheel drive SUV wouldn't have good traction compared to front-wheel or all-wheel drive. Rear wheel drive sucks in the rain, BUT I'm surprised you're seeing issues at speed, and not all the time, or low speed take-offs. That's where I would expect to see issues. At higher speeds it almost sounds like steering or suspension issues. You gave almost no detail, so it's hard.

Loss of traction in the rear, like the rear end wants to come out on you, or is the front end getting pushed in the corners and you have slopping steering?

What parts have you replaced? Shocks last about 50k miles, have they been replaced?

Give a little more detail on the way it handles and that will help.

 

How're your sway bar linkages?

 

I'm in Birmingham, AL. I've been using Uniroyal Laredo Cross Country Tour tires for a while. Yeah, it's not spinning on take off and traction into turns is fine. I have not replaced the shocks, but again that hasn't come up in any tune ups that I've had (and I don't drive it but maybe two times a week). It kinda does the same thing when I drive over really rough spots on the interstate. I try and keep my speed on the interstate at 70 mph, so I'm not driving it the same way that I'd drive a newer vehicle.

 

Your truck has 20 years of life lived and in those years, whether one is driving or not, things wear out. It sounds more like your suspension might be getting tired and needing some revamping. Rough spots on interstates and regular driving will make a vehicle feel what you're experiencing with worn out shocks...even if they're not showing leaks on the outside. I'd consider some replacement shocks and report back if you're able to. I know it's another cost but you wouldn't need anymore tires for longer span of time/miles if you do this...potentially.

 

Thanks for the additional information. Since it's not an issue on takeoff, I think you've got some "chatter" that is related to your suspension, and that it's not really related to your tires at all. Since you haven't stated you have unusual wear on the tires, that makes me think dampers/absorbers.

I would suggest some moderately priced shocks. That should fix you right up.

 

Ok guys I finally tracked down last real work I had done on it in June of 2021. They did replace the rear shocks/struts and the front stabilizer bar and bushings along with replacing two tires.The Toyota place just suggested four new times after a 16 point alignment check in January. I’ve included a pic of the test drive result

 

That image/pic says the rear tires are horribly worn, and customer refused the work. What's it supposed to show us?

 

Do you drive with just your right foot or right foot = accelerator, left foot = brake?