Other suspension problem on the 1999 Toyota 4RUNNER
2 crashes 1 injury 3 of the 30 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other suspension problem gets reported
Owners of the 1999 Toyota 4RUNNER report other suspension problem at a median of 175,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 150,000 miles and a quarter after 215,000 miles, from 24 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 110,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 225,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 119,108 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 108,100 miles | 147,550 miles | 176,500 miles | 212,750 miles | 227,208 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $350–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 18 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2021, at a median of 400 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 185,000 miles.
By volume the 2003 carries the most reports, with 59; the 1999 has 30. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Frame rusted to the point where it broke. When it happened it almost caused a major accident. Left the vehicle in a condition that is very dangerous to drive. This vehicle has high miles but is in excellent condition otherwise. No rust anywhere on the vehicle except for the frame. Toyota is aware of the problem. I've seen the same problem with other 4runners. *tr
The rear axle seals repeatedly fail on this vehicle, I'm now having to make a fourth costly replacement of both the rear axle seal and contaminated brake shoes. For the fourth time the rear axle seal has failed which leaks brake fluid onto rear brake shoes, resulting in severe reduction of rear braking power. Also, as a result the front brakes are placed under undue pressure and warping of front brake rotors occurs which must also be addressed. While I have previously filed complaints over this same issue since 2005 with both toyota and the nhtsb, there has been no recall initiated. The last time my rear axle seals were replaced was less than 20,000 miles ago. This vehicle only sees normal wear and usage. I am not the only complaint as many others have experienced the same issue based on toyota forum discussions and a search of nhtsb complaint filings. Toyota customer service center again refused to assist me in any way with todays complaint filing on 7/31/12. *tr
Upon inspection of vehicle, the inside of the frame on both sides had rusted completely away. After investigation this seems to be a common problem on this vehicle. I have always kept the vehicle clean and the body has zero rust on it. *tr
Also reported on the 1999 Toyota 4RUNNER
Other body or interior problem
Rust or structural corrosion
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure
Differential or transfer case failure
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 30 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other suspension problem happen on the 1999 Toyota 4RUNNER?
Across 24 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 175,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 150,000 miles and a quarter after 215,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other suspension problem on the 1999 Toyota 4RUNNER?
30 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 173 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed