2008 Toyota Fj Cruiser

the brakes are constantly binding up due to rust and need replaced, recently ABS brake lines rusted off causing me to miss a stop sign, very dangerous, Upper rear control arm mount rusted and cracked completely off causing steering and braking problems and had to be replaced to even use this vehicle, , The front rack has been replaced due to excessive rust of lines and fittings, same with transmission cooler lines-rotted off...brake backing plates rotted off.. Even though I have had this undercoated and rust treated, the frame is rusting inside-out...frame braces, everything on the frame is rusted much more than one would expect, even in a salt state like Ohio....my safety was put at risk by faulty brakes, the frame is not safe under hard braking and may cause an accident, the dealer has seen this vehicle, a local independent says "get rid of it"...no warning lamps, just wild things happen with brakes, pulls left, pulls right, front, then back and this past time ...NONE!...only 111,000 miles.

On the home my wife went to apply the brakes and she had no brake pressure. The pedal went all the way to the floor. Then several lights and a buzzer sound started, and she could not stop the car. She was able to pull up on the e-brake just before she drove completely into the intersection, where several cars were driving in both directions. The front end of car ended partially in the north bound lane of US MD-5. There was also a home at the end of the road that she could have also driven into. I researched on several forums where other owners have had the same issue and the dealership has been unable to diagnose the issue. No TSB or recall has been made, but the number of people that have had this issue, something should have been done. My 4-year-old daughter was in the car, and I could have lost both of them. People need to aware of this. I had no idea that a total brake failure was possible with these vehicles.

2008 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER FRAME ROTTING FROM INSIDE AND OUT. ALL SUSPENSION COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN REPLACED DUE PARTS FAILING BECAUSE OF CORROSION THAT BLED OVER FROM THE FRAME TO INCLUDE BOTH FRONT STEERING KNUCKLES, TWO PARTS THAT ONLY EVER GET REPLACED IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT. SEVERAL FRAME SUPPORTS HAVE CORRODED FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND ARE FLAKING OFF. BRAKE COMPONENTS THAT RUN ALONG THE FRAME HAVE CORRODED FROM THE FRAME TO THE BRACKET THAT HOLDS THEM TO THE LINES THEMSELVES. CAUSE A SLOW BRAKE LEAK OVER TIME THAT EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN A DANGEROUS NEAR ACCIDENT SITUATION THAT WAS CAUSED BY COMPLETE IMMEDIATE LACK OF BRAKE PRESSURE. EVASIVE DRIVING AND A SOUND MIND AVOIDED A LEGITIMATE ACCIDENT, HAD TO TOW THE TRUCK TO A SHOP. UNSAFE TO DRIVE. FRAME WILL NOT HOLD UP IN AN ACCIDENT. 12 YEAR OLD FRAME SHOULD NOT BE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS CONDITION. DUE TO OVERSIGHTS AT THE MANUFACTURER THIS FRAME IS NOW CORRODING FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

HELLO, TOYOTA CALIPERS AND CALIPER PISTONS HAVE A PROBLEM. THE PISTONS OR CALIPERS ARE CORRODING AND CAUSING DELAYED EMPLOYMENT OF BRAKING ON THAT CALIPER. UNDERSTAND THAT THE CALIPERS THAT ARE WORKING CORRECTLY WILL "PULL" TO THE SIDE THEY ARE ON AND THE CALIPER THAT HAS A PROBLEM WILL HAVE A DELAYED ENGAGEMENT. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. THE "GOOD" CALIPER CAUSES THE CAR TO PULL TO THAT SIDE, THEN THE "BAD" CALIPER ENGAGES PULLING THE CAR BACK THE OTHER WAY. WHEN THE BRAKES ARE RELEASED, THE "GOOD" CALIPER LETS GO AND THE "BAD" CALIPER RELEASES A FEW SECONDS LATER. UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CAN HAPPEN ON ANY OF THE FOUR CALIPERS FRONT OR REAR. THE COMBINATIONS OF GOOD AND BAD CALIPERS CAN CAUSE THE CAR TO ZIG ZAG LEFT OR RIGHT UNPREDICTABLY, PULLING LEFT OR RIGHT, AND IF THE DRIVER IS NOT READY FOR IT, CAN CAUSE A BIG PROBLEM CONTROLLING THE CAR. HARD TO EXPLAIN THE COMPLEXITY OF THE VARIOUS BRAKING RESPONSES YOU CAN GET WITH THIS PROBLEM, BUT CHECK THE COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET AND KNOW THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITH ISSUES WITH FJ CRUISERS, FOUR RUNNERS ETC. I HAVE HAD THREE CALIPERS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY, BUT THE PROBLEM IS RETURNING. TOYOTA KNOWS THEY HAVE A PROBLEM, BUT AS USUAL, NO PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. YOU CAN CONTACT ME ANYTIME, [XXX]. THIS IS A PROBLEM AND PLEASE LOOK INTO IT. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

BRAKE CALIPER AND BRAKE CALIPER PISTONS BIND IN CALIPER BORE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO PULL TO ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER DEPENDING ON WHICH SIDE THE PROBLEM IS. WHEN THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED, THE "GOOD" CALIPERS DO THEIR JOB, BUT THE BAD CALIPER PISTONS ARE MOMENTARILY STUCK AND THIS CAUSES THE CAR TO PULL TO THE GOOD SIDE AS THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED, THEN A MOMENT LATER THE "BAD" BRAKE PISTONS LET LOOSE AND THE CAR PULLS BACK THE OTHER WAY. ALSO THEN AS THE PISTONS ARE BOUND, WHEN THE BRAKES ARE RELEASED, THE GOOD SIDE PISTONS RETRACT, BUT THE BAD SIDE BIND ON RETURN, SO PULLING TO THE BAD SIDE. THIS IS MOST NOTICED ON THE FRONT BRAKES BUT ALSO OCCUR ON THE BACK. NOTE THAT THE "BAD" SIDE ON THE BACK MAY NOT BE THE SAME SIDE AS "BAD" ON THE FRONT, CAUSING A ZIG-ZAG TYPE PULLING , FRONT ONE WAY, BACK THE OTHER AND CAN BE VERY UNPTEDICTABLE, PARTICULARLY WHEN SUDDEN OR "PANIC" BRAKING OCCURS. I PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY WITH THE CAR AND TOYOTA AUTHORIZED AND THE DEALER DID REPLACE THREE COMPLETE CALIPERS NO CHARGE UNDER MY EXTENDED TOYOTA WARRANTY. HOWEVER SUBSEQUENT COMPLAINTS BROUGHT THE REGIONAL SERVICE REP TO A MEETING AT MY REQUEST WHERE WE WENT TO AN EMPTY PARKING LOT AND CONDUCTED "PANIC" STOPS SEVERAL TIMES AT 35 MPH AND ONE AT 40 MPH WITH NOT DUPLICATION OF MY COMPLAINTS. I AM SUSPICIOUS THAT THE PANIC STOPPING IS A WAY TO GET WHAT WOULD BE CALLED A "PROPORTIONING CONTROL VALVE" TO UN-STICK. THIS VALVE AS I CALL IT IS A DEVICE THAT BALANCES BRAKE FLUID PRESSURE TO ALL FOUR CALIPERS IN AN EQUAL CRISS-CROSS PRESSURE SO ALL CALIPERS ARE GETTING THE SAME PRESSURE UNLIKE OLD FASSIONED SINGLE OR DOUBLE SYSTEMS FROM BACK IN THE DAY. I CAN'T VERIFY THIS IS A "SECRET" SERVICE FIX FOR UNBALANCED BRAKING, BUT NOW SOME MONTHS AFTER MY CALIPER REPLACEMENTS, THE CALIPERS ARE BEGINNING TO EXHIBIT THE SAME PROBLEM AND I'M OUT OF WARRANTY. OBVIOUSLY THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE DESIGN

THE DEALER DID REPLACE MY MASTER CYLINDER AND THE PRESSURE PUMP AFTER THE EXPERIENCE WITH THE ABS ISSUES AS OTHERS HAVE STATED, THIS WAS WHEN THE CAR WAS UNDER WARRANTY. IT SEEMED TO FIX THE ABS PROBLEM WITH THE LONG PULSING AND BASICALLY THE COMPUTER TAKING OVER THE BRAKING. I AM STILL EXPERIENCING A MUSHY PEDAL AND LACK OF BRAKING WHEN THE CAR IS DRIVEN OVER A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME OR DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. HOWEVER AFTER A LOT OF RESEARCH AND PAYING ATTENTION TO THE SYMPTOMS, I AM CONVINCED THIS IS A PRESSURE AND HEAT PROBLEM. I DON'T KNOW WHY ON A 5700 LB VEHICLE THAT THEY ARE USING CERAMIC PADS, DOT 3 FLUID AND THIS PRESSURE SYSTEM, IT JUST CAN'T HANDLE IT. *TR

LOSS OF BRAKES, TRIED TO STOP. BOTH FEET APPLIED TO BRAKES AND NOTHING. THIS WAS A T STOP WITH A 20' DROP ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD . THIS WAS ON A ROAD DRIVEN CONSTANTLY IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. TURNED THE CAR TO THE RIGHT WENT OVER THE CURB THROUGH A YARD HIT A FIRE HYDRANT TOOK IT ACROSS THE STREET JUMPED THE OTHER CURB AND STOPPED IN BRUSH. THERE WERE NO SKID MARKS IN THE GRASS OR ROAD WHERE THE BREAKS HAD BEEN APPLIED. DRIVERS SIDE AIR BAG RIPPED OR SHREDDED AT BOTTOM DID NOT INFLATE FULLY, PASSENGERS DID INFLATE CORRECTLY. NO ONE WAS HURT SERIOUSLY OR TAKEN BY EMS. *TR