2011 Body Roll / Sway issue

[JDWCruiserMS]

I purchased a 2011 Cruiser a few days ago from a local dealership. It was owned by an older gentleman for the majority of its life and is in good physical shape. When driving it home and driving it since I’ve noticed that it has some weird body roll / sway issues when hitting off camber bumps in the road or when cornering. Doesn’t do it when hitting a bump straight on. It causes the truck to badly sway side to side. The truck has 135k miles. I wouldn’t expect the suspension to be worn out. Could it be the sway bar? Any help or thoughts is appreciated!

 

[daneo]

There was a question like this that popped up a few days ago. It’s hard to diagnose remotely. Id visually check the sway bar end links and bushings as well as the Kdss rams and valves. Any odd wear on the tires? Alignment done recently?

If all that checks out, perhaps there’s been a leak of pressure from the KDSS accumulators.

Sorry I can’t be of more help.

 

[JDWCruiserMS]

There was a question like this that popped up a few days ago. It’s hard to diagnose remotely. Id visually check the sway bar end links and bushings as well as the Kdss rams and valves. Any odd wear on the tires? Alignment done recently?

If all that checks out, perhaps there’s been a leak of pressure from the KDSS accumulators.

Sorry I can’t be of more help.

I’ll look into these things. Tires seems fine. She rocks and rolls! Almost make you seas sick!

 

[CharlieS]

Shocks dampen the rock and roll. Yours may be worn out. If you stay stock, they're pretty inexpensive.

I had a 100k suspension that was fairly worn out. New shocks and springs made massive improvements in the ride quality.

 

[Blackbirdaerial]

Mine kind of doesn’t this on high speed ramps / interstate changes. I have high milage but replaced my suspension with take offs. I also run mostly deflated airbags… could be that. All that to say, I’m watching this post to see suggestions.

 

[JDWCruiserMS]

Shocks dampen the rock and roll. Yours may be worn out. If you stay stock, they're pretty inexpensive.

I had a 100k suspension that was fairly worn out. New shocks and springs made massive improvements in the ride quality.

It does feel kind of like a shock issue.

 

[wingnutted]

I'm at nearly the exact same mileage (132k on a 2013 LC) and mine has significant roll and sway in situations similar to what you're describing. Do you also have a pretty good amount of dive under braking?

The stock suspension, even when new, is relatively soft I think, and after 10+ years of use...New springs and shocks might be your best bet. But before spending money on new OEM or aftermarket suspension, it's worth checking that everything is torqued correctly and that your tire PSI is correct, as soft sidewalls could also be contributing. Depending on your specific tires, the recommended PSI could also be significantly higher than the stock tires.

If going down the non-OEM suspension rabbit hole...it's deep, but there is great user feedback on nearly every option, and a solid bunch of knowledgeable vendors.

 

[04UZJ100]

Have you ever owned a live rear axle body on frame truck before? Sounds normal to me.

 

[JDWCruiserMS]

Have you ever owned a live rear axle body on frame truck before? Sounds normal to me.

Close to a dozen I’d say. I’ve experienced worn out suspensions with tons of dove front to back but this was a new sensation to me. Maybe it’s just the 200 LC.

 

[bloc]

I’d try to find another 200 to drive and compare to.

 

[mbennett22]

I purchased a 2011 Cruiser a few days ago from a local dealership. It was owned by an older gentleman for the majority of its life and is in good physical shape. When driving it home and driving it since I’ve noticed that it has some weird body roll / sway issues when hitting off camber bumps in the road or when cornering. Doesn’t do it when hitting a bump straight on. It causes the truck to badly sway side to side. The truck has 135k miles. I wouldn’t expect the suspension to be worn out. Could it be the sway bar? Any help or thoughts is appreciated!

did you ever get this figured out?

 

[JDWCruiserMS]

did you ever get this figured out?

I’ve been driving it and I swear it has sort of corrected itself. I don’t notice it as badly. I was driving it the other day thought the same. Could it have not been driven much in the recent past and been struggling to wake itself up?

 

[rtong1234]

I've notice some swaying in my 2011 150K mls LC. This happens when I come down the mountain on curves. I have no confidence in taking turns fast. Maybe time to change the OEM springs and shocks?

 

[bloc]

I've notice some swaying in my 2011 150K mls LC. This happens when I come down the mountain on curves. I have no confidence in taking turns fast. Maybe time to change the OEM springs and shocks?

I’d verify the stock sway bar system is working correctly before investing in other changes.

My 2013 is no sports car but corners quite flat for its size and height. Yes there are big sidewalls and squishy tires, but it is surprisingly capable on the road in spite of that. And “sway” isn’t at all how I’d describe it.

 

[linuxgod]

If it’s mainly at low speed I suspect shocks. I would get a lot of side to side rocking at low speed (driving through the potholes in my alley). New suspension made a huge difference. The rocking isn’t completely gone, but I actually think at low speed that’s because KDSS “disconnects” the sway bar so you feel more rocking.

Another way to test for worn shocks is to hit one of those gradual speed bumps at 20-25mph or so - enough speed that your suspension has to cycle. The truck should basically bounce once and then be flat. If you get more than one bounce, get new shocks

I think a lot of people drive on OEM suspension for too long. It’s like boiling a frog - you don’t notice the drop in ride quality over 100k miles, but when you hop in a new loaner Highlander or 4Runner at the dealer holy crap it’s obvious your truck isn’t soaking up the imperfections in the road like it used to

Replacement shocks and struts are cheap. The rears are easy to do and are like $100 and take about a hour, maybe less if the old ones aren’t rusted on requiring to be cut off, but the fronts are a 3 hour job by the book and require a strut compressor to get the old ones out, or else you’re buying assembled struts with new springs.

If you don’t need or want a lift and aren’t carrying excess weight, OEM suspension is the way to go.

 

[bloc]

I will say,, when I got my rig at 105k I assumed the suspension would be shot, so because the parts were all cheap I changed shocks with new genuine Toyota. And couldn’t tell a difference.

Our factory parts are very high quality. That’s not to say there’s a guarantee OPs haven’t been abused.. just that some of us won’t notice much difference even at mileage above what we’d assume will wear them out.

 

[linuxgod]

It really depends on the type of mileage I think. 200k highway miles are going to be a lot less wear on the suspension and brakes than 100k in the city. Doesn’t have to be “abused”’per se, just driven under different circumstances. And really based on the description it would only take one prematurely leaky shock, the other 3 might still have 100k miles left in them. We had a leaky front strut on my wife’s Mini at 45k miles which had a similar side shake over our pothole-ridden alley (along with a mysterious clunk), and swapping just that strut got the vehicle back to its former uncomfortably-stiff-but-controller self.

I will say,, when I got my rig at 105k I assumed the suspension would be shot, so because the parts were all cheap I changed shocks with new genuine Toyota. And couldn’t tell a difference.

Our factory parts are very high quality. That’s not to say there’s a guarantee OPs haven’t been abused.. just that some of us won’t notice much difference even at mileage above what we’d assume will wear them out.

 

[bloc]

It really depends on the type of mileage I think. 200k highway miles are going to be a lot less wear on the suspension and brakes than 100k in the city. Doesn’t have to be “abused”’per se, just driven under different circumstances. And really based on the description it would only take one prematurely leaky shock, the other 3 might still have 100k miles left in them. We had a leaky front strut on my wife’s Mini at 45k miles which had a similar side shake over our pothole-ridden alley (along with a mysterious clunk), and swapping just that strut got the vehicle back to its former uncomfortably-stiff-but-controller self.

Sure, but shock leaks are generally visible on our platform. And I totally agree on highway vs city.

I’d still advocate for ensuring KDSS is functioning properly. It’ll apply to any future suspension work OP does whether they stick with factory or go aftermarket. It would just suck to install shocks and find out that wasn’t the initial problem.

 

[linuxgod]

Sure, but shock leaks are generally visible on our platform.

I’d still advocate for ensuring KDSS is functioning properly. It’ll apply to any future suspension work OP does whether they stick with factory or go aftermarket. It would just suck to install shocks and find out that wasn’t the initial problem.

Yeah I’m never a fan of just throwing $ at a problem blindly. Back to my first comment, those gradual speed bumps are a great way to test if the suspension is really dampening like it’s supposed to. The old “just push down on the hood and bounce the car to check” is pretty tough to do on our heavy rigs.

My gut still says shock(s), based on my anecdotal experiences this year. I’ll be curious to see what it turns out to be.

 

[isthatalexus]

It sounds a little like the KDSS valves might be open to some degree. That condition has a VERY uncomfortable sway-y feeling. (never open more than three turns; in your case, close only; 5mm Allen; look for hydraulic fluid leak evidence) I have no experience with this situation, but someone *could* have opened the valves enough to eject some fluid, closed again, and then ran away. Not sure if that's possible (valve might be all or nothing), just spitballing)