I just got My Toyota FJ Cruiser back from the shop for some warranty work. There were 2 specific issues that I took the FJ in for; the first was idler pulley noise, and the second was an issue with VCS kicking in while driving a straight line.

The idler pulley problem is a common issue. The Toyota pulleys do not use good sealed bearing and when using the FJ for adventure travel moisture can get in the pulley and cause the pulley to fail. I was able to get this fixed as a warranty repair. I also have ordered some quality sealed bearing pulleys for future installation.

The Second issue was much more serious. On Monday I was driving the FJ at about 35 MPH when the skid control indicator came on and the system applied the right front brake aggressively thinking it was correcting a skid. This caused me to veer to the right. Had I been driving a highway speed and this happened I suspect I would have crashed the FJ. According to the dealer this was caused by excessive front wheel bearing wear. There was excessive movement in the front hub which caused the system to think a skid was happening.

I now have the FJ back and all seems to be OK. We have used the FJ for lots of off-road travel but I would not have expected the front wheel bearings to be worn at 48,000 miles.

I highly recommend that you check for wheel bearing play at every tire rotation. If you suspect there is play get it check early to prevent a similar problem.