How do you drive 5 speed manual?

I have a 2010 with the five speed. It's a little clunky, but far from the worst I've driven. I don't have any of the issues people are talking about -- I can shift into first while it is moving, it goes into reverse fine, etc, just like every other stick shift I have owned. So I don't know if Toyota is making some dud five-speeds, or there are some owners who are expecting it to drive like a sports car instead of a clunky truck. But for what it's worth (not much), mine drives fine and so have the two or three other Tacoma five speeds I've driven in the past few years.

 

sorry, no hard feelings

 

All the people with the v6 and 6 speed really need to to stop posting in this thread. You have a different tranny and a more powerful engine...your opinion on this matter is useless.

 

Thts exactly what im thinking. theres no point in putting it in first if your moving

 

I'm no expert, but I don't think ANY transmission wants to be put in 1st if you're going more than like 2miles/hr. WHY!!!???

 

That's not what we're talking about. The problem deals with the gearing of the 5 speed. There are times when you're approaching a light or traffic going anywhere from 5 to 10 MPH, and you can't go into first, but second gear lugs badly because the engine doesn't produce enough torque. If the engine made more power, or the gearing was more evenly spaced, it would be a non-issue. The V6 has enough power to go straight into 2nd without lugging...hence why they don't understand what were talking about.

 

Ditto. There a lot of people in this thread that don't know what they're talking about since they haven't driven a 4cyl, 5-speed Tacoma. The 5-speeds have a huge gear ratio change between 1st and 2nd coupled with a, in my opinion, two high rear end gear ratio which make things interesting. When below 11mph (aka parking lot speeds) 2nd will lug the engine really bad. It's just annoying how they geared these trucks. My other 4cyl and V8 cars with sticks are not like this since they're geared differently.

 

The 6-speed will lug if you try to go 5-10mph in 2nd gear.

But as mentioned earlier in this thread, if you bring the RPMs up, it will go into 1st. I'm assuming the 5-speed will, too.

 

It will go into 1st if you rev match. But it would be nice if you could just use second. It's not a big deal. I was bothered by it at first, but I don't even think about it anymore.


And on a side note, I thought the V6 made more than enough torque for people to start in 2nd gear fairly easily? I guess I was misinformed on that one.

 

So to clear things up (yea right) toyota says not to use 2nd to start..non issue we all get that. The point of shifting into first from 2nd while moving ... IT IS LEGIT.... not only is it there to get the vehicle moving , but like any other truck/car , you should downshift into it as needed ,such as in the neighborhood , mine is posted at 5 mph , so is my work place so....
henceforth and further more anyone argueing,saying you are not supposed to shift into 1st, from 2nd on a 5 spd tacoma manual , to continue on at around 2-5 mph.....is an idiot who needs to gain driving experience. Personally,I try to avoid the downshift,but there is no reasonable explanation as to why it is finiky. Only that its a bad design an otherwise good truck.

 

dont force it into 1st if you are going too fast, dont bog it in 2nd if you are going too slow. its simple: use the speed/gear shift guidelines in your owners manual and you will be fine.

~157k miles and I have never changed the clutch or needed to....just sayin

 

once again that is easy answer that is not applicable. Here is why ..
1) you dont have the 2.7L 5 spd and may have never drove it .Anyone who isnt driving the 2.7l 5 spd and never have,please save the arm-chair answers, they wont help.
2) slow enough to finally get into 1st with this transmission means you are lugging it in 2nd , no room to interpret it ..... no-one wants to force it , noone is "going too fast". Even at 2 mph it will resist many times.

ps the guideline in the book says not to down shift at a speed faster than the recomended maximum upshift. Since the max upshift for a 4wd 5 spd is 30 mph , that point doesnt even apply since i dont think 99% +/_ of tacoma owners would even try to downshift at 30 mph. Yes im sure some have but thats not the point.

 

People that have a 6 cylinder now sometimes have had or also have a 4 cylinder. Sometimes you have to go into first. Driving in snow and or ice I have had to put my 4 and 6 in to first. Dry surfaces going up a really steep hill making sharp turns you have to go into first.

 

Again, they aren't all like that. Mine shifts into first while moving just fine, so there's no need to lug in second. I wish the axle gearing was a bit lower (or that the transmission was geared lower, I guess), but that's a different issue. And like I said before, the other 2005+ five speeds I have driven were fine, too. Definitely clunky truck transmissions, not smooth like a car. But adequate and easy to drive.

 

There is a definite 'dead zone' with the 2.7 x 5speed. Too fast to shift into first, lugs like hell in 2nd. The gearing on them sucks, the 1st gens were geared far better. My solution was to trade for a 6cyl auto (better mpg and no throwout bearing issues there).

 

You have to double clutch to get it into first. In fact, you should be double clutching whenever down sifting. It will make things a lot easier, smoother, and is less wear and tear on the tranny.

But I will agree that the 2nd gen 6 sp sucks. I thought the first gear was a bit too big (def not a towing gear) and the clutch to be very hard to read. I only test drove one so didnt have much time to get used to it, but i didnt like it at all (it was a V6 model).

 

I have a 09 that does the same thing your does. When I am stopped I let the clutch out to make the gears spin then push the clutch back in and then it falls into first. You can do the same with reverse.

 

Happens on other cars with other stickshifts too, eh?

I humbly invite you to consider the possibility that despite your class B drivers license and millions of miles driving stick, there's just maybe, possibly, something about driving stick you are not doing right.

My 2011 5 speed 2.7 4 banger 4x4, driven by me, does not have any problem at all going into first. As I mentioned before, I can downshift from 2nd to 1st at 25mph if I want to, and I've done it.

Either

1. I'm a liar
2. There's something different about your truck (and those other stickshifts you've driven) than my truck (and all the other stickshifts I've driven)
3. There's something about your driving that's different from my driving

Take your pick.

 

I meant that other Toyota 5speeds I've driven have the same issue. Not all vehicles I've driven

My civics, gto, other trucks have all be fine shifting into first. Yea if you are doing 20 you need to double clutch/rev match. But MY Tacoma is tough to shift and I've driven other tacomas that are tough. Ninorth's 6speed is so smooth in comparison.

 

Changing to Redline MT-90 helped some but it was real clunky when shifting from 1 to 2 and 2nd to 3rd. Better than factory oil but not as smooth as it should be. I did some research and found that many people don't recomment using synthetic fluids in manual transmission. So out of desperation I bought the cheapest hypoid oil that Autozone had - Coastal
80W-90 API Service GL3, GL4, GL5. Coastal oil made a big difference. Now it shifts much much smoother. No more grinding gears and notchy feel after it warms up.
I'm still having problem with shifting into 1st and Reverse. But what can I do? It's either a crappy design or poor assembly quality. Helical cut gears should make no noise when properly cut and engaged, but they do. First gear is very noisy. Something else in the transmission makes rattling noise when the truck idles in neutral. There are no miracles. It's a piece of machinery and basic rules of mechanical engineering apply to Toyota design as well. They dropped the ball with their trannies and don't want to acknowledge their mistakes. And I dropped the ball by not test driving it long enough to notice the issues before I bought it.
Good thing I checked all fluids right away. The rear differential was almost empty. Heck of a quality control. Ohh well, leason learned, life goes on.
Thanks for all constructive replies.