6 speed (bearing) frustration

I'd like to start by saying sorry if this is in the wrong category, but as far as I know this is a distinctly 2nd generation problem. Anyway....

I bought my truck used June 2010 with 102,000km on it. It's a 2005 Double Cab with a 6 speed. As many of you are aware, the bearing design and consequent assembly is junk. I had the truck for one week before the release bearing sounded crappy. I had to wrestle with the dealership to actually fix it under my 30 day warranty but I got my way after seven visits to the dealership. By the way, I now hate Guelph Toyota.

Here we are 17 months later and after having the notorious bearing chirp come and go with the humidity this summer, it began full on about a month ago. I had to take time to find a mechanic (see mentioned hatred for Guelph Toyota) who I could actually rely on to do an honest and thorough job. I'm pretty pissed that just 17 months later I have to pay to have this problem fixed again, so this time I'm having the aftermarket stainless steel sleeve and accompanying modified bearing installed so I hopefully never have to deal with this again.

Can anyone tell me if Toyota has changed their shit design where the post the bearing sits on is a part of the cast transmission housing? I'm pretty pissed off that if I had bought the cheap 4 cylinder model with the five speed I wouldn't have this issue, and if I did they could just remove the post and bolt a new one on. I also understand (but am not certain) that the 5 speed version is made of steel whereas the 6 speed version is cast aluminum. If this is so, what the hell were you thinking Toyota???

For what I paid for this truck I could have had a Dodge Ram with a Hemi, 4x4, all the options, a few years newer and with a lot less mileage. Instead, I opted for the Tacoma because they are supposed to be super reliable. Instead I'm now doing major surgery on a truck I've owned for less than 2 years, that I've only put 40,000km on. At this point I think I'd rather have the heated leather seats and sunroof that came with the Ram if in the end I'm still driving a piece of shit.

I plan on owning another Tacoma very similar to the one I have now, and I want a manual transmission again. I hate driving automatics. However, if this is still an issue I don't want to be bothered going through all this again. It almost seems to be as though Toyota is trying to dissuade people from driving stick shifts by making them less reliable. If they don't fix this I seriously doubt I'll be buying another Tacoma because yes, I am a bonehead and refuse to drive an automatic.

Don't get me wrong, I love my truck. But this is bullshit.

 

There's so many threads on this already ... there is a TSB and it's fixed under warranty.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/160167-tsb-clutch-chirp-need-input.html

If you're not under warrantly, you can order the TSB parts online to do this for less than $200. If you need a mechanic to do the work it's obviously more expensive after labour. If the aluminum quill is worn too much, you can use the aftermarket kit that has the stainless sleeve.

 

As I stated above, I am having the kit installed that you refer to. I'm well aware of the number of threads pertaining to this issue currently in existence, however in my reading I have not found an answer to the question I underlined in the first post. Has this awful design been fixed by toyota for newer versions of this transmission?

To be clear to any potential readers, I'm not doing this with the mind that I'm bringing an unsung issue to light. I'm just expressing frustration over buying what I had hoped to be a bullet proof truck and I'm already sinking way more money into repairs for it than I ever did in 5+ years of ownership with a Pontiac Sunfire. For the record, that Sunfire ran better than a cheap car should right up to the day I bought my Tacoma.

 

I'm having the same kit from another supplier installed. I was in contact with URD but their freedom to ship the part (nobody in house at the time) and my need for the part were mismatched. I felt really bad not buying from them because they were very nice and polite on the phone. I felt as though they truly did care about me as a potential customer, but I just needed to get my hands on the part as soon as possible and couldn't wait until the guy was back to have it shipped.

I'm having a new clutch installed while I'm at it so I don't have to have the transmission ripped out again in another few years.