trd-offroad manual trans. question

Hi,

Question from a new soon to be owner of a tacoma.

I went to the Montreal autoshow today, when i passed through the toyota section, i started talking with the man about the tacoma. I complained a bit that i didnt like automatic transmissions on any ''offroad'' vehiculs. What he said next scared me a bit, since i never owned a tacoma before.

He said that the manual transmission tend to break when used for offroading, and that it cost 8000$ to replace. I asked him what would cause the failure, i didnt get any useful answers. I asked him if the shprockets couldnt handle the load, nothing useful once again. I asked him if he even knew how were they using the clutch, nothing.

So here i am, registered on a forum about tacomas, searching for an answer from real people, who drove the car, not people who try to sell me automatics. Can anyone tell me what in the hell can he be babling about?

Sincerely,
Dimitri K.

 

Driveline shock may be part of the problem. When people get stuck they just drop the clutch without taking up the slack in the driveline gearing first.

 

I'm gonna ignore my pride a bit.

My father is the gearhead in the family, i'm barely a rookie. What is driveline shock? English is my third language, i am not familiar with all the terminology.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: I asked a friend, i think i know what you mean. When the wheels get stuck real tight and someone drops the clutch, he gets a violent knock on the driveline, the whole driving ensemble. I never drop the clutch, i should be ok

 

The gears in your transmission have a certain amount of backlash, or "slop," built into them. When the safe load on your transmission is determined (with regards to engine torque) they assume it is gradually applied. If you rev up the engine and just drop the clutch without bringing it the friction point first to put some load on it, the gears in the driveline accelerate at a very high rate (almost no load) until they impact the mating gears. ...We are talking about fractions of a degree here but the forces it creates can't be ignored. Impact forces are very different than gradually applied forces.

This isn't isolated to off roading - I would say this type of transmission failure is much more common with AWD cars being drag raced. I say AWD cars because typically a 2wd car will have have tire spin that helps prevent a failure.

Anyway, dropping the clutch isn't that bad to do...just bring it just past the start of the friction point first to put a slight load on the engine.

 

Their are two schools of thought when it comes to which trans is better for off-roading. Sounds like the salesman is in the auto camp.
I prefer a manual for the crawling-type wheelin' I do. I like the superior engine braking and less foot braking that a manual provides.

If you're slashin' and burnin' at higher speeds an auto would be good.
An auto is more forgiving, I suppose...covers up stupid-pedal (mistakes).

 

Thanks for the info guys. Very helpful. I should not have any troubles with it, my father has thought me how to properly drive a manual, and i never drop the clutch. Now all that is left is the damn car coming haha...

 

Whom ever you spoke with is very narrow minded.
When I comes to wheeling, my experience has been that manual trans are more than capable of handling it, and as mentioned above, easier to engine brake and you don't have to worry about over heating. An auto trans has a tendency to over heat when used in extreme cases, and when you over heat an auto, your tranny will begin to slip, which means you aren't going anywhere.

Of course if you are wheeling in Quebec in the winter, overheating is a non-issue.

 

Thats why i am waiting 2+ months for mine, they didnt have trd-offroad with manual in canada at the time. The salesmen checked everywhere, at least she told me she did... sigh... hope she didnt lie to me hehe.

I just dont see an offroad vehicule with an automatic transmission... How would i swing myself out of mud pits? Oh god i cant wait to put my foot on that clutch and feel it go! Where is my damn car : (