TRD Short-Shifter (Seeking Opinions/Experiences)

Back Story
I bought a TRD short-shifter kit off a guy locally for great deal recently. He claimed to have only used it for a few months before taking it off when he traded in his truck. Not sure how true that is considering the sticker on the box dates to back to 2010, but it still appeared to be in good condition regardless. I took it home and thoroughly cleaned it and gave the pivoting parts a dab of grease before installing it. Afterwards I swapped out my tranny fluid with some RP and was off to the races.

My experience so far
Throws are definitely shorter and more direct (no longer missing third gear occasionally), but it doesn't feel any smoother than the stock shifter. It feels more "mechanical" and "clicky." Something that I was hoping it would improve, unless I'm missing the point of the kit itself? Reverse is a little harder to get into but not as bad for me as other people have claimed. The 2nd gear pocket still feels pretty rough when dropping it into that specific gear, something I was also hoping to fix with the addition of the kit + better oil.

Questions
- Is anyone else experiencing the symptoms I've described?
- Is it possible that one or more off the components on the shifter itself is worn out? (not sure if it's just me, something in the shifter, or the transmission itself)

I spent a lot of time on the install cleaning things up and making sure everything was perfect. I followed the xrunner guide step by step so I don't think it's an installation error.

Thanks guys

 

Redline MT-90 fluid made my transmission smoother and quieter. I'm running a Hurst/Core shift kit though. I had a lot of gear noise after the install so I changed to MT-90 fluid and everything got quieter and more smooth. I can't vouch for RP as I didn't try it.

 

I was originally set on Redline, but RP was on sale for $15/qt (regularly $45/qt) and I ended up going that route instead. It's probably too soon to tell if its the oil's fault, but if it were I would definitely make the switch.

 

X2 on redline mt-90. Greatly reduced my godawful grinding between 2nd-3rd!!!!

 

I had the TRD short throw installed before I picked up my '14...before that, in my '06, I installed the TRD short throw myself. Never experienced any roughness or grinding. My '14 is great with the stock fluid. Of course, never having used anything else, I have no point of comparison...

 

Mine seems to require a lot more force to move it around than it did with the stock set up. Would say that yours is both smoother and lighter than before you made the switch?

 

Generally speaking a short shifter kit will make things feel more notchy and take more effort to shift. You are taking away quite a bit of leverage at the shifter knob so this makes sense and has been the experience of every short shift kit I have used.

 

From what I remember, the only thing that seemed tougher was reverse. Everything else seemed the same, just shorter... I will add though that in my '14, I bought a hefty shift knob from TWM Performance. I bought it mainly for the looks, but they claimed the weight would make shifting easier. I have to say, I think it does...the momentum from the knob does help I think.

 

Well, did the guy you purchased the short shifter from have an x runner? Or did he have a 4x4 because there are actually two different part numbers for the trd short shifter for the 4x4 and the x runner which, if his were for an X runner id image it wouldn't feel right in your 4x4 . My experience with mine, in my 4x4 was that it cleaned up my 1st to 2nd transition as I wanted it to, also it did make it alittle more difficult to get into reverse as you stated, but not to bad, that's because the pivot point of the shifter has changed. Question though, did you get the TRD ball type shift knob?? If not you didnt, (but you do have the correct part number short shifter for your 4x4 tacoma, buy the knob because it further reduces the length of the shifter as a whole by about an additional inch over the stock leather shift knob, hope this helps!

Side note though, ive never personally been a fan of royal purple products, that might also be causing your issue as well, people rave about redline MT 90, im sure it's good but I wouldn't personally run it in my own truck. What I do run in my truck is what Toyota uses in their dealerships, which is Valvoline Full Synthetic

$30 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 , just my opinion on fluids, again, hope this helps you out.

 

It's the right one for my 4x4, I made sure to check the part number on the box. I do not have the TRD knob, I do have a ball type knob but I don't think it's weighted like the TRD one is. I would've bought the TRD knob but I'm not sure about the grey and red... I mean I really like my black and white one (see attachment). I'm not super opinionated on brands, but it would just kinda suck to have to swap out the RP right away. I paid $30 for it on sale so its not the end of the world I guess.

 

According to reviews on Amazon, the TRD knob is hollow and not any heavier than the stock leather one... So it probably weighs the same as my black SickSpeed knob.
Am I missing something? Sounds like I could be spending that money on Redline instead.

$71 Shift Knobs, TRD, 6-speed

http://www.amazon.com/TRD-PTR26-350...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

 

Hmmm, well the only other thing I can surmise , since you do have a ball type shift knob, did you buy that special Toyota pinkish transmission glue and used it on that cap that gets bolted to the trans?? Thats really the only other thing thats commonly overlooked or not done at all.... I dont understand the significance of using that exact glue/silicone or whatever it is, but Toyota stresses that it be used. You may also want to grease, and I mean really grease your U joints on your drive shaft, these also contribute greatly to shifter feel in my opinion... but id also swap out for the valvoline full synthetic over the MT90 , save yourself some money lol

 

My dealership wanted $37 bottle for a small tube of it. I went to my local auto parts store and got Loctite RTV form in place gasket for $8. Cleaned everything meticulously before applying it and torqued the bolts to spec afterwards so I think it should be good. Greased my u-joints ~8,000km ago. Since the knob is eliminated from the possibilities, I think I'll swap out for the highly praised Redline and replace the nylon bushing on the end of the shifter mechanism as mentioned in this thread (http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/243818-sloppy-6spd-shifter-2.html). Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the input so far everyone!

 

yeah, the nylon bushing might be the issue, and i used the the pink glue lol, yes i paid $35 for it lmao, i just wanted to be 1000% sure i was good to go lol, but yeah man, i do hope the redline does it for you along with that bushing, toyota says grease the u joints every 5000 miles, i think they are full of poop, u used to do it every 5k, i think every 3k is a much better figure lol

 

BELATED UPDATE: Shit, I meant to update this a while ago with some good news! I replaced the nylon bushing and gave the whole system some "break in" time of several hundred kilometres and it started shifting great. All around it felt better -- not perfect, but better.

DAMMIT... I toyed around the weighted shift knob idea and turned a few out of brass: one weighing 265g and the other 165g respectively. I tried them out for about a month in November but wasn't sold on the idea so I switched back. Fast forward to present and things are loose again! I now have about an inch of travel in gear pockets before it even pulls out of gear. The stick wiggles around loosely now too, and I fear it's only gonna get worse.

Thoughts?

 

Sorry to revive an old thread, but what's the part number for the 4x4 short throw shifter?
This is the only one I can find

 

Yep, that's it. Same part number I used for mine. Bought from McGeorge Toyota for $274 a couple years ago.

 

Interesting, this one says it's for an x runner

 

Got me. tbh, I didn't even know there were different part #s for xrunner and 4x4.

 

They were talking about it in the thread a bit. But if it works for your 4x4 it's probably fine