Manual transmission Fan Club and BS thread (All Generations Welcome)

Please make this thread a sticky again...please

 

We need more memes from above ^^^ #makestickshiftmemes

@tcBob please?

 

I got one of @7r41lbr34k3r 's knobs on Friday. I was out camping, so it had to wait for a Sunday test.



It is just a straight up delrin knob without any engraving. It is like my printed knob but much, much better. My hand fits all the way around it and the slickness of the delrin makes it slide into gear.

 

I've made/sold 30-35 knobs at this point, and you were literally the first to request a different shape/configuration. This really surprises me, figured it would have happened long ago.

 

That is really interesting. I am an odd ball though but do get the importance of folks wanting it to mate with the boot.

It is great to have options. Thanks for working with me on this one!

I am wondering about swapping on the stock knob for the ToyotaCare appointments. I can see some confused kids trying to figure out where 1st and Reverse are.

 

Hi guys...I just picked up my first Taco and it's in a manual. I LOVE it already!

 

It is still a circus when I take my truck in for service at the dealership where i bought it. They all panic when they open my door and see 3 pedals. They all go searching for the "stick guy" lol.

 

Lol, when I had my clutch replaced and went to go pick it up at the dealer. Their vehicle Parker/valet service was afraid to drive it and asked me if I didn't mind getting my truck myself.

I think any dealership, car maintenance, trucking logistics, or any driving job should require their employee to know how to drive manual.

 

I was just about to write this...

 

Yesterday, I was at costco and some guy in his late 50's said, "Hey, are you the guy with the tacoma and all of those american flags?"

me - "Yes."

Him - "Why wouldn't you just buy American?"

Me - "I would have if American companies still cared about the consumer and offered manual transmission."

Him - "Why would you want manual? Automatic has better fuel economy."

At that point, I had it. "Depends on who's driving, but maybe you should return those bananas since they're not grown in America."

 

Amazingly, I had the opposite experience. Dropped the truck off for service, was on my way out the door a few minutes later and observed a young lady searching through the lot with keys and the plastic seat protector in hand. Uh oh, looks like she's acquired the target and heads straight for.. my truck??
Lol, didn't faze her at all. No excessive revving, smooth engagement, like a boss. And she absolutely knew I was watching.

 

Not to mention a lot of the tacos and tundras are built here in the US

 

I checked mine and it was assembled in texas.

 

all MT's are built in texas

 

Nailed it.
My gf saw a commercial for the Ford ecosport, said she kind of liked it. Then I told her it was made in India

 

Well at least they didn't try to figure it out on YOUR truck. Doesn't bother me a bit if they 'fess up and say they can't drive a stick. The ones that won't admit it and just muscle through while grinding gears and burning the clutch worry me.

 

Seeing as there is 411 pages of material on this one I'm not going to go through everything to see if it has been discussed already, so apologies if this has already been touched on.

I picked up my Tacoma last month, which is my first manual transmission vehicle. Main reason why i wanted to get a manual is i would like to own a sports car at some point in my life, and i want to make sure i know how to drive stick properly before being that ass whole who buys a nice ride and doesn't know how to drive it (even though thats knd of what i did with the Tacoma lol). I will always have a truck though so this seemed like the best way for me to learn. Anyway, I'm finally at the point where I can say I'm comfortable driving smoothly in most situations, and I'm wondering why i didn't get one sooner, i love the control you have.

But i will say at the point where i am right now, its seems clear to me that if i get lazy it will be pretty easy to form "bad habits", which i realize may be different depending on who you ask, so hopefully i don't start any arguments on this one. But i want to make sure I'm doing things properly now as I'm sure it would be harder to fix them/re-learn later once my muscle memory sets in.

I realize many people will say this is unnecessary in this truck, but either way i really want to start practicing heel toe on my down shifts, rather than just blipping the throttle. However i feel like the pedal placement on these aren't very conducive for this, at least for someone learning. Has anyone found any aftermarket solutions for this? Not sure if just replacing the pedal covers would really do much, i almost feel like the gas pedal needs to be raised up a bit, but again I'm a noob so it could just be me lol.

Sorry for the rambling.

 

Just blip the throttle. It's been done this way for eons.
There are times where heel/toe is probably preferred, but not usually in a truck going the speed limit.

 

Yeah, when I first learned to drive standard. I was self conscious about not getting lazy, but you get over that hump and get super comfortable. Then you, just drive!

 

Or just half clutch it. Been doing that for years since the trannies on the yotas require clutch but I'm used to driving bigger rigs with clutches get it rolling and never touch a clutch again.