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

I don't have a boat anymore, but when I did the majority of backing up the boat and trailer was either in the flat marina yard (2wd fine) or in the spring and fall in my buddy's tree and obstacle filled yard that was either super wet or covered in snow (4lo required).

 

It's also wild to me that their fifth gear was their one-to-one and so they only had one overdrive gear instead of two like we have.

Wild meaning why Toyota put what is essentially a car transmission setup in these trucks is just bizarre. If we had better lower gears and one to one being 5th gear and only one overdrive, I'd be happy with that.

 

5th gear really isnt needed in our trucks its so close to 6th anyways. really wish they lowered 2-5 ratios to get rid of the 1st to 2nd gap. would of made driving experience so much better

 

I use 5th all the time. It's just right for cruising at 40-50 mph and for slight inclines where 6th feels too high.

I also actually use it for accelerating on to the freeway. I rarely skip it (but I do in cases where I have accelerated hard in 4th all the way to 65). I'm guessing I shift nearly as much as the AT. Maybe I just love shifting.

CAVEAT: I have 33" mud terrains, so my gears feel a bit higher than stock.

 

I really liked that set up because you had a lot better gear spread to get you to 1:1. That truck was freakin’ insane when I regeared it to 4.56. I long for it back daily, but the rest of the truck was junk. The later models (I had a 2019) were definitely poor on fit and finish. If I could find an earlier one (05-08 would be fine with me and I’d replace the prone to fail 05-10 timing chains), I’d be set. Only thing is the ones for sale are all junk. Can’t find a clean one. Overall though for me at least, the frontier hands down had a much better drive than the Tacoma. Can’t have it all I guess.

 

This is beyond untrue. Prior to July I lived in New Hampshire and on many of the long grades on 2-lane highways 4th was too low and 6th was too high; 5th was just right. Then there is the issue of towing; in May I pulled a loaded to the gills 6x12 U-Haul from New Hampshire to the DC area, and between the cargo in the cab and bed of the truck and the trailer, I was very near the limit of the various weight capacities listed for the Tacoma. For the vast majority of that trip 5th was my top gear (I only shifted into 6th once out of habit and immediately dropped back to 5th because the engine started lugging); of course there were the long grades in the Pocono's which necessitated 4th or even 3rd for some stretches to maintain speed.

 

And the rear shocks/shackle setup was easier to deal with than the taco too.

Roger that on fit and finish, my interior was well cared for, but the hard plastics were very 2005.... In a 2017. Also never understood the white gauge cluster on the Pro4X, the black looked much better

 

I'm very interested to see the difficulty involved for swapping the 3rd-Gen RC62F out for a 4th-Gen RC60F. On paper, the gear ratios for the RC60F look more appropriate:

RC62F (3rd Gen) Ratios:
First Gear: 3.982:1
Second Gear: 2.017:1
Third Gear: 1.321:1
Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
Fifth Gear: 0.848:1
Sixth Gear: 0.713:1
Reverse: 3.385:1

RC60F (4th Gen) Ratios:
First Gear: 4.784:1
Second Gear: 2.423:1
Third Gear: 1.443:1
Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
Fifth Gear: 0.777:1
Sixth Gear: 0.643:1
Reverse: 4.066:1

 

Something something about the Gen 4 MT not being stout

 

Shouldn’t be any difficulty at all, the details have been looked into and and it should be bolt in, once you install your own bellhousing, shifter, and clutch.

The hard part is spending the money and actually getting one into your hands. If you can do that, then you should be set. I’m waiting for Black Friday discounts before I try again.

 

It is basically the same transmission we have with different ratios. Nothing not stout about it, a few of them developed cracked shifter housings that caused the driver to be unable to select 2/4/6. The transmission itself is fine and every bit as stout as ours. Put a 3rd gen shifter on it and it won’t suffer the same problem that caused the 2/4/6.

 

I don’t ever mess with suspension stuff, so can’t say much about that although I know lifting the front was a real bitch due to the control arm hitting the coil bucket.

I actually loved the white gauges, and I liked the simple interior. I also LOVED the amber dash lighting. The interior was cheap and felt like 2005, but I was okay with that. What I didn’t like was I had dash rattles, panel gaps, etc all over the place. Just overall poor fitment of parts. I owned 2 2019s, one auto one manual, and both had trouble. They both drove great though. It was all cosmetic type stuff that was bad. The earlier ones were built more solid, so I’d try to go older if I was getting one again. Honestly, an Xterra 6MT + the Tacoma would be the ideal combo for me.

 

Thanks.

I only slightly remember reading about Gen4 i4T being detuned for the MT because MT sploding.

 

It wasn’t really that, it was due to “crankshaft hammering”….something about the engine being difficult to control with a manual up that high so they limited the redline rpm to keep you from getting up that high. The same transmission has been used behind diesels with more torque than the new turbo gas engine, so it’s not a strength thing.

It would definitely live an easy life comparatively behind our torque monster V6.

 

On the 3rd gen, the gear stick essentially goes straight down into the transmission. On the 4th gen, they had to design a linkage to get the stick into the right place inside the cabin.

Odds are they borked the design on the linkage, because @BLtheP is right, it’s basically the same transmission mechanically.

 

They did. Supposedly the ones having problems are cracking due to improper install at the factory. I think as long as they’re assembled properly, they’ll be fine. The Hilux used a very similar designed shifter, some of them cracked too but most didn’t.

What’s worse though, to me anyways, is that extended linkage means no manual t-case possible.

 

I have a tee shirt that says "SAVE THE MANUALS"

Unfortunately when I bought my truck none of the dealers could come up with one, even though I had one on order for over 8 months, so I'm stuck with the auto in my Taco. However, our other vehicles have sticks.

 

This statement might be true until you start towing. When I tow at highway speed, my top gear is either 4 or 5, depending on weight of the load and grade(s).

 

A manual Xterra would be banger. Probably similar to my 95 Pathfinder.

All this Datsun talk has me missing my 2017 even more...