Stiff clutch

My 07 4.0 seems to have a very tough clutch to depress. When I brought the truck to the dealer to have a front wheel bearing changed, they lubed up the linkage and it was better for a week. Now it's back to being tough. It can't be stiff springs because it was better after they lubed it. Is mine the only one or do others share this too. I'd rather push a stiff clutch than not have one at all

 

I've found brief discussions on other forums about this, but haven't seem to found a clear solution.
Here's a quote from a marlincrawler post:
"My 96' has a relatively stiff clutch, but no leg press... If I were you I'd first try servicing the clutch pedal assembly(replace and grease the $20 or so worth of little bushings, maybe the spring if it's cheap, then bleed the system). Don't forget to check to make sure the slave cylinder(attached to the tranny) has grease on it's plunger where it contacts the clutch fork. Here's a link for servicing the pedal assembly. http://www.lieblweb.com/tacoma/Mechanical/ClutchPedal/ClutchBushing.htm If that doesn't work, replace the cylinders, if that doesn't work, you just wasted your money on parts that probably would have lasted the life of the yota."

I've been looking at a 05' tacoma 5-speed which takes a lottt of effort to depress the clutch - I'm taking it into a dealer tomorrow for a "pre-buy" inspection and I'll ask about the clutch.

 

My 2012 manual seems to be a bit stiffer than any other clutch I've owned (including a few Toyota trucks in 80s and 90s), but certainly not to the point where it affects driving...I'm talking a very small amount of stiffness that I probably only notice because I've driven a lot of manual transmission vehicles.

 

The size of the engine is related directly with the size of the clutch that is required to handle it.

 

And clutch size has no direct correlation to pedal pressure...

 

The pressure plate does however. A larger clutch has a larger and usually stronger pressure plate springs.

 

So I took the truck (2005 Tacoma Regular Cab 4-cyl. 5-speed) into a local Toyota dealer to have the clutch checked out. They found nothing wrong - the dealer was terrible though, and I would never go back there for anything (Toyota of Whittier) so unfortunately I don't have a fix. All the mechanics that felt the clutch said it was much stiffer than any tacoma they've driven, but had no suggestions on what was wrong.

This truck supposedly has the original clutch (current owner bought it from CarMax w/under 30k and it now has 77k), with the service records not indicating any clutch work. Clutch has been this stiff since 30k.

 

I have the same problem with my 2005 X-runner. It has the toughest clutch of all manual vechicles I've ever driven including the old Army trucks when I was in the service.

Is it simply due to the size of the clutch? My Frontier was not anywhere this tough. What parts should I try lubricating?

 

Any resolution to this? I’m about to undertake post #2 go fast quoted