Frustrated with my 6 speed

from what i've heard, the 6 speed is kinda meh... pretty weak for the application it's for

 

Pretty happy with mine 50K miles. I drive alot of standards - The Freightliner in my sig gets very little clutch use. Tacoma gets the clutch with every shift.

 

I don't own a Tacoma (yet) but the comments who suggest that crappy shifting is inherent to trucks don't make sense. I owned a manual Xterra and I had no problems. My daily driver is a 6-speed MT VW GTI and I didnt need to make any adjustments when driving the Xterra.

Something is seriously wrong with the Tacoma. How's the manual transmission in the FJ Cruiser? Maybe I should get one of those instead.

 

Would it be possible to start in 2nd gear, accelerate hard (close to redline), and then go directly into 4th or 5th? That would make for a smoother take-off.

Do you mean 'slowdown' literally? I dont think even tractor trailers really slowdown between shifts.

 

You'll find that a lot here

The truck shifts like shit ? What did you expect , it's a truck not a Ferrari

The gas mileage sucks ? What did you expect , it's a truck not a Prius

The ride is rough with 886's ? What did you expect , it's a truck not a Cadillac

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. To clarify, My truck is an 09 model that Has 68000 miles in it, and I've put almost 5000 on it since I purchased it. I'm trying not to think so much about trying to put the shifter in the right spot, but pushing the shifter and letting it go where it wants to go. The clunky feel is probably part of the territory. I will also have to learn to take my time with the clutch and not get in a hurry. The truck really shifts much better with slow and smooth clutching.

 

I think you must be kidding. Starting in 2nd, redlining the engine and the skipping a few gears makes zero sense. I trust you don't do that in your GTI, I dunno. And yes, the vehicle stops accelerating between shifts. Disconnect the engine from the drivetrain and the "go power" pauses, so the vehicle slows. It just works that way.

 

There is a vocal minority of people who have something wrong with their vehicle or just don't like it, then there's a silent majority who are happy with it and have no issues to complain about on the internet. I have a 6 speed manual Tacoma and I'm happy with it. It has a precise feel that makes me really enjoy driving it. I test-drove a few 6 speed Frontiers and I liked them OK but the shifting felt more rubbery to me than the 6 speed Tacomas. The FJ Cruiser 6 speed is very similar with a lot of shared parts but it has a slightly taller 6th gear ratio. Just test drive a few and see what you think.

 

I will agree that the 6speed is kinda odd and clunky, but it's not so bad. I start in first and take it to 3k then slow shift into second, then 2500-2800 into all the other gears. If I get to 40+ mph and don't need to accelerate more (behind traffic) a lot of times Ill just drop it in 6th and easy off the clutch with no gas. The gear ratios are tight and they overlap in the powerband which makes that weird feel if you don't get it perfect. (Tho its great when ur towing like 2k lbs or so) I've noticed that shifting smooth for me involves that "slow push" with an open hand with the shifter, can't rip gears in this thing and be smooth. It's an odd trans but I've only owned 2 manuals, a 2.7 5 speed 2010 and this v6 6 speed so I don't have other vehicles to really compare it to that I've driven consistently. I added a trd shift ball, urd short shifter and redline mt90 which added together helped a decent bit.


PS,when we're not talking about smoothness it's also fun to take first to redline and slam second and dump the clutch like a fuggin Chevelle and chirp 33's but maybe that's just me

 

Uhhh, running the revs up and skipping a gear when shifting actually does make it smoother, if you do it right. You don't have to redline it to do that.

 

should get you to up to speed faster if shifting is such a pain in the ass. Of course I dont need to do that in a normal car.

It will maintain speed, not really slow down.

 

It will maintain speed, not really slow down.[/QUOTE]

? It takes power to keep 4,000+ of truck moving other wise these things would get 50+ MPG, as soon as you change gears the power goes away how quickly you do this is how much it slows down but it is impossible for it not to. Nature is very specific about this. Even automatics slow between shifts all though it is not as noticeable due to the speed it is capable of shifting at.

 

The solution is simple & about $350ish
Buy the TRD quickshifter & swap the gear oil for redline MT-90
Took me about an hour to do both in the driveway.

Night & day difference.
A lot of people talk about the URD shifter but in my opinion you get what you pay for. Can't go wrong with a Toyota Genuine Part so I went with the TRD Quick shift! & Shift Knob.
Throw is substantially shorter & much more solid. The clud is gone.

 

Ha, all I get is expensive grinding noises when I try that.
Even with the TRD short shifter and Redline gear oil in the trans.

Dealership told me it is my lack of manual transmission experience. Probably true, I have only driven manual trans equipped Toyota trucks about 500,000 miles or so, guess I should work on it some more.

ETA: Truck had a brand new factory replacement trans installed about 5,000 miles before I bought it. They are just not good transmissions, I just hope I don't kill the damn thing as they are expensive crappy transmissions. Oddly, the 5 speed in the base tacomas is more along the lines of what I am used to, smooth and easy to shift. Hmmm, I don't really need 6th gear do I?

 

Maybe the previous owner was hard on the synchro's
I have 130k on mine and it shifts better than my last Tacoma a 2005 2.7L 5speed

 

Double Clutch. It's a truck. If you think that's bad try an 18 speed.

 

Hey OP, I've owned Toyota trucks since 81. All bought new. All 4x4's. All manuals. One thing I've noticed is they are all notchy when new. All got better when they broke in. I would suggest, like some other posts, is look at the shifter. What you are describing sounds like excessive linkage play, especially your description of 3rd gear shift.

 

My TACO six speed started shifting much better after 60k miles and a different brand of gear lube...

Howard

 

I have the URD short throw shifter and their clutch and throw out bearing sleeve kit. My TOB failed at 25K miles and I installed all this at the same time about 8 months ago. The shifting feels slightly firmer, but it still sucks. This trans is the worst manual I've ever owned. A lot of it has to do with the bad throttle response and return rate of the drive-by-wire system. I've found that third gear seems to help align things better, if it won't go into reverse I'll slide it into third then reverse and it goes right in, same thing when slightly rolling and shifting into first, try third then first, while keeping the clutch depressed or course.
One day there will be a bell housing adapter for a T56 or Tremec.

 

I believe the T-56 is a tremec now. I think, it used to be a borg-warner? Not 100% on that one though.