Clutch replacement

Salutations! Brand new member to the group here. Had my 08 since November and I can’t see ever regretting finally getting a Tacoma. Bought it with 135k now she’s approaching 150k. Guy before me took real good care of it but certainly used her as a truck. Hauled his boat every summer, etc but kept up routine replacements and scheduled maintenance. Recently been doin a lot of hauling of yard debris and tree branches with my 5 ft trailer up and down a couple steep driveways. Once or twice backing up on a hill in 4wd with a load I smelled that clutch. Well now she’s slippin, especially in reverse and on initial takeoff in 1st. Guy said clutch would likely be the next big thing it needed so I half expected to be doin it soon. Anyway, just wanna make sure A) the clutch is definitely the issue here, and since I have the tools aside from a transmission jack, B) is this a project an intelligent, mechanically inclined individual should attempt? Helpful comments and pointers welcome. Going to order replacement clutch kit and watch YouTube videos for a week then attempt it by Monday. Thanks for havin me!

 

Welcome!! You sure you just didn’t “glaze” it? I would imagine the clutch would get a little more life out of it than 150k miles.

Drive it normally for a bit and then see if it will go from a dead stop in 3rd.

As far as replacing it is concerned, hardest part really is going to be getting it back up in the truck (I just use a jack)....and that is not even that hard. If you know basic mechanics, it shouldn’t be an issue. Just have extensions and someone with you while you are doing it to help wiggle her out and down

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW!

If you're replacing the clutch it would also be a good idea to replace the throw out bearing while you're in there. Save yourself from pulling the trans again for a while. If it's in the budget for you, ClutchMasters hydraulic slave replaces the shitty TOB and it is awesome. I'm very happy with it. Makes the clutch pedal smooth, smooth, smooth.

It's an easy enough job but you'll need a trans jack and a 3' (yes, 3 foot) socket extension to get at those top bolts on the trans. Swivel sockets really helped also. If you get an alignment tool with the clutch, it's cake, if not just use a deep well socket that will fit around the output and get it as close to center as you can. Hardest part is getting the trans in and out.

Have fun!

 

Throw out bearing = release bearing correct?

 

Welcome aboard

 

@suaveflooder...Forgive my ignorance good sir, but When trying to go from a dead stop in 3rd gear, the Idea is to rev high enough so as not to stall and see if the clutch is able to grab enough to get forward motion correct? If so what would be the indication that it’s time to replace? Thanks again.

 

exactly! It’s absolutely possible you may need a new one if the clutch was slipped a lot, but it should last a lot longer than 150k miles

 

correct here as well

 

I thought for sure Tacoma guys would be a lot like me, but y’all are alright! Lol! Thanks again. This is makin perfect sense thus far. I’ll be back!

 

Welcome to TW!