Anyone With a 6-speed That Actually Upshifts Smoothly to 3rd Gear?

My '98 Tacoma shifted much smoother and quieter then my '13 does.

 

Yep. This is a dance that you need to let your truck lead. Treat her like a lady and don't try to make her your bitch. Unless you want to, then liquor her up with some MT90 and a short throw.

 

I have just under 7000 miles on my truck and the only problem I've had with the 6-speed is that fact I don't have it...

 

Good question. I just looked up the first thing I came to did not specify a year over the years I have done hundreds of transmissions and they all had some type of pilot bearing/bushings. Times change and it is very possible they have been eliminated most front drive units do not have one. The only time a pilot bearing does anything is when the clutch is not engaged (engine running). It is/was used to support the end of the input shaft because there was but one bearing and it had to support the clutch as the rest of the stuff spun around it so we’ll say now the bearings are far better and it’s not needed? In theory this would work but if it is strong enough to do this that there should be no effect on the overall operation of the transmission because the input shaft and the output only turn the same speed in 5th any way. It’s probably been 20 years since I have had a gear box apart I’m sure time has not stood still so it would be a new one to me but I could see how it would work.

 

It also was a 5spd and a much smaller lighter unit.

 

The only time I get a slight grind is when I take off and the tranny is cold, like in winter cold, it grinds a little in 5th. For every one that compares their car straight shift to the taco's 6 speed and says its junk, stop it. Go drive another manual truck and then compare. Other manuals that I've driven other than Toyota's and older Nissans shift like crap. Their transmissions feel like they have plastic gears compared to ours. To me our tacomas shift and feel more like our Kenworth here at work... like a truck. And to those who hate the rev hang, you've obviously never pulled anything of much weight or you'd realize what its there for.

 

Changed clutch and tob when I got mine and it has no pilot bearing. Its an 05

 

Shift it like a truck no problems, it's not a race car. Changing from dino gear oil to synthetic is a definite plus, much smoother. I went from a 4 speed Chevelle to 6 speed Taco, grind in 3rd till I relearned how to shift this 6 speed. Haven't been grinding since. Slow & easy and she'll treat you good.

 

I take my time, use light pressure and shift between 2-3 k and it works flawlessly. When I took the 1st one for a test drive, I drove like a 5 speed, reved up the engine and it was very clunky. I tried lower and slower and everything was as smooth as slik and has been ever since

 

Neither the FSM or any of the official parts manuals show a clutch pilot bearing. Moreover, the input shaft terminates rapidly to a point (not blunt) end immediately after the splines where it passes through the clutch disc. Frankly I does not seem that a pilot bearing could even be retrofitted.

 

I agree there is no smooth surface for a bearing to ride on. It is unusual for a rear drive trans not to have one who knows maybe that's the trend now I wonder if the others are doing the same thing? I guess they can save what $3 by not using one. The way the Tacoma 6spd. trans is built is also a departure from early designs there is no support bearing inside of the head gear for the main shaft it is supported at the rear of the head gear by the output shaft making it a more rigid design with greater bearing support.

 

I have had no problems with my 2011 6sp manual when shifting gears.

The only time there is a shifting issue is when I don't press the clutch all the way down.

I hope this helps...

 

For the next owner who does a clutch job , can you check the release bearing ( throw out bearing) . I am interested to know if it is a self centering bearing .This means you can take the TOB in your hands and manually push the bearing from side to side .If the TOB is self centering , it will move from side to side . You should hear a click if the bearing moves . If you are replacing your factory TOB , check the new bearing to see if it is self centering .

With the pilot bearing being omitted from the RA60 , I am just wondering if the engineering dept did enough to compensate for the added weight of the clutch disc . The pilot bearing was in the perfect location to support the load . With the support now located at the other end of a longer input shaft , I hope they did their homework . If memory serves me correctly , I believe loading on the pilot bearing was up around 800 pounds but this was rpm dependent.
Some of you may ask where I am going with this ? The OP,s original complaint was the quality of the upshift to 3rd gear . 3rd gear is the last gear set on the input shaft and mates to the output shaft . Any out of balance or clearance issues will be noticed in 3rd gear

 

Smooth shifting here. I shift slowly though. It's not a sports car and I don't try to make it in to one.

 

As long as you don't shift/drive the Tacoma like it's a sports car there should be no grinding or missed shift issues in any gears. This is something that I had to quickly adjust to coming from a Honda S2000.

Overall I was not overly impressed with the standard 6speed manual in the Tacoma when I test drove one. So I went with the TRD Quickshift upgrade, highly recommend it, its a worth while upgrade.

 

My thought as well. I noticed that in the PNC catalog that the input shaft now has a new part number. I'll have to dig around and see if its front bearing has also been revised. Not having a pilot bearing just seems to be a weak link to me and yea slop that would develop in its support bearing would definitely affect 3rd gear.

 

Well the pilot bearing does not do any thing until you push the clutch in once it is released the entire mess is turning the same speed as the crankshaft including the pilot bearing. What you have with the 6 spd is two counter shafts the lower counter shaft also has shift hubs unlike an old 5 speed, the last hub on the head gear is direct 1:1 it locks the head gear to the output shaft. Frankly I can't see where the lack of a pilot bearing would cause any grinding in any gear, over the years I have seen old bronze pilot bearings totally gone and have caused no shifting issues.

 

I try to shift slow and easy at low rmp..say 2000-2250 on the upshift to third and thats where my main problem lies.

I drive like an old man and don't force the shifter or try to shift fast. Mine doesn't grind or doesn't go into 3rd gear, but you can definitely feel some sort of hang up before it pops into third...like the synchronizer isn't turning at the correct speed and it feels like you hit a wall, then a small clunk, then it drops into gear.

Mine seems do only do it on the upshift from 2nd to third. 4th down to third seems fine.

It doesnt do it 100% of the time, but still often enough to make it very noticeable. Mine also seems to shift best when cold and things get worse at it warms up. Im wondering if some heavier oil would help?

Anyway, I have a TRD short shifter and some MT-90 on the way.

 

I'm glad you're seeing the same thing the rest of us have seen. All the people saying "don't expect it to be a spots car" are full of it. Most of us are treating it like it's a truck and shifting in a way that is befitting of a truck. Shifting slowly and carefully (IE, not a sports car) doesn't change the fact that;

1. 3rd grinds slightly (even with the clutch fully depressed)
2. 1st-2nd is always a goofy shift (unless you rev it out in first, then shift into second at a higher RPM, ironically, driving it more like a sports car)
3. Rev-matching is a pain in the ass. Partially due to the unresponsive throttle but mostly the heavy flywheel. And no, rev-matching is not "driving it like a sports car". I don't mean heel-toeing to rev match while braking. I mean doing 50, putting it down a few gears and rev matching to perform ENGINE braking (not transmission braking, I'm not all about grinding up my clutch like it's a disc brake).

Those were my 3 major complaints with the transmission, notice how none of them relate to whooping on it like it's a drag truck or a track car, it's just properties of the transmission. It's hard to drive well and the only benefits I got out of it were choosing my gears while towing. Quite frankly, just putting the auto (I traded the manual for a 2013 auto) in 4th accomplishes everything I want to from the standpoint of killing hunting. Or if I really want control of how it down-shifts under power I'd start in "L" (1st) in the auto, and half way through that gear just put it up into drive. Under full acceleration it runs through the gears the same way you would on a manually. It helps avoid the immediate downshift when you get on it at a 5mph roll (normally it'll be shifting into 2nd or 3rd by 5-10mph if you're conservative, causing a massive downshift, shock to the driveline and loss of traction when you get on it). Yeah you have to "trick" the auto into behaving how you want sometimes. But the majority of the time it's adequate for what I'm doing.

 

I recently went to Redline and can say without a doubt that it was the best thing I could have done for my 6-Speed.

You'll love the TRD short shift.