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

2 months waiting and by luck my broker decided to call a dealer that was about 100 miles away and found exactly what I was looking for and jumped on it. Who knows how long I would have waited.

I had put a deposit down at one dealer and he was dealing with a Corp person in accounting who asked for a deposit, but her tone was more of the "yea, it's a manual, I need to make sure this person is for real..." I went off on her a little. Why the fuck would you make a manual trans option then? I'm one of a few compared to the masses that knows exactly what I want money in hand and this is how I get treated?

 

Calm down bud, you don't know her day or her job. I'd be willing to bet they get more than a few idiots who order a manual thinking It'll be a fun little adventure and a week or two later realize they dont want to have a man pedal in their truck and they pull their deposit and Toyota/the dealer is stuck with a truck they aren't sure they can sell. Also remember, while some of you have looked "far and wide" to locate a manual trans Tacoma near you, on the flip side I pretty much had my pick from a couple dealers that had them. And even they tried to say "I can't keep this on the lot long" while bargaining and trying to get more money out of me, and i told them to go ahead and sell it so I could move on to the next dealer who may be more interested in taking some of my monry than him. So just remember when you snap at someone who may have made a callous (to you) remark, you don't know what they deal with.

Ok I'm off my soap box now lol. Literally just got done swapping stories about entitled douches we've encountered lately and this just came off like that a bit. Not saying thats what you are, but just how it sounded a bit.

 

I don't give a fuck what she's dealing with. I should have never gotten on the phone to begin with, but opted when $500 was not enough or in her words, "not serious enough" that if I'm a serious buyer, I will put more money down and it's non refundable.

I also don't care about other people and their indecisions. At the end of the day it's her fucking job to process this shit and not bring attitude or question me for any reason. I'm no different than any other customer who's requesting a color, package, accessory, and or transmission choice.

You say the dealer tells you that people will buy this up trying to get the sale from you. I had the opposite experience where I was told that no one would buy it and that they were trying to make me a deal. I laughed at the guy and told him he'll sell it before noon the next day and it was sold before noon the next day by a TW member. They'll say anything to make a sale.

There's more ignorance out there on the Dealerships and what they know about M/T's. I don't know if it's a California thing, but most have the same "pffft, a manual? why bro?" attitude. Fuck you, because that's what I want. Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't get.

 

Anyone experience a clicking sound when depressing their clutch pedal?
Possibly coming from the tension spring?

 

Every single fu**ing day. Lol

 

Well, I guess you fall under entitled prick then

 

I'm getting about the same MPG as my 2nd gen 4.0 5AT... I find myself driving the new one much more sensibly primarily because now I have an MPG read-out staring me in the face... oh brother!

Our MT trucks will never be the smooth highway runners the 2nd gens were... but the reason I GOT my 3rd gen MT was because I couldn't use my 2nd gen like a TRUCK! I think if we remember we're trading MPG for versatility, a smooth cruise for a pulling SOB, then it's all worth it.

 

If knowing what I want is being an entitled prick then, sure, I guess i'm an entitled prick for feeling insulted trying to buy something that's available. Makes a lot of sense. Paperwork had a check box for transmission type. I picked MT and a bitch decides to question and give me attitude about it.. Being such an entitled prick, I let her know I don't have time for that bullshit.

No matter how I feel, I don't go shitting on people when I'm at work no matter how insignificant or stupid their question might seem to me.

 

With E-rated 265/75 tires I get about 17-17.5 average on purely highway at 75mph with little to no headwind. 16 with a bad headwind. With stock tires I had more like 18mpg at 75. If I slow down to 65mph with negligable headwind I can eek out 19mpg with e-tires and 20-20.5 mpg with stock tires on my 2nd gen.

I do find that due to the higher gearing the MT's seem to tow really well and also the short gears make a ton more sense when towing. It's no v8 but leaving it in 5th I was able to cruise at 65mph avg with 5.5k lbs in a 6x12 u-haul trailer with little problem (though steeper hills needed a bit of a running start) and about 14 mpg when the trailer was loaded correctly. Engine braking is awesome too when towing.

 

It is snowing out again..so I'm bored. Here is Gopro video I played with yesterday while I was out shed Antler hunting.
https://youtu.be/i6UQjP5Ffws

 

I just replaced my clutch master cylinder on a '13 6 speed today and mine started clicking. Found out it was the end of the CMC moving position since the head of it is slightly different than the OEM one. Might be the cause

 

I got thinking today, why does toyota still offer manual transmissions in tacomas? It's a dying breed, they are hard to find as is, i even had to go out of state to get one. Yet they made improvements to the 5 spd and continue to offer it.

I'm not looking for fan boy responses but real business explanations.

I initially thought maybe it was toyotas way of getting aisin transmissions out there into the world to keep the life line on the manual transmission department of aisin in order to make aisin the go to company for many manufacturers when it comes to manuals so that they wouldn't have to develop their own. The idea mainly grew from me seeing aisin manuals in other cars such as the camaro. But then i realized that if that was the case you'd see manuals being an option in more toyota models. So that can't be it. Is it purely the fact people buy tacomas to offroad like people buy jeeps and the offroad community still wants manuals? But then i think only Nissan frontiers are the only other mid size pick ups that can be had with manuals. What is with the Japanese? Lol.

 

I know mine pulls like an old Chevy C-10 with an I-6 and a SM420. Perhaps Toyota knew this thing would essentially fall on it's face otherwise.

I remember buying my 2011 and I wanted a stick. It was a case of "well, we can get you one, but I'm not sure you'll be happy with it." I bought an AT and was very satisfied.

Fast forward 6 years. I ask for a stick and the attitude was "oh, so you've done your research..."

2011: "We can find you one, but they're hard to come by."

2017: "As long as you're flexible on options, we'll find you one." As a matter of fact, the dealer in Kansas City had six on the lot.

There's a big swath of the country where guys use trucks like trucks, and maybe Toyota knew they'd lose customers if they didn't do something. I know that if I couldn't have bought a MT, then I would certainly not be buying a third gen.

Perhaps market research paid off.

 

My 15,000 mile service is coming up, and I'm going to see if I can't get them to look at my clutch. I've put the truck in 4HI many times with no issue off road. I've used 4LO once and the clutch definitely stunk it up after I parked at the top to disengage 4LO. I may be paying too much attention to it now, but certainly something I don't want to be an issue moving forward every time I engage it.

 

I've had that issue in my 2nd gen, the thing is in 4LO you don't need to use the clutch like you're normally use it, the truck can pretty much be stopped in 4LO. It might smell cause you're overusing it and its burning the clutch.

 

2nd that. 4LO you just slowly let out the clutch and roll. Don't touch the gas. Just let the truck crawl.

 

Save the stick shifts!

I did not know how to drive a stick shift when I got my learner's permit, but I was willing to learn and once my dad decided he was buying me a new Tacoma, I begged him to get me one with a manual transmission. I also wanted a 4x4, and for some reason in 2009-2010, the regular cab 4x4 was only available with a manual transmission. When he said he didn't want a 4x4, I tried to convince him to get a stick shift 2WD by saying that the stick shift was $900 cheaper. He wouldn't go for it...

Almost 5 years after my dad bought my present Tacoma, and more than 3 years after I got my license, my uncle taught me how to drive stick in his 1991 Toyota pickup. I mastered it in like 20 minutes!

 

Does everyone else get clunking from the driveline (for me it sounds to be in the rear end at the diff) when going over speed bumps or off road?

Its absolutely driveline, as it clunks forward and backward when idled over a bump and if I run it in 1st with some gas, less noticeable.

It's done it since new, but it seems to me this could be excess lashing and needs to be verified. With the number of folks with driveline hum it may also be incorrect preloading?

Love the truck, and love the MT.

 

can't say i have that sound. the only driveline sound i have with any consistency is some clutch/bellhousing resonance with the clutch disengaged. normal stuff. with all the issues we've seen around here, if it was me i'd probably look into an expert checking the lash... unless you can do it yourself and save the cash.

 

Loose U-joint bolts are common. That would cause a clunk as you load and then unload the driveline on a speed bump.