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

not that high. the engine gets momentum there and that's the power 2nd gear grabs and you go flying on clutch release. you should practice this. it's all timing and clutch smoothness, and these trucks do it fantastically... but it's tricky and takes practice.

just imagine you're generating power for 2nd gear while in 1st before shifting. your job is to preserve the power you have from spinning up the motor... use the momentum letting it out into 2nd. the trick is there is no throttle required going into 2nd... you've already got engine momentum. while practicing this, keep your foot off the throttle while letting the clutch out into 2nd. if you do it right, the truck will obviously accelerate when you release the clutch into 2nd while your foot is off the throttle.

 

Switched from V6 manual to the i4 manual. This is a dream to drive. This combo is perfect and I thought the six was great. No clunking, no howl, and crisp direct shifting with little throttle lag if any. Solid is how I would describe it.

 

That's too low for this truck, the engine isn't like your typical truck engines of the past generating max torque at lower RPM's. You should shift into 2nd at an RPM that will leave you at probably ~2400-2500 RPM once you get fully engaged in 2nd, especially going uphill.

If I shifted out of 1st at 2100 rpm in the truck it for sure would feel like it was lugging unless i was, say, in traffic and needed very minimal acceleration on a flat road.

The clunking you speak of later too is not noticeable when you shift at higher RPM, if you push the clutch down too fast at lower RPM yeah you'll definitely hear it clank/clunk.

 

Tried a 1 to 2 shift at about 3200rpm and it still shook the shit out of me. Also ground 1st gear synchro for maybe the 4th time in 4000 miles. Stick didn't go in completely even though it felt like it did.

 

I rarely rev above 2000 in my I4, what's all this trouble? I can shift into 1st anywhere between 20-0 while moving too?

 

It's just people overthinking it for the most part.

 

I4 has more lower end torque and a lighter truck. Shifting to 1st at 20 mph puts a tremendous amount of stress on the synchro unless you use a massive RPM double clutch.

 

A few hundred pounds, and not more low end torque. No massive double clutch needed either.

 

The poster claimed he can shift to 1st as high as 20mph which would indeed puts a great deal of stress on the synchro. He would need a rpm of 2836 to double clutch at that speed.

 

The poster claimed a significant weight difference and more torque from an I4. The poster vaguely defines "great" and "tremendous" amount of stress.

Poster also stresses over rev hang afraid to shift like reasonable people?

 

You're getting carried away here. I never claimed considerable weight difference nor that the I4 has more torque than the V6, only that I4 produces peak torque sooner at 3800rpm vs 4600rpm for the V6. Please don't play dumb, you know that downshifting to 1st at high speed creates a lot of friction and wears the synchro faster unless you double clutch which is something most inexperienced manual drivers won't know how to do.

 

I'm shifting below 2000 rpm as I said, I'm not talking peak torque either. Your argument, you got carried away.

I don't double clutch and haven't worn out synchros on any trannies. A little patience is required but it's not difficult or detrimental from my experience, I've only shifted into 1st at 20 a couple times to see that it's not all that stressful. Some here struggle to get into 1st at anything but a complete stop like it's non-synchro?

 

Is your truck a Regular or Access Cab 4WD?

 

It still shook/jerked the truck and made it clunk when you pushed in the clutch? Are you jamming the clutch to the floor as fast as humanly possible? That would be the only scenario where I see that happening. If you are pushing the clutch in normally or at a slower-medium pace, I don't remember the truck jerking or clunking at that high of RPM.

Yeah sometimes 1st gear doesn't go in all the way, you have to stay conscious of it. It's happened on every manual trans I've driven. It won't go in all the way, either have to go down to 2nd real quick then up to 1st (assuming completely stopped) or sometimes you can just push the clutch in again in neutral and it will go into 1st. I've done it a couple of times in my jeep because the shifter is so incredibly loose, but it usually just pops out of gear and I obviously go nowhere rather than the gear grinding.

 

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I wasn't paying to attention to how fast I pressed the clutch on that occasion but I usually don't push it as fast as you described it. My issue is with the rev hang where sometimes it takes 2-3 seconds for the revs to drop for a smooth shift, and in that time I'll get a lot of cars riding my ass across a large intersection or going up a hill I'll lose speed and power waiting for a suitable rpm range to continue in second usually resulting in the engine barely avoid a a lug situation.

As for my synchro grinds. My first three I can attribute to an overtorqued pressure plate causing clutch drag which I had fixed at the dealer. Since then I have made it a habit to always double check 1st gear however yesterday I was unlucky and the gears happened to not line up properly and I forgot to check. It was a really quick rattle I heard.

 

I get about 18 in town- On the freeway at steady 60 mph- 23 mpg, Steady 70 - 21mpg. That's better than the brochure so I figure I am ahead of the game. Tires are 235/85-16 Toyo AT's' I lose about 1-1.5 mpg with the MT's I run in the winter Reason for this tire size is that I need to be able to put chains on all 4 wheels to reach the place I frequently work (West Tiger Mt. near Seattle) Fat tires may look pretty, but they are no good in snow and steep grades- Clay

 

My next tires will be 235/85s . I love that size on mildly lifted Tacomas.

 

Ordered an Anarchy-Motive Goliath shift knob. Had a weighted shift knob on my S2000 and it made a huge difference with it going into gear pretty effortlessly!

 

i have a couple of their knobs including a custom made one, but I'm using their Titan wrapped in leather right now. great stuff!



... aaaand i went ahead and ordered the URD short shift kit. sausage fingers watch out here i come!

 

I only read back a few pages but... Maybe coming from a manual Camaro I'm ahead of the game because I always shift to be at the beginning of the power band for the next gear. It avoids lugging and you still have good acceleration. This RPM range is different for every gear, you just have to drive it and learn. I generally shift around 3k in first. The MPH means nothing to me.

The Camaro and Tacoma both have similar backlash in the driveline due to the limited slip diffs and need some clutch finesse. I'm still not used to keeping the Tacoma from going "clunk" between gears because I push the clutch in too fast causing the driveline to load and unload too quickly. Fast clutch work kept the Camaro happy, not so much my truck.

Overall, I've had no issues driving my manual Tacoma. I like it more than the Camaro.