Truck was stuck in snow. Now it feels sluggish and horrible (Manual Transmission)

Luckily DIY still costs the same.

 

When you say thick snow do you mean wet and heavy, or just like a lot of snow on the ground?? I ask because having that much snow on the ground there is a real chance that you sucked some up into the air box (if it was at all fluffy). Then it melted, refroze and is now massively restricting air flow. The ECU will sense that via the MAF and the result will be very little power. Worth a quick look at the filter & air box / intake hose before diving into other options.

As far as alignment and brakes go, I can't really see how alignment would have anything to do with this situation. Snow / ice should not degrade performance of disc brakes (most of the stopping power of these trucks) at all.

 

Thick as in the top 2 feet layer is hard as a solid snow cone while the bottom is just regular soft snow. During that time it was below negative 20. I dont think anything would be wet.

Could the taco have that much air sucking flow that it can suck up heavy snow though?

 

That is just DUMB. (I'm being polite)

 

I guess depends where you get it done? Possible to buy a clutch kit for around 250-300$ here and a shop will charge 5-6 hours at 120-130$ an hour.

I never had to replace a clutch to be honest, so what do I know.

 

Lots of ways to get a new clutch installed. Buy the part and install yourself is obviously the cheapest. Head to the dealer likely the most expensive.

 

I would never take my truck to the dealer for any repairs, no way. IMO a local shop is a much better way to go if can’t do it yourself.

 

All of these comments and replies are starting to scare me. So I've been driving manual transmissions for my whole driving life (20 years now) and currently both my truck and my summer fun car are manual transmissions. Never have had to replace a clutch to date and had my last manual car for over 140K miles and it still grabbed strong. With that said this is my first Truck 4x4 in manual transmission. I drive very conservatively and am a stickler when it comes to clutch slippage, I'd much rather stall my car than excessively slip the clutch.

This year Chicagoland area got slammed with snow, much like many other areas in the country. There were a few times I had to put the truck into 4Hi to get unstuck from parking spaces (some back and forth) and also use 4Hi when I take it off into a field close to my house for some snow fun. I have only used 4lo twice when 4Hi failed to get me unstuck. With that said, there was this time I was stuck in a spot and I used 4Hi and the wheels spun a bit and when I got out I smelled a bit of burning. I tried to smell in the grill to see if it was coming from the engine area but it didn't smell like it was so I dismissed it to possibly the tire spinning on pavement or hard snow.

Now I'm wondering, how much damage did I cause and does my clutch now have premature wear on it. Is using 4Hi really that bad in reverse on a manual and should I never do it again?

Here is a video of the kind of snow I would deal with. This was likely the most snow I experienced and I tried 4Hi first (the first video is 4Hi and yes I stalled lol)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/46Df2iTpwp8JyRD26

this video is after 4Hi wasn't working and I went to 4Lo:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3ww9ftPhZKmd1grH9

Here is a picture after I was done playing (I reversed to this bridge in 4Hi BTW)

 

I agree rzarezal, makes me wonder; has toyota changed their four wheel drive system for the worst IOT save some money ?

 

That's great info.

Reading about 4WD auto on here it seems 4HI is the go-to and 4LO is only for when you are stuck-stuck. Just ordered a MT and plan to need 4WD time to time.

Are there any threads on here with decent tips for 4WD with MT? Don't have any plans for rock crawling or anything, but still don't want to wreck my new toy.

 

At least this didnt happen to your clutch.

 

Wait, why aren’t you supposed to reverse in 4hi?

 

It’s should not have problem just tuning 4lo or in the snon. Must be silting else going on.

 

Oversize tires put more strain on all drive components especially, when stuck...

 

Sounds.like the rear brakes might be hung up,. If there is moisture in the brake lines it will freeze and the brake won't let up all of the way.

 

It doesn't sound like a Toyota thing so much as a product of having a manual transmission.

That said, I would love to hear some elaboration on this. Why is, I guess specifically reversing in 4-Hi while stuck so bad for the clutch? What about 1st gear in 4-hi? Is the reverse gear ratio what's killing it? I can understand there being a problem if you're riding the clutch to keep from stalling, but if you're completely off the pedal and the wheels are just spinning not getting traction, is that doing damage?

 

from my experience, 4hi takes so much slippage to get going. The truck just doesn't have the umph and grab to get going. Much like the reverse gear, it's so tall and long, that you end up slipping a ton to get moving.
2LO is the way to go for mitigating the reverse thing.

 

Yep, it’s this

 

Guys...
The only reason this is even being discussed is the reverse gear ratio in the manual transmission. If you have an MT, you realize you can go really fast in reverse and, to back up a hill, you either have to slip it or go fast. Right?
Now, consider you stuck in snow. You have to "rock it" to get out. 1st gear no problem. Now shift to reverse you have to slip the clutch.
So, now that you have learned why, here's what to do... If you become stuck in the snow in an MT, simply put it in 4lo. This is not typical, because putting it in 4lo is a torque multiplier and torque is the last thing you need on a slick surface. However, you get extra torque by gear reduction and in this case your rpm's are limited so this means reverse gear ratio is good to go. Much less clutch slip in 4lo.

 

This ^.