I never claimed to be that bright; only that I had a good enough memory not to make the same mistakes over again. Standard compact trucks have always been my fave vehicle. But, you wake up one morning and there’s a bigger boat in your yard that just sprouted up over night and you never knew how it got there. I couldn’t keep up with the tow vehicles. Once we opened a road to the shore and didn’t have to travel to the public landing, the tractors took over and the vehicles breathed a sigh of relief.
Nice work. My own “personal best” is 295,000 on an original clutch.
Small cars it’s not difficult to get over 100k miles on a clutch. Add to that a lot of highway driving you can go even farther on the original clutch.
A truck that tows…if you get 100k miles you’re doing real good.
I do know why it’s on. It’s on because my aftermarket catalytic converter isn’t as efficient as an OEM part would be. I suppose there could be another reason for the code, like a faulty MAF sensor, but I really don’t think that is the issue.
Like I said below, I get the codes read every two or three years. I always get the same diagnosis, “It needs a new catalytic converter.” I reply, "If you put a new one in, and the CEL stays on, are you going to give me my money back? The answer is usually, “Yes.” I say, “I’ll think about it.” Then I forget about it, and keep an eye out for a flashing CEL.
To be fair, this car has been driven in 10 states, as far west as Texas, and as far north as Illinois. It has seen its fair share of hills, just not on a routine basis. Also, where I recently lived for eight years, Jacksonville, FL (the river city), there are seven large bridges. Those bridges are where I learned how to drive a semi in the “mountains.”
Really? If you were buying a Toyota Tacoma/Ford Ranger type truck, you would get an automatic?
I know this isn’t a popular opinion. But fwiw, I would much rather drive a manual as a tow vehicle and wear out its OEM clutch, than to risk a slushbox. Especially a used truck with a slushbox that had seen better days. An aftermarket clutch kit, perhaps a twin disc kevlar clutch, is relatively cheaper than a reman slushbox.
Manufacturers do tend to rate trucks with manual transmissions as having much lower tow ratings than their automatic counterparts. Even recent model F-150’s with a five speed are only rated to tow 2,000 lbs, regardless of engine option. The best theory as to why Ford does this is because they know a lot of people can’t drive stick very well, let alone tow with one, so by doing this they don’t have to worry too much about replacing clutches under warranty if someone burns it up because they don’t know how to get a manual transmission tow vehicle moving without slipping the clutch excessively. If you exceed the rated towing capacity, you lose the warranty. There’s not much you can tow that weighs less than one ton.
According to Toyota’s website, the manual Tacoma can tow just as much as an automatic Tacoma (3,500 lbs.).
Sorry chunky, but every time the engine is spinning and that clutch disc come off the flywheel and goes back on there is wear to the clutch material. Does it “hurt” the clutch? No. Does the clutch wear faster the more you’ve shifted gears with it? Of course.
Really? If you were buying a Toyota Tacoma/Ford Ranger type truck, you would get an automatic?
I agree. An automatic would be the best choice. My 98 pathfinder was a manual. But after I owned it for 4 years we decided to stop tenting and buy a pop-up. Not about to buy a new truck with an automatic when I only had about 150k miles on perfectly good truck. I had already replaced the clutch once…then 3 more times when I bought the pop-up.
Ok, I’d admit that I can’t rev match as good as Nissan’s electronic rev match algorithm, not even truckers, and I’m an amateur MT driver. I agree that every time I let the clutch out, there’s bound to be some wear. It is not like I am dragging the engine’s rev up from idle to 5,000 with the clutch. That would be abuse. What’s the worst that can happen to my car? May be I’ll take a hundred miles off my clutch, that’s fairly negligible.
I would never fear an auto for towing. Use it within it’s capacity, check the fluid condition frequently and change when necessary, and the potential is there to be practically trouble free. Shock loading as in plowing is really tough while towing is a walk in the park. They are much safer and with the automatic down ship of newer models, even more so.
The Toyota autos I have had have been completely trouble free for mileage up to 300k and beyond.
Manuals have become an instrument ment more for we control freaks…
Control freaks? That’s funny. I think of myself as a purist, not necessarily a control freak. You don’t have to be a control freak to be bored by the experience of driving an automatic. With an automatic, you just sit there, pressing a pedal, watching the world go by through the bars of your cage. In a manual, you’re moving your feet, and your hands are doing different things, engaging both sides of your brain. You can actually drive an automatic using one foot and one hand. This is great if you or someone you love is disabled, but for everyone else, this disengages you and some of your attention span from the operation of your vehicle. It gives you a free hand to text, talk on a cell phone, drink your coffee, eat a burger, or any other of a large number of things that can distract you while you drive.
I know we’ve been through this before, but I can’t resist.
Manual transmissions are easier to service. You just drain the oil and refill. There’s no filter, there’s no pan to drop, and if you install a valve in place of the drain plug, the only crush washer you have to replace is for the upper plug. With an automatic transmission, you might have to drop the pan if there is no drain plug, which boosts the labor cost right off the bat and adds replacement of the gasket to the job. You could also opt for a transmission flush of some kind, and hope it does more good than harm, or if you are lucky enough to have a drain plug, you drain out a percentage of your ATF, usually somewhere between 60% and 75%.
Manual transmissions are cheaper to repair. In terms of complexity, it’s a case of night and day. Rebuilding a manual trans probably takes half the time to rebuild an automatic. Can any transmission techs chime in on this?
I am at 235000 with the original!! Keep on going baby!!
Not if you don’t let the brass assembly rivets of a worn out clutch friction disk score the flywheel and pressure plate.
Well done.
Though not recommended by this group, nothing is cheaper than never doing it, as in many manuals now for autos. I too like driving manuals, I just find autos are safer, more trouble free, when inspected, much easier to back up when towing. Also a safety issue with active life style and it seems, bi annual limb operations…Really, my good man
"purist" is just short hand for control freak. I’ve admitted it to my auto loving wife. 
I really want to make this discussion mute with the elimination of the trans mission as we know it. I feel the cvt has a way to go buT has the potential to be a life saver for the ice and the electric traction motor as a replacement for the transmission. My son’s Rogue with it’s cvt is an absolute gem. Will it be trbublr free, who knows, but with so many fewer parts anf versatility, the potential is there. (typing with this stupid iPad is a pain)
Everybody’s a hypocrite–one way or another.