so today on the trail after about an hour of driving the clutch starts smoking. it was about 90 degrees outside and heat index was around 100. clutch has no more than 3000 miles on it, and i wasnt riding it too much. is this normal or something i should be worried about?

 

its possible it had not completely broken in yet... see if performance decreases... clutches should never be smoking!

 

yea thats what i thought. performance hasnt changed at all since yesterday. i think its ok. that smell is crucial though.

 

does anyone know if the temperature outside affects the clutch at all?

 

Realistically, the air temp shouldn't have any noticable effect on an otherwise normal clutch, especially, the normal variance in temps from one summer day to another.

 

ok. well ill just write this off as breaking in the clutch. i just got a new stock one put in about 2500-3000 miles ago and this was the first hard wheeling it had seen. if it happens ago, im going back to the dealership and complaining. i really wasnt riding it hard, i had it in 4lo for about half the time, and not even touching the clutch, but for about 45 minutes i had it in 4hi just riding it...that was probably the cause.

 

Uh, yeah. That will smoke it, especially with a SC'r.

 

Mine did the exact same thing first wheeling trip. No problems after that.

 

if i rode it again in 4hi, would it smoke like that, or is it all broken in now?...i plan on rolling in 4lo most of the time now after reading some threads about using 4hi vs. 4lo...that way in 4lo i dont have to touch the clutch.

 

When you say "riding" I am picturing you with your foot partially down on the clutch pedal. Please tell me I am wrong!

 

yea im sorry for not making it clear. im not talking bout what you pictured. im talking bout just DRIVING not riding, my bad. ima drive the 4runner in 4lo from now on so i dont have to mess with the clutch. but that day it started smoking, i probably held the clutch down and "rode the clutch" for like 20 minutes or so. but the rest of the time i wasnt touching it.

 

Oh OK! Well what you just said makes more sense. In 4LO any kind of clutch "feathering" will produce some clutch disk loss. But it sounds like you did it responsibly. I hate when I have to ride the clutch in 4LO; I do everything can to avoid it. Even if that means bucking around a little more than normal.