I was just wondering if anyone who has a v6 4x4 5spd 2nd gen finds the gears to be spaced far apart. The other day I drove a friend's '00 5spd and it shifted so smooth, almost carlike. Not that my 4runner is hard to go in gear it just seems like more of a workout to shift that his '00, especially going from 1st to 2nd. Is this the standard for the 2nd gen or is something going on. I just got the clutch replaced and it shifts the same as before so I don't think it's abnormal. Anybody know?

 

Well, the synchros get older over the years, and make the 1-2 shift more and more difficult... This may be what you're experiencing.

 

Compared to my 98 prelude it shifts like a tank but that's really apples to oranges. My 94 2nd gen had trouble shifting into 1st and 3rd and I thought it was the synchros going out but later found out that the dealership didn't pull off an old rubber ring before putting the new shifter bushing on. So I guess the short answer is nope, feels like a truck when I shift.

 

I was told by Marlin (Marlin Crawler) when he rebuilt my transmission that earlier models - I think it was 1994 and earlier - have a slightly different shifter rail assembly and they are harder to shift than 1995 and newer. He told me this because he did not have a 1995 donor transmission and was going to put an earlier model in my truck. I have noticed it's a little more work to shift but putting in Redline MTL seems to help some.

 

so it sounds normal. This is the secomd tranny that was in here cause the 1st was going bad and they both seemed to shift the same. This one has the Marlin Crawler shift seat in it and mobile 1 sythetic oil. Maybe I'll try Redline. Thanx

 

one thing that really might help is putting in a good synthetic tranny fluid.

In some of my older turbo cars I used redline heavy shockproof. It poured like molasses but shifted like butter and really protected the gears ( 91 SE-R turbo and 01 sentra turbo)

 

I believe (but I'm not postive) that the older models have the shfter as part of top of the the trans, either way, my friend calls shifting in my truck like "rowing a boat" HAHAHA

 

Mine definitely shifts like a truck.....