Source: http://www.toyotanation.com

Overview
I love my 2005 Tacoma, but the clutch has been a source of a lot of frustration for me. Toyota, in my opinion, really dropped the ball on the ergonomics of the pedal design. In addition to being extremely bulky, the pedal has a lot of travel and does not engage until it is fairly far from the floor. The combination of a bulky pedal and the long throw/high engagement point detract from what is otherwise a great driving experience. This mod will make for a far better driving experience by reducing the pedal travel and lowering the clutch pedal's engagement point. As far as the bulky pedal, lets hope that in 2006, Toyota installs a nice metal pedal in the new Tacomas that we can swap into our 05s.

Disclaimer: This is a very simple and safe mod if done correctly. I take no responsibility for any damage you do to your truck by either attemping to do this mod or as a result of it.

Now onto the mod...


Here's a pic of the clutch pedal. In this picture, you can see that the pedal resting point is very high off of the floor, often causing an awkward amount of foot twisting in order to release the pedal. I measured it to be roughly 5 7/8" from the top of the pedal to the floor. What you cannot see is that there is about 5/8" of play in the pedal. In other words, you can press the pedal down 5/8" before it actually does anything.


Removing the excess pedal play is something that you can do with almost any car. Here is a snapshot from the 2005 Tacoma manual about adjusting the pedal height. As you can see, there is a bolt at the "Pedal Height Adjustment Point" that can be turned clockwise to lower the pedal.


Unfortunately, the pedal adjustment bolt is very difficult to adjust. It is simply too cramped under the dash. The easy alternative is to replace the bushing that the adjustment bolt rests against. In this diagram, it is called the "Clutch Pedal No. 1 Cushion". Using a thicker cushion will move the clutch pedal closer to the floor. You cannot make this bushing as thick as you want. If the bushing is too thick, the pedal will begin disengaging the clutch (commonly known as "riding the clutch") and cause rapid wear on the clutch's throwout bearing. We will address this, too.


This is the stock plastic bushing. It is easily removed with a pair of needle-nose pliers. It is about 3.5mm thick.


Looking on the backside of the pedal, you can see how the clutch pedal operates. When you step on the pedal, the pedal presses on a plastic "cap" that is attached to a rod. If the bushing that we are replacing is too thick, the rod will begin to move and effectively "ride" the clutch. To prevent this from happening and to lower the clutch pedal's engagement point, the cap will be moved by about 4mm. 4mm doesn't sound like much, but the difference is quite dramatic.


Here is a measurement before anything is done. The camera angle is a little awkard, but you can see that there is about 45mm between the end of the plunger's cap and the cylinder's edge.


The next step is a hassle, but be patient. The return spring needs to be unhooked from the clutch pedal. This has to be done because the plunger cap that we are trying to move "locks" into the pedal and cannot be rotated unless the pedal is pulled free. The easiest way to unhook the spring is to press the pedal all the way down with one arm and then unhook the spring with the other. After doing this, pull the pedal back enough that it is free from the plunger cap.


After the pedal is free, loosen the jam nut pictured above (12mm wrench). Once the jam nut is loose, you can rotate the plunger cap. You can turn it about 3 full turns clockwise before it will not turn any more. Toyota prevents you from turning it any further because if you did, you could cause the clutch to not fully disengage when the pedal is pressed all the way down. Our adjustment of 4mm is only 8% and does not affect the clutch's ability to disengage. After moving the plunger cap, tighten the jam nut back down. This pic shows that the cap is now 4mm closer (41mm vs 45mm) than it was when we started. Push the clutch pedal back down and hook the return spring back in.


Here is the new bushing. It's a plastic knob with 10/32" threads available at OSH for less than 3 bucks. Out of the bag, it is a bit too tall for the job. File the top down so that the thickness of the new spacer is approx 10mm. We are increasing the the thickness of the spacer by about 6mm. That is barely 1/4", but because the spacer is relatively close to the clutch's pivot point, that translates approx 1" of movement at the pedal.


Here is a (crappy) pic of the new bushing installed. That's it! The clutch pedal now rests approximately 1" closer to the floor and it will grab much sooner as the pedal is released. It's the same clutch and pedal as before, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Overall, I feel that this is a huge improvement from the stock setup and I believe that it is safe, too.