Tag: Mini Truck Performance Tips

When there is an issue of manual transmission being hard to shift gears, it can be related to either a problem with the clutch or the transmission system.

Causes of a Truck Manual Transmission Being Hard to Shift

Manual transmission is standard in trucks, and this type of transmission requires the driver to change gears. How do they do this? Such kind of vehicle has a gear lever and a clutch. Whenever these vehicles demand a gear change, the driver will feel the change in the engine’s sound. They have to step on the clutch pedal, which disconnects the drive and the driven shaft then it is given the required gear. Driving a manual transmission is enjoyable and quite engaging. When there is an issue of manual transmission being hard to shift gears, it can be related to either a problem with the clutch or the transmission system. The manual transmission might sometimes develop problems that make it difficult to shift. Sometimes the gears of your truck might become hard to shift when it is cold. The common cause of this is low temperatures which thicken the oil. To sort this, you can change the oil brand and use a less dense one. 

Causes of Manual Transmission Being Hard to Shift

The transmission of your truck might suddenly or gradually become hard to shift. It might result from any of the below causes.

Problem with the Clutch System

The clutch system connects and disconnects the drive and the driven shaft to make it easy for you to change gears. When the master cylinder is damaged, there will be no coordination when you step on the clutch pedal, and the power still will be transmitted from the engine to the driven shaft, and the gears will be hard to shift. 

Damaged Synchronizer Ring

The synchronizer ring plays the role of facilitating the process of engaging gears. This ring has teeth that aid it in effectively performing its functions. When the synchronizer ring gets damaged, it becomes hard to shift transmission.

Worn Out Gear Teeth

The gear has both small and big teeth. The combination of the two makes the system function effectively. The tiny teeth do the role of acknowledging the engagement between the hub sleeve and the synchronizer ring. Worn-out small teeth make it hard to shift the transmission. 

The big teeth engage the spinning counter gear, which sends the transmission to the output shaft. The transmission will make noise when the big teeth are faulty, resulting in hard shifting.

Inadequate Gear Oil

The gear oil lubricates the gears in the manual transmission gearbox. When its quantity reduces, you will hear noises coming from your gearbox. The gearbox generates a lot of heat; therefore, the gear oil should be very thick to function effectively under such extreme temperatures. Leakages might reduce the quantity of the gear oil, and when the amount of gear oil reduces, it won’t be easy to shift the gears. 

Conclusion

Sometimes the manual transmission of a truck might become hard to shift due to the above reasons. The causes of a hard gear revolve around the clutch system and the gearbox because these are two integral parts of your truck. If shifting your gears becomes difficult, seek a mechanical check-up as soon as possible.

Engine overhaul is dismantling the entire engine and assessing each part inside the engine.

What is a Truck Engine Overhaul?

Occasionally, when you visit your mechanic for an engine check-up, they will advise you to perform an engine overhaul. Engine overhaul is dismantling the entire engine and assessing each part inside the engine. Hearing this term for the first time might a little bit stress you and make you start to think a lot. What will your mechanic do during this process? They will keenly remove your engine and open it. As they do this, they will check the condition of the piston rings, bearings, gaskets, camshaft, and cylinder. If they note a problem with any part, they will replace it. Your mechanic will also remove the carbon build-up on the surface of the engine. Too much carbon build-up reduces the performance of your truck. Sometimes the piston rings might be loose, making the piston not properly seal on the cylinder wall, engine overhaul corrects this.

Types of Engine Overhaul

We have a top and full engine overhaul. The two categories result from how they are done.

Top Overhaul

When performing this engine overhaul, your mechanic will not remove the entire engine from the bay, but they will only open the upper part of the engine. The top overhaul will fix problems related to the cylinder and gasket heads, rocket arms, screws, cylinders, valve seat, and valves. 

Full Overhaul

When doing this, your mechanic will extract the engine from the engine bay. Conducting a full engine overhaul consumes more time and requires a lot of labor. When done, your mechanic will be able to notice hidden issues with the engine of your truck. Parts such as the timing belts, bearings, engine block, crankshaft, piston rings, and rods might be replaced if found faulty.

Signs that Your Truck Requires Engine Overhaul

Your truck might need an engine overhaul if it has served you more than ten years or covered a lot of mileage. You will experience some signs that signal that an engine overhaul is inevitable.

Weird Sound From Your Engine

A healthy engine produces a typical sound when ignited. If the sound becomes weird or strange, your engine might be loose, have cracks, or even worn out. However, if you hear a knocking sound, check the clearance between the piston and the crankshaft, it might be broad. If the pistons break, you will hear a rattling sound.

White Smoke From Your Exhaust

When the oil, fuel, and oxygen mixture burns in the cylinder, a cloud of white smoke will come out. The smoke is a sign that your piston rings do not function properly. In the morning or rainy weather, your truck might produce white smoke from condensed water in the exhaust.

Black Smoke From the Exhaust

If your truck constantly produces black smoke, the intake valve and the pistons might be full of carbon. The carbon comes out through the exhaust when you press the accelerator pedal, which might choke your engine and block effective fuel combustion.

Conclusion

Truck engine overhaul solves problems related to various engine parts like the piston rings, the cylinder, gasket heads, engine block, crankshaft, and camshaft.

Mini Truck Performance Tips

Mini Truck Performance Tips

Japanese mini trucks have been around for a long time. The vehicles dates back tot he 1950s when the auto industry was still young and growing. The kei trucks, as they are called in Japan were meant to be used for different purposes. Their agility and compact design is advantageous for their maneuverability. The popularity of these kei trucks has been growing and today they can be found in many countries including the United States. There is absolutely no doubt about their performance and reliability. But can you get better from these mini trucks? Of course you can. Shared in this guide are some of the best mini truck performance tips that will help you get more out of your vehicle.

Top Mini Truck Performance Tips

Every vehicle out there has some improvements that could be improved. This is because no vehicle is perfect in efficiency. And as vehicles age, they tend to experience lowered performance. As such, it is important to make necessary upgrades and tweaks to improve their performance. Here are some of the things that one can do to get the best out of their mini truck.

Regular Maintenance

Maintenance is very important for any vehicle out there. You need to make sure that the vehicle is serviced regularly. This includes things like changing the oil, changing brake pads, tires and making small fixes on the vehicle. Despite the fact that the mini trucks in general require less maintenance, one shouldn’t end up ignoring them.

Doing regular maintenance and servicing of the vehicle ensures better performance and good service from the vehicle.

Use Genuine Spare Parts

One of the things that many people fail to adhere to is the use of genuine parts for their vehicle. As much as it may sound like something small, it is crucial to have the right spare parts. This can affect the outcome and the general performance of the vehicle. The fact that the parts could also break down easily is something to avoid.

Get Reliable Tires

The tires of a vehicle needs to be replaced once in a while. But one thing that should be noted is that some tires are of better quality than others. Some could be more expensive, but thinking in long term it could be worth the investment. Having good tires means that you get better traction and moreso great performance regardless of whether you are on paved roads or off roads. It also goes without saying that good quality tires will last longer.

Consider Premium Oil

Did you know that oils too have different qualities? Synthetic oils are considered premium and are the best quality in the market. These oils are better than conventional oils and will often cost more. They do a better job in protecting your vehicle and hence worth investing in.

Conclusion

There are many ways that you could boost the performance of a vehicle. Shared above are some of the things worth doing to get the best performance from your mini truck.

Be sure to check out some of the Japanese mini trucks on sale through our listing page.

Honda Acty Engine Performance

Honda Acty Engine Performance

If you are asked to list down some of the best Japanese mini trucks in the market, then Honda Acty would probably come among the top of the list. They were first mad and meant to be used in the Japanese market, but with time, they started spreading all over the globe. There are now many people across the globe including in the United States who use these vehicles on a daily basis to run different errands. But as always, engine performance is the main thing that determines how good a vehicle is. So, how exactly is the Honda Acty engine performance? In this guide, we will delve deeper into that.

Honda Acty Engine Performance

As aforementioned, engine performance in a vehicle is very important. Without a good engine that delivers, then the vehicle is basically useless and not up to par. We have all heard of the Honda Acty being praised for their incredible performance. So, does Honda Acty engine performance live up to the hype?

Can the Honda Acty engine be relied on for different purposes? First off, you will find these mini trucks mostly coming with a 660cc engine. This is significantly lower than what you will find with other trucks. So, how does one really get a good performance out of such a small vehicle? Let us see some advantages of Honda Acty with relations to the engine size and performance.

Cost Efficient Engine

Honda Acty is a product of Japanese long dominance and engineering experience over many decades. Yes the engines are small as compared to many others out there, but they are very powerful. They are optimized to squeeze out a lot of power and torque while still remaining significantly smaller than others in the market.

Excellent Fuel Economy

The whole point of having a 660cc engine is to consume less fuel. But as aforementioned, this fact does not hinder it from squeezing great performance out of this vehicle. If you are interested in a vehicle that uses less fuel and does not disappoint in terms of performance, then Honda Acty is among them. You can cover longer distances on just little fuel with these vehicles.

Capable Of Any Purpose

Besides the fuel economy, the engine of Honda Acty is also designed with the power to conquer off roads. These vehicles will not disappoint in that area. In fact, there are many people who prefer and use them mostly on off road and dirt roads. The fact that there are 4 wheel drive capable vehicles under the Honda Acty mini trucks makes it possible to maneuver harsh terrains with ease.

Conclusion

Honda Acty is among the best Japanese mini tucks that sell in the market. They are incredible to say the least and will deliver on their advertised promise. By getting yourself one of these Japanese mini trucks, you will have no regrets at all.

Where do you get them? Well, check out some of the handpicked used Japanese mini trucks that we are selling through our sales page.