my friend has literally same truck as me... 2009 4x4 tacoma (base model).

we got our first dump of snow up in maine last night, got pretty cold overnight (well below freezing). he woke up, warmed up the truck, but could not accelerate while in first gear... starting dumping out smoke. smells like burnt rubber.

he can however go into reverse, with no issues, and he can actually put it in gear, it's seemingly just not transitioning the power to the wheels. no issues whatsoever while idling.

so, because he can drive in reverse no issues, makes me think it's not clutch related. and he said was totally fine when he drove the night before, and no real issues with the pedal itself...

thoughts? he has another car so i told him to let it sit for a couple days and try again when he gets back from t-day, in hopes it has somehow resolved itself.

Depending on rear brake setup, I wonder if there's something wrong with the rear brakes- I've seen drum brakes lock on one way when the axle seals are bad and the shoes become contaminated with gear oil. I think Tacos use a drum in disc setup, but this could definitely cause a similar issue.

My Mazda Ranger would load up really badly when I was trying to reverse and this turned out to be the issue. No idea why it only seems to affect it going a particular direction, but it happened.

Posted by bandi Depending on rear brake setup, I wonder if there's something wrong with the rear brakes- I've seen drum brakes lock on one way when the axle seals are bad and the shoes become contaminated with gear oil. I think Tacos use a drum in disc setup, but this could definitely cause a similar issue. My Mazda Ranger would load up really badly when I was trying to reverse and this turned out to be the issue. No idea why it only seems to affect it going a particular direction, but it happened.

The automatic adjusting mechanism in most drum brakes basically works in reverse. We had a 2500 Suburban once that would lock he rear brakes up if you happened to back up with the parking brake set.

Back to OP's friends Toyota... depending on the transmission, reverse typically has a very high numerical ratio ( more mechanical advantage ), sometimes more than 1st. It is possible that the clutch has enough grip to move the truck in revere due to the ratios, but not enough for first. Unfortunately, it seems more likely to me to be a mechanical issue with 1st gear coupled with either a weak or contaminated clutch. Possibly, even frozen condensation in the transmission jamming 1st gear?

Personally, I would try getting the truck into a heated space and thawing everything out and seeing if anyhing changes

I'm honestly embarrassed for not considering the self adjuster in that situation. I feel stupid now.

My excuse is VW has only had one year of drum brakes in the past 20 years, and the adjuster is just a little wedge attached to a spring that fills the gap as it increases!

Posted by Wheedle The automatic adjusting mechanism in most drum brakes basically works in reverse. We had a 2500 Suburban once that would lock he rear brakes up if you happened to back up with the parking brake set. Back to OP's friends Toyota... depending on the transmission, reverse typically has a very high numerical ratio ( more mechanical advantage ), sometimes more than 1st. It is possible that the clutch has enough grip to move the truck in revere due to the ratios, but not enough for first. Unfortunately, it seems more likely to me to be a mechanical issue with 1st gear coupled with either a weak or contaminated clutch. Possibly, even frozen condensation in the transmission jamming 1st gear? Personally, I would try getting the truck into a heated space and thawing everything out and seeing if anyhing changes

So seems like you were on the right track... we put two propane heaters near the drum brakes, let them sit for about 30 minutes to warm up... problem totally gone.

He mentioned that he had been driving through some heavy puddles. Possible he got some slashage that just froze and locked the brakes??

Possible. Could have frozen everything together, and the camming action in reverse gave him just enough release to move. The clutch is definitely suspect though. It should have stalled out rather than just burning the clutch.

Posted by Wheedle Possible. Could have frozen everything together, and the camming action in reverse gave him just enough release to move. The clutch is definitely suspect though. It should have stalled out rather than just burning the clutch.

It was definitely stalling initially... my hunch was the smoke coming from him riding the clutch.

Either way, it's at around 150k and still its still the factory clutch. I'd be pretty happy getting 150k out of a clutch.