HomerTaco's big old bucket o’ bolts build

Wait so you still have to engage 4WD with the switch?

And then you just run the crawl box thru the shift boot?

 

That's the direction he's going in based on his description.

 

Ah...

And whats the deal with crawlboxes? Lemme see if I got this right...

There's two on the market: Inchworm (Trail Gear) and Marlin Crawler? Marlin Crawler is better somehow... but super backed up and has poor customer service?

 

I thought about this. I found an FJ case cheap at a junkyard and ordered it. They seem shady as hell though so we'll see if I actually get it.

 

That's what I've gathered. Apparently inchworm has better customer service, you might actually get a box in a month or so and is not as inferior as some have made it out to be. This is only based on posts I've read.

Long story short, Marlin isn't really an option if you want a box soonish. People have been in line for over a year for one. So if you actually want a crawl box now there really is only one option.

 

Gotcha. If you go thru RST what do they use?

 

Marlin

 

Besides the electronic shifting of the case what differences are there?

Correct. I'll still have the electronic 4wd switch on the dash.

Yup.

Basically. TrailGear, who I just ordered my case from on the drive home will return emails and phone calls. They have the option to put Marlin gears in their box, but they're back ordered. So I went with Trail Gear gears.

That's still an option for me, but at the moment I'm leaning towards sticking with the taco box.

The guy that called me to finalize my order says my box should ship by the end of next week. Wyatt's telling me that Marlin is 45 days out from knowing if they'll actually have stock.

I went Inchworm so I stand any chance of actually having this thing operational by the first week of May.

 

Well it doesn't seem that RST makes their customers wait over a year...


Maybe they can get them faster?

 

I ordered one from RST Thursday. They cancelled my order and refunded me. Said they can't accept orders at the moment because they dint know how backlogged Marlin is

 

I ordered through RST on Dec 31st last year and was refunded the next day. At least Wyatt doesn't hold onto your money in the hopes of getting one in stock. There's also talk of a price increase for the Marlin cases.

 

There is just a single shift rail for both the high and the low, and the case shifts from the back versus the top. Seems that design is more prone to binding up the shift rails. Most of the internals of the case (chain, gears, output shafts) are all interchangeable, but to me the shifting design of the takama case knocks it down a few levels of reliability not to mention cost. The actuator for the tacoma case is a dealer only $800 some part, whereas you can get an FJ case for $500 or less from a junkyard. Just seems like a no brainer that while you have it all ripped apart to put a manual shifting case in there and be worry free. Hell you could even sell your tacoma case to some poor sap who's 4wd light blinks non stop (just search the threads, they seem to pop up weekly)

 

Wyatt claims to have the input shaft I need for the swap, but I'm not turning down the idea of swapping in an FJ case. Thanks for the input on the shift pattern.

 

lol - Ant's had some practice installing these...

 

You guys are a bunch of bad influences.

 

Not convinced I need twin sticks. Care to spend more of my money?

 

Just do it!

 

Besides Wyatt, where can I get the short throw shifters required for the install?

 

Twin sticks allow for 2lo & 2 compound low. Now 2 compound low is probably redundant unless you are turtle racing ( )
However 2lo on the trail is nice when following auto trans trailmates that keep stop & go...

Davez off-road - but be prepared to wait. (also don't order knobs - you may not get them)
Marlin apparently has the shift kit as well.
You could keep the standard J shift. I know Mark @NwiTACO had his that way for a while...