StevenP’s 37s + IFS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ build

Ah didn't realize you had a body lift. I'm sure that'll help a lot with that.
Also realized that you're an auto, so a bit different positioning but same principles.
Keep it up!

 

@betterbuckleup outlined the triple sticks well, but just to expand a little bit on the topic, “twin sticking” your stock T case allows you to shift your L-N-H gears independently from your 2WD-4WD drive - typically there is an interlock pin that does not allow this, and thus you can not go into 2WD-Lo. When you twin stick your stock t case you basically give yourself another gearing option previously unavailable, and it can be a help if you are on trail and want to stay in lo gearing, but need to disconnect power from the front wheels so that you can make a tighter turn, or you need to sort of shift your rear end when on an obstacle. It’s certainly not a frequently used option, but if you have the tcase out for other things its a worthwhile (in my opinion) modification to make.

You’ll see lots of variations for shifters.

You can keep the stock t case set up and just have 1 additional shifter from the crawl box, for a total of two sticks; with this set up you’ll likely see a shifter near the glove box in a cup holder, and one up front.

You can have Twin Sticks out of the stock t case and 1 shifter out of the crawl box for a total of 3. In this set up you’ll likely see two shifters near the glove box in a cup holder and one up front.

Finally you can do Triple Sticks, which basically adds linkage from the stock tcase up to the crawl box, thus placing all the shifters up front. You can see the linkage in that picture I posted on the previous page to get a visual on what I mean. From there you can bend and modify the shifters to go where you want.

 

If you have access to a welder, that will be super easy!

 

I’ve had my welder sitting in my shed for a month or so.. I think its finally time to break it out and figure it out. If I’m being honest I’ve been hesitant to set it up and start practicing for fear doing shit incorrectly, but so much of what I have left to do depends on welding, so I think I just have to get over it and get started. Looking into a couple last necessary items right now so I can pull it out and set it up, maybe even later today depending on how lifting the dual cases into position goes.

 

Making shifter handles is the perfect beginning welding project!! Not much to go wrong if you did mess it up.

Weddings easy, get a bunch of scrap metal and watch some videos and practice. I like the weld.com youtube channel.

 

Yeah, I’m thinking it’s a much better first project than my bumpers or sliders hahaha.

The Weld.com YouTube channel is great, I watched a ton of stuff when I got the welder to try and give myself some idea of what to do, I’ll have to go back and refresh a little bit, but it’s a great resource. University of YouTube man.. so much information out there!

 

Yea my advice is to just melt metal until you get the hang of it. Just run beads on scrap in various joint configurations and cut them apart and repeat. Get an auto darkening helmet if you dont have one already, makes everything so much easier, especially when you are starting out.

 

Teaser shot! They only delivered 1, the delivery guy said the other is at the warehouse and should be coming later today. Not even gonna bother opening stuff until I have it all on hand, I want to finish some crawl box stuff first anyways and make sure I don’t need that easy access to the trans tunnel area. Hopefully I’ll have the other seat delivered and get to a spot later on today where I can put them in and let y’all know my initial impressions.

 

Jody at weldingtipsandtricks.com and Bob Moffat at your website you listed are probably the best I’ve found.

 

I’ve watched a ton of all of those, and then some, haha. I feel like I have a good knowledge of what to do, whether or not I can translate that in practice is yet to be seen. I thought I might have time today to bust out the welder and slap some uglies on some scrap, but the dual cases kicked my ass most of the day lol.

I unboxed the Trail Gear Crossmember.. good lord, this thing is insanely beefy.. 91 lbs of 3/8 plate! It’s a super nice piece, but after pulling it out and pondering I’m having second thoughts. I have bud built skids, and the belly pan spans that whole region, I’m thinking I may just modify that to act as support and sell the trail gear piece. 124 lbs for the entire bud built skids from front bumper to gas tank vs 91 lbs for ultra beef under the cases. If you’re interested shoot me a PM, I got it on sale, and will give you the same price



I then started to devise a method of lifting the dual cases up the transmission. I figured I would use a couple ratcheting straps at the front and rear of the case and try to lift it up evenly. Eyeballed the positioning, and laid them down.



Then I dragged the cases over and tried to find decent placement for the straps on the underside. Once I had things relatively set, I began.



It got a little tospy turvy at times, and I had to reposition it a ton of times along the way.



Once I was closing in on the transmission I realized I need a way to keep it off the tail housing, so the splines didn’t put in work on the mating surfaces or the seal. So I busted out a few more straps lol



This all went down relatively quickly, and I was feeling pretty good, patting myself on the back, thinking “ok, just gotta bolt this sucker up”. But I began to look at things and had to stop and pause and search out some answers.

I wasn’t sure whether or not the tail housing to crawl box was supposed to be sealed. It didn’t say anything in the installation instructions, and the stock set up doesn’t have any gasket or sealant there between the trans and the t case.. I had a feeling it would need sealant, but wanted to double check.

I also wasn’t sure about how the crawl box vented to atmosphere. The stock Tcase has a breather thanks to the RAD Designs Triple Stick set up providing a 1/8th NPT port on the shifter base (the stock shifter base also has a vent.. now had I paid more attention when pulling things a few days ago I would’ve known the answer...). But the Trail Gear shifter base that goes on the crawl box does not have a port for vent so I was concerned.

I called Trail Gear and they told me that the tail housing to crawl box definitely needs sealant, and not to worry about the crawl box, that the units would vent together. I posted that up with a bit of skepticism, and @wrmathis confirmed that there would indeed be no joint venting between the tcase and the crawl box since the tcase is a sealed unit.

I forgot to ask Trail Gear about this issue.. there was no way in hell the stock hardware was going to get past that hump for reassembly.



I scratched my head for a while, and dropped the cases back down to the ground. I took the stock hardware and cut it down into a stud and put that into the tail housing and found an appropriate nut to use on install. Then I took off the crawl box shift plate and looked for a reasonable place to drill and tap a port. There wasn’t a lot of room, so I grabbed the old stock tcase shift plate thinking I’ll just clean this up.. cleaned it up, went to check that it worked with the triple stick plate, all good.. but my dumbass forgot that the crawl box is from an older truck. None of the holes lined up.

Thats when I started looking a little closer, and if you’ve been reading my ramblings to this point, this is where paying attention while I pulled the stock Tcase on day 1 would’ve saved me a lot of time! The stock Tcase, with that damn vent port on the shifter plate, connects to the tail housing, which has a vent!



So I just needed to to see if there was a channel up high between the crawl box and tail housing, and sure enough there is, thanks to the empty slot for the passenger side shift rail



With all that wasted time out of the way I filled up the cases to do a little leak test, so far so good, and ratcheted them back up, applied FIPG to the tail housing, and bolted it up. The light wasn’t very good, and my hands were a disaster, so I didn’t grab my phone for any more pictures.

Tomorrow I’m going to work on the triple sticks and getting them where I want them, so I’ll take some pictures of things then.

OH, I should mention.. I have a 1” body lift from Roger at 4crawler, and it gave me plenty of room for the shift linkages, absolutely no need to hammer the tunnel.

 

nice looking killer! that would have driven nuts and partially why I have not dropped my trans to do the valve body job. With my luck I will lose something. I do need to take a crack at my welder. A bit in teh same boat but just need to get at it.

 

We got this!

I really wanted to set it up and practice today, but it was an all day event with the crawl box shenanigans. One of those days where you clean up and look back on it in disbelief that it took so long to do so little lol

 

I def had a few of those moments the past few months when I was installing the S/C and other bits on the truck.

I have a set of seats as well but from another make I am trying to retro fit into my truck. The tracks may be too wide but main thing I need to do it weld up some new tracks or bracket either the stock parts or my own version of it. Might be a good first welding project.

 

Sounds like a great first project, out of sight, the welds can be as ugly as you want

 

ha yah pretty much. Seems like when I get that down it will be easy. The bigger issue will be if the tracks are wide for the truck. Its going to be close. The base is electric so no option to swap it for a different manual setup.

 

I reckon you’ll find out! If you want a hand with it let me know

 

def should link up soon. Schedule has been chaotic and would like to see that beast your putting together

 

Looks good man.

Did you RTV the coupler to the trans output and crawlbox input? Please say yes.

I did a custom mount that ties into the factory cross-member. It uses a Marlin HD mount. In 2 years it hasn't moved. It was cheap and it was easy.

 

Thanks @theesotericone

And I think I did what you are asking about.. I’m hoping we’re just calling things different names, a bit scared now lol.. I put FIPG on the new seal at the tail housing because there was only an actual seal at the crawl box side, and a slathered the coupler with anti seize. Here’s a picture. Please tell me this what ya mean lol



And I like your support for the crawl box, certainly lighter!! I have the bud built skids and I think I’m just gonna modify the belly skid to accept the mount. Here’s a pic of what I’m thinking..

 

I had the same thought about using my Savage skids to attach the mount to. I decided the factory cross member was a better choice. If you use the skids it's 4 more bolts that have to come off to drop the skids. There's a very good chance those bolts get beat up pretty bad and are hard to remove. Any hard hits to the skids transfer that force directly to the crawlbox. The mount I made took less then an hour from cardboard temp to full welded up. I used 1/4" steel scrap that was laying around.

Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about in regard to the coupling. I used RTV on the seal and the coupling but tons of guys have used anti-seize on the coupling with the same results.