Building the "BEAST"

Got my crawler box back from Marlin Crawler. It now has the 4.70 gears in it. It was slow before when in compound low but now it will be 112% slower. The final crawl ratio will be 237 to 1. Thats low. Also they put in their new coupler which is stronger than the previous one. I love their products.




Here is another reason the Marlin "Taco Box" is so good. They use whats called total spline technology. The splines on the input shaft go all the way to the end of the shaft instead of just a small portion and then a drop off to a smaller diameter section as on stock or other products. Won't be breaking any of these any time soon.



I'll be putting this back in next weekend and then it's off to the rocks to play with my new toy.

 

Wyatt what to say found this thread my first day on the site. been reading through it for a few hours and my jaw is dropped. The name is dead on this thing is a BEAST. Any chance you have any openings for a tech at your shop? Coming off a shoulder surgery and am not looking forward to going back to fixing everybody DD minvans? Live in San Diego but would be willing to make the daily trip just to sponge up some of the knowledge in that shop. Even if i could sweep up the floors on the weekends. Have an ASE cert, worked for a few dealerships and done alittle of everything and after reading this thread obviously a whole lot of nothing compared to the work in that place.

 

Thank you very much.

You've got a PM.

 

Got my crawler box Back from Marlin Crawler. They updated it a bit.


They put their 4.70 gears in it with their new coupler.


Marlin Crawler always use's their exclusive total spline technology on their crawl box's. It just makes their products that much stronger.


Here is the Transfer case. First I had to remove any of the old sealant and prepare the mating sufaces fro the new sealant. I hate leaks.


I also made sure that I got all the old sealant from inside the bolt holes. Did I mention I hate leaks?


Then I cleaned the crawler box surfaces. Marlins gys had it really clean already though.


Then I used ultra grey rtv sealant. This stuff works the best.


Made sure I got it all they way around the bolt holes so there are no leaks.


Bolted the two together.


Next was the shifter. First off, whenever I take something apart, I always get some freezer bags and put the bolts screws and other stuff in them and lable them so I don't have to guess what belongs to what. Cheap insurance, and I never have anything left over.
Here is the oil slinger that goes between the box and the shifter. Many times this peice is left off and then people wonder why they have gearoil smell and gear oil all over the place.


Oil slinger in place and ready for the shifter.


Shifter installed and the box is ready to go back in the truck.


Cleaned up my cross member skid plate. Notice the two mounts. One is for the crawler box and the other is for the transmission. I think it is very important to support both the tranny and the crawler box. Some people don't.



Now it's time to get it back in the truck.

 

damn marlin does some nice work. with the crawler intalled what ratos are getting?

 

With the 4.70 gears I'm now at 237:1 in ultra low.

 

Welcome to TW

 

so you could pretty much get out and walk faster than it. must be nice.

 

Yep. Pretty much.

 

Hey guys. This crawler will fit into your Taco's as well. To me it is one of if not the best upgrade you can make to your truck. Even if you just went with the 2.28 gears instead of the 4.70's it would change your 4 wheeling life.


The control it offers and the places you can wheel just went up tremendously from where it was when you were stock. Save up your pennies and put one of these under your truck. You'll love it.

 

Where is the shifter location for the marlin inside the cab?

 

Right here next to the shifter for the trans.


Looks like it came from the factory that way

 

that looks like SEX

 

The crawler box is back in it's place and man does it move slow now!!!!!

Amazing!

 

would this thing fit on a stock vehicle? I ask because I cannot afford to get all that stuff right now, but would be very interested in starting here with this piece to protect everything i have now, and as a first step in the transformation of my drive train

 

marlin only has an adapter for the autos as of right now, thus the reason i went with inchworm. other than that it will bolt up, the inchworm setup required some slight massaging of the floorboard and both would require driveshaft modifications.

 

whats up Fire,

Thats kind of good news, as i do have an Auto (i know)

I do want to get a krawler, but i am really unfamiliar with how they operate, connect, or pretty much anything having to do with them, other than they improve offroad performance.

 

No. This cross member would not fit a stock truck. You have too many cross members in the way. It is totally custom.

 

If you go to the previous page, you can see how they hook up. The transfer case is removed, then the crawler is bolted to the front of the transfer case, the intire unit is then bolted to the back of the transmission.
Now, when your offroad and you come to a section that is difficult you now have more gearing choices. If your in 4lo and you engage your crawler, you now are in an ultra low gear that allows slower wheel speed but greater torque which will help you over the tough spots.

I've done sections that would have required a locker before I had the crawler and just walked right up in low gear unlocked.

Plus the control you now have is out of this world. The slow speeds give you time to think through your sections rather than power through them ending up breaking stuff. I love it.

 

I'll try to get a video of it in ultra low gear this week.