hoverlover’s “there are many like it, but this one is mine” extra long title bs thread and build too

What engine and transmission does that truck have? Is that a first gen??

 

1st gen auto trans and V6. It belongs to @CedarPark . Trail Gear crawl box.

Notes, on a 1st gen doing this, just remove the transmission cross member for the trans mount, it makes it easy. Also, remove the tail housing off the transmission and remove the output shaft bearing and seal before reassembly. Third, your factory transfer case wiring will not reach. Obviously, your driveshafts will need to be custom lengthened/shortened. The floor of the truck will need to be cut because the 4x4 lever will be moved back (in this case) 8 inches.

Other than that, it's easy peasy component swap.

 

Besides the fact the crawlbox/t case/tail housing was heavy as fuck

 

Meh, try a full-size truck transmission lol

 

Man I hope my second gen install is as straight forward. What'd you guys do for the cross member?

 

Mostly remove it, insert trans mount, hammer one side in place, hold it with a bolt, hammer the other side, hold it with a bolt, tweak both sides with a pry bar fitting the last two bolts per side and tighten. Use a jack with a wood block to adjust transmission angle to bolt the mount to the actual transmission.

 

You didn't add or modify a brace to the cross member?

 

No, but I could see that being a necessity. There's about 30 lbs more weight hanging off past the trans mount, not including the transfer case being pushed back nearly a foot. That's a lot of leverage on the stock transmission mount.

 

Crawl Box update

I was hoping to get the crawl box installed and tested so I could experiment with it a bit on the trails at HF on 9/20. That's still my goal, but it's going to depend on Davez and/or Marlin Crawler. It's a first come first paid deal at this point. Davez is cheaper by nearly half, but I have a feeling it isn't the right part as they specialize in first gen tacos. That said, I won't know until I have it in my hands and I'm trying to button it onto my truck. The guy I spoke with sounded confident and knowledgeable when we were talking about my second gen but nothing on their site extends beyond 1995. Still waiting on them to get back to me.

Trail Gear - I just spoke with a tech and they currently do not make an adapter plate for the 6 speed. So they're out.

Marlin Crawler - I'm not going to hold my breath on a Taco Box from them. Lead times lately are 6-8 months+ and they do not make an adapter that works for the 6 speed. According to Marlin "they're going to work on it in the future. Not the near future, maybe later this fall or in the winter."

To quote another member here: "...The tacobox itself isn't the issue...it is the same between MT and AT so the lead time is the same regardless of trans. It's the adapters that are the issue, specifically the adapter plate and the spline adapter to mate the crawl box into to the trans tailshaft.

[He] was told that with the current adapter plate design, there is extra space between the crawl box and the trans that is allowed to fill with fluid and cool better. On the MT, the extra space is creating back pressure that forces oil up to leak out of the shift boot. They are working on a redesign as stated in the previous post but who knows when?

The other is the spline adapter. The AT tailshaft has a 23 spline output which works great with the 23 spline input on the TacoBox. The MT on the other hand has a 22 spline output (that's based on [HIS] research...Marlin says its 19 spline) and Marlin does not make an adapter from the MT to the Tacobox. Once again...they are designing one. With Inchworm out of business, there is supposedly an adapter available from Advance Adapters ([he hasn't] found it yet in their site) but according to Marlin, the quality isn't up to their standards, the fit is loose, and has caused issues with vibrating annoyingly and/or fretting (wearing down) either input or output shaft.

They decided as a matter of quality that they don't want to produce taco boxes for MTs until they get those issues worked out.

So [his] take away is that you can get in line on the wait list to have a crawl box built for your MT by lying and saying you have an AT, but you're going to have to get creative installing it and may have to deal with rattles and leaks and possibly damage to trans output or crawlbox input..."

First world problems amirite? For now I'll continue to wait on the reply from Davez and go from there. In the meantime, I've got a bunch of maintenance stuff to take care of and I'd love to get the tire carrier started. Getting the tire out from under the truck would be awesome. I should also have an update on the engine and the oil in the next week or so.

Thanks for checking in, I know that was a long one lol, stay classy

 

Good luck!

 

#skillz

 

Let me know if you need to come do some welding. I’m working through the weekend and next week is kinda hectic, but I bet we can get you in the shop one evening and get it knocked out.

 

Hell yea

I’m slammed this weekend, not sure about next, but I’m sure we can work something out. Want to plan for the weekend of the 10th/11th for now?

 

Damn, I’ll be working that weekend. I essentially work every other weekend. I’m good during the week when I’m on off days too though.

 

That’s alright, my wife goes back to work teaching around the 16th. When she does it’ll be a lot easier for me to meet up during the week. Just let me know what’s easiest for you and we’ll see what we can do

 

I’m in the same boat, I’m ready for her and the kids to go back so I can get some things done lol!

 

Good Morning Alex
Too bad about Davez and the marlin box is such a long wait. I will try and call them today.

 

lol, yea, same here

Eh, it is what it is. I’ll figure something out to make it work. If you want to use my work address to see if you can still save on shipping just let me know!

 

Morning, Alex