Official Crawlbox BS thread!

mostly leaks and actually getting parts to install one

 

Leaks, leaks and more leaks.... The joke about dual cases is if they aren't leaking anymore then they are dry. Some folks manage to get theirs not to leak but most people that get to that point have to track down a bunch of leaks beforehand. On mine I thought I stopped the only leak I had, but now I've got another one that is worse than the first and can't figure out the source

bullshit lead times from Marlin, and non existent products. I got lucky when I ordered mine last year when they first started accepting orders again, they said lead time was a couple months..... It ended up taking 7. I don't think anything has changed since I got mine, I've only seen reports of a handful of guys install them over the last 2 years.

mine has an annoying noise, I haven't heard many people complain about this but I find the raspy whirling noise annoying. I've had mine in for a year and checked the drain plug multiple times, there's nothing wrong, the noise just annoys me. Maybe @Wishbone Runner can chime in on how loud his atlas is now that he's been running around on it for a bit. Have you thought about changing the poly mount s out to rubber to help with the vibes?

Other oddball/minor install issues like where certain bolts go and what holes get drill out. There are no instructions so if you haven't done it and plan on doing it yourself just double the time you think it'll take to install it since you're likely to fuck it up. And give yourself time after wheeling it for the first time since you're probably going to have to drop the cases again to fix the issues you found on your first trip. I had a lot of clearance issues with the chassis and I'm still having oddball issues.

can't clock them anymore so you'll always have the OEM case hanging below the frame on second gens

I've got a tacobox and if I could go back in time I would have gotten an atlas.

 

i agree with this. i did manage to get all my leaks sealed. its loud and annoying and i get a clunking when i deaccelerate. for all the money i have spent on it and the fj case's, an atlas would have worked out better in the long run

 

I get that same noise, but it's so faint I can only hear it if nobody's talking and the radio is off, otherwise you have to know it's there and listen carefully to hear it.

 

I may have said this before in this thread, but I’ve had both a doubler (inchworm in 2009) and I went with an atlas this time and I’ll do atlas 10 times out of 10 from now on. Everything you said is spot on. Inchworm had pretty good customer service but every time I’ve called Marlin various times, from 2009 all the way up to 2017, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever gotten anyone to answer the phone. That and nothing ever in stock.... and they leak..... it’s really a no brainer to go with atlas. With that said, my atlas does leak a little and is noisey, but at least I’ll never have to worry about it breaking or not being able to get someone on the phone if assistance is needed. Money well spent imo

 

So far after my install I've had no leaks at all. Took my time to make sure I followed all the cure times for the silicone and apply generous amounts. I haven't wheeled it yet with the crawlbox, but did you find that leaks started to develop over time/usage? Or more so at the start after installation?

I've actually had good luck with Marlin recently. I've been able to get a hold of someone within max 5 min of waiting on hold (albeit the same guy answering the phone every time, so let that speak for itself). Although before when I've tried to get a hold of them in the last few years, I was never able to get anyone to pickup the phone in numerous attempts.

Sounds like the install is much more involved on a second gen than it is on a first gen. Did you get a complete built unit from Marlin when you did yours?

 

i got a complete unit from inchworm back in 2012. mine pretty much leaked from the getgo but i think sometimes it developed over time? ive had them up and down a few time over the years. i dont think its anymore involved on a second then. drop Tcase, install crawlbox and all parts and adapters, reinstall tcase, and get drivelines cut down/extended. same would happen on a 1st or 3rd gen.

 

Yeah, complete unit from Marlin. My first leak was on one of the flanges sealed by Marlin in their shop, it was coming from a bolt hole on one of the flanges that was extended a tiny amount past the main body of the case. I sealed that up from the outside, but now I've got a other leak and can't figure out where it's coming from.

Don't know how it is on other platforms but I had to do a lot of hammering in the transmission tunnel on the driver side and at the top near the TC output flange. I had to drop the cases after the first trip to go back in and clearance it even more. For some reason on my last trip to Moab in September my output flange would start hitting the chassis after about 30min of driving. Not sure if my drivetrain mounts were loosening up from the heat and shifting the back up or if my chassis is sinking after rolling for a short bit.

Some instructions would have been really fucking nice. I get the argument of "figure it out" but some decent fucking instructions could have probably saved me 12 hours+ of tacobox/drivetrain related work since I've installed it.

 

the bolded portion is the truth. basically gotta find all the installs online and mash them together to figure anything out

 

Gotcha. I guess the saying "if you want something done right, do it yourself" applies in this case. You would think that a company like Marlin who's been doing this for so many years would have their shit together and know how to seal that shit up.

Are you running an additional mount on the crawlbox, or just the factory mount?

I'm surprised marlin doesn't provide any sort of instructions for a built unit that the customer installs. Didn't know that was the case.
I wonder how much of the TG install instructions can apply to the marlin unit (not that they're all that great themselves)

That's what I thought, but the mentioning of drilling a bunch of holes and stuff to get it to mount is what made me question it.
Did you pull it all apart when you first discovered the leaks and re-seal it up yourself?

 

I bought my axles and diamond didn't provide any instruction, lol. I don't expect them to provide any instruction btw. It should be up to me to figure it out, not rely on them.

 

Yeah, they promoted the shit out of those tacoboxes and never bothered to make a generic instruction sheet for the auto fj/4runner/tacoma models they were marketing it to.

I added one of their OEM rubber mounts to the taco box, but I think before I tacked it into place I may have preloaded it a small amount, with that mount being new and the engine/tranny mounts old it might be exerting extra force upwards......or the interference could be from relocating the front body mounts and my rear mounts failing, however my pinch weld/slider gap hasn't changed much. Or I bent the hell out of the tranny crossmember in Moab and I just can't remember it hitting that hard. if the extra interference I'm having isn't due to one of those I'd be surprised.

After I got back I ordered new engine/tranny mounts and made a new tranny crossmember, I gave myself more clearance than I had before so I'm hoping to never have interference there again.

I remarked on the clearance issues at the flange since I would bet money those atlases aren't as long as a tacobox assembly on a second gen. That configuration puts the output flange right next to the guide plate for the transmission/ebrake cables on 2nd gen tacomas

 

Ya I would agree that I would imagine it is likely a combination of a few of those things being tweaked.
Should hopefully be solid now with new mounts and crossmember

Haven't seen an atlas in a tacoma in person, so hard to remark about the length. Definitely adds length over stock, but I'd imagine it would be within 4 or so inches compared to duals? Those atlas cases are big 'ole units.

 

Except "figuring it out" usually involves fucking up a bunch of things in the process and I enjoy using my truck a lot more than working on it. Coming from a "running a business perspective" I'd also bet spending an hour or two making instructions/guidelines/whatever would save countless hours in customer service answering questions that could be simply typed out and printed on a sheet of paper.

FWIW I don't think something like axles should include instructions either, too many applications and plenty of good sources of information from all over the internet.

 

Nothing aftermarket should come with instruction, that's what I'm trying to get to. If you can't figure out or is struggling and don't want to research, you shouldn't attempt the project.

 

You realize that "instructions" are "research" that is provided for you by a product maker...... Right? Damn you're salty as fuck.

Judging by all the questions I see in this thread no one should really be installing dual cases at all since they can't figure it out themselves.

 

Salty Salty Salty

 

Except axles do have instruction manuals, it's called the FSM for the axle parts you are using!!

 

That's pretty spot on for all the gens! I'm betting it's weeping out from the shifters when it gets hot on yours. My dual/lefty does the same thing. I got just about all the leaks eliminated, but now it just kind of weeps in certain spots. As long as fluid isn't dripping out it's GTG in my mind. I tell evreyone who installs a crawler to get a trans jack, the odds are almost 10 out of 10 that you will have to drop the cases at some point for something and the trans jack turns a 1hr shit job into a 5min not so shit job.

They will be noisy depending on what year gears they put in there and especially if it's a 2.28. the real early truck gears were super noisey and they redesigned them to quiet them down. I have some real early gears in my truck and it rattles and whines pretty good, it really chatters bad when I let off the gas on the highway, I do also have an auto lockers in the rear and I guess that's part of the cause. It's been doing it for 5yrs and hasn't blown up yet, so I'm fine in my mind.

 

I got into this expecting additional noise and expecting unforeseen issues. To think otherwise would be foolish.

When @loosnut & @6 gearT444E and I took on the initial install we found that the oil seal adapter I received from Inchworm was for an auto trans and not a manual. It took them like 6 weeks to ship me the correct one. I got the specs for it from Wyatt and had one turned for me at a local fab shop for $75 and was able to get the truck back together.

This is not an easy mod but if you enjoy wheeling it is pretty much the most rewarding one when you hit the trail.