Official Crawlbox BS thread!

Compared to my other truck...my Tacoma is my DD ..
Thankfully I live 3 miles from work so I can always ride my bike in whenever I do get to a 2nd transfer case install.

I don't mind noise...lifted and wheeled trucks are always louder than stock...I just want to fully understand how significant the noise may or may not increase.

 

Noise and vibration will depend on a lot of factors, some you have control over, some you don't. Parts tolerance inside the gear box you buy will be out of your control. If you frankenstein something together you might get more noise too. Rubber or poly mounts and how big the holes you chop in the chassis for the sticks will also affect noise levels.

NWfabs gear box is still in preorder, I don't think they've got any in the wild yet so it'll be a while before we will hear about any reports.

 

Amen! While i can still DD my truck, i just cant. Maybe its my OCD . the stick rattles and the vibes from the poly mounts (despite cranking up the radio) made me me steal the wifes 4runner and buy her a new vehicle. I'll still drive it once a week (and she males me smile), but i cant everyday. Too annoying. Although, i was in corys
@cbechtold rig amd it was very opposite... His had a nice tune, kinda like a SC. But i wasn't in it on the freeway so i cant say too much. My shit is loud and it emits so much hear

 

Yep, I was blown away when I got in my buddy’s truck because my crawler is seriously invisible aside from the extra shifter poking through the floor. Zero impact on the DD-ability or NVH. Non wheeling people have borrowed my truck and only were confused about the extra shifter.

I get having a second mode of transportation doing the initial crawbox install. Getting into custom driveshafts, crossmembers, etc takes some time and having a way to get to work Monday makes it a lot less stressful if something goes wrong.

At the same time it’s not really different than wheeling your DD, there’s always a stress level of a possible break that will leave you needing to rent a car or get a tow home.

 

Yea I'm using a regular RF1A housing with TG adapters, Marlin gears and a marlin coupler between trans and crawlbox. The TG couple didn't slide on super easy onto the Marlin gear input shaft.
No problems with it so far.
Not much gear noise at all on the road, but you can hear the gears racking back and forth against themselves when I'm on and off the brakes or when you load/unload the drivetrain.

Like others have said, lot of these sounds you don't really have control over due to different setup configs and tolerances.
Biggest affect outside of that would be how big of a hole you cut in the floor and how much you do to seal it back up & add insulation, etc.

Another thing worth noting is that the crawlbox will put off more heat when you're just driving around town and you don't have as much air being pushed around the drivetrain as when you do on the highway.

 

Low-low-and-slow made getting into this mess, then out of it, much safer lol

 

Only time I hear my Atlas is with the main case in low, or 4wd, and the various combinations of that. The planetary by itself is unnoticeable, to me.

 

Just ordered my crawl box from NW fab, should be here august/September. I ended up just going with the stock t case in the rear.

 

How much did it set you back?

 

Didn't know they were accepting orders already. I'm on their preorder list.
Just checked my email and saw nothing

 

1300 for the box and 400 for the triple shifters. A bit steep for the shifters but they’re supposed to bolt right in… so we’ll see

I was also, I got on it as soon as they advertised it and they just called me today. They said I was number 18, so I’d imagine you should be getting a call soon.

 

Ah, yeah I didn't sign up until late May/early June.

 

1300 for a complete unit, ready to install?

 

Nope, I need a donor vf2 to steal the planetaries out of, but those are pretty cheap and readily available where I am at least.

 

Number 12 on the list, got a call from them yesterday.

 

I'm having mine installed next month.
Can't wait.

 

Very interested in the NW fab case and what it takes to make it work.

 

Been watching the NWFab stuff for a bit. Interested to see how your builds go. This is something I'm looking at doing next year.

 

Anyone need some knobs? Came off a Marlin shifter and radesigns triple stick.