jimbo74

so if i get these, i will need 4 of them i am guessing.. they appear to also come with the washers. anyways, my rear end has the big 24 mm drain & fill plug. the tranny aslo has this as the drain plug.... however my fill plug is a 17 mm and completely rounded.. i dont have a replacement yet so i havent tried very hard to remove it... no this issue i want to ask, everyone says yeah they look cool you should get them, but i havent seen any actual long term opinions on these... the marlin ones use a 10 mm allen key... i wnat to get them, but not if it will be worse trying to get it out later... no matter what i do, no project ever turns out like it should.. if i get the marlin plugs, whats the chance of them stripping out? i dont really care if the allen key strips as those are replaced easily, but there is nothing to grab onto to remove it if i strip the allen key hole.....

mt_goat

You shouldn't ever have a problem stripping a socket head cap screw, the allen wrench itself should get rounded before the hole does. They look like great plugs to get, keeps the rocks from knocking your plug loose and those damn stock plugs seem very soft and easy to round off. I'd like to at least get one for my rear diff drain plug (make a note self).

sschaefer3

Just buy them from the dealer, Marlin does.

90341-18021 Plug w/magnet
90430-18008 Gasket, tranny/transfer

jimbo74

haha, tried that... they are special order only..... i actually saw your post about this somewhere in another thread with differnt part numbers for a lot of 3rd gen stuff.....

they said it was special order and no one around them had it (it was only like $3.79)..... i then had them look up the regular drainplug for my truck and they said the closet one to me was 30 miles away and they cost $13 something each.... i said forget it and left......

sschaefer3

Yes they are special order and are $1.38 each.

www.1sttoyotaparts.com

I order everything online, why pay the dealers rip-off prices. Retail on this part is $1.91 but I do know they probably did quote you $3.XX something. Alot of dealers price over list.

Plan ahead and order online.

Tiger Paw

Hey, Jim, sorry to hear that your rear end has such a big plug That must be quite painful. I'd see a doc about that.

Seriously, though, I know what you mean about them rounding off. I tried to get my tranny fill plug out this past weekend and it wouldn't budge even with the breaker bar. It just rounded off.
I ordered xfer case replacement plugs from the dealer because mine are getting rounded and, of course, they're special order. I think the two of them cost me $10, but I don't remember. I think everything for my truck is special order, but if I order before 11am, and it's in stock at the warehouse, it gets in around 5pm the same day. I use Deland Toyota and those guys are great. I go in there so much that they usually don't make me prepay for the S.O. parts. Charlie at the counter is a great guy. He knows my girlfriend and I by name. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing Probably means I go there too much.
If you order the Allen keyed ones, let us know how you like 'em. If Mt. Goat is right (and I'm sure he is) about them not rounding out, I may get some as well.

kyle_22r

i'm going to swap all my fill/drain plugs to the allen style, i hate the factory ones with a passion. out of 4 of them, 1 is still lodged in the front fill hole(waiting for me to weld a nut to it), and one had to be removed with a chisel from the rear drain hole. they seem to seize in there, but there isn't enough meat on them to get a decent bite with a socket and they just round off...

jimbo74

mine will come out eventually.... and it is the tranny fill hole... i topped of the diff and it was fine came of pretty easy with my short 12 point socket and the 18" craftsman breakerbar... also snugged up the drain one...... went to check tranny, and its got some different bolt in their that was a 17mm before i made it completely round.....my trip to the stealership did reveal though it lists the same part for fill and drain on the tranny....

i need to order some soon from the site steve said... but my bank acct isnt set up with a atm card yet... the bank is lagging, i have had my account a month now and still no atm card..... had the checks 5 days after i oppened the acct, and there was a weekend counting as 2 of the days.....

jimbo74

what i am worried about is the chance of me stripping the allen hole with the allen key wrench..... should i be worried? has anyone ever had problems with this issue? dont care if the plug strips my allen key, they are cheap to replace and not the part stuck in my truck

GrillmasterP

Actually it has happened to me before- on my brothers Tacoma -
Had a hell of a time trying to remove his front diff drain plug the first time-
(Never had probs with my front diff drain /fill, nor his fill plug)

Ended up breaking a craftsman 3/8 " drive 10mm hex bit- The replacement 10mm hex bit started to open up the hex head-
I bought an impact grade 1/2" drive 10mm Hex bit - But by this time - it was too late- Impact gun & Hex bit rounded the drain plug-
had to resort to this:
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/~gril...s/img_2855.jpg

GrillmasterP

As long as you don't overtorque the plug upon reinstallation- it shouldn't be an issue-

- See above-

As far as the differences between the different plugs- the thread pattern is the same even though the bolt heads may be different-

jimbo74

see i have stripped allen head cap screws befroe... this si why i am worried.... sometimes sideloading and being buff like i am strips stuff.... (well, maybe more ogrelike) see here is a pic of me:
LOL

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Not sure if the tranny fill plug is the same or not. I have the socket style plugs in the fill holes of both axles and the t-case fill and drain(s). I don't have any removeable drain plugs in the axles, rear one is welded in place, awaiting a shaved axle housing like I run up front:

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...hClearanceAxle

Haven't had any trouble with those plugs yet, although I think I may have only removed one or two. Actually, they don't work very well on the axle drain plugs, a few folks in my club were running them but all had them scrape loose on the trail and lose gear oil. Mine have been welded in place for years now:

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/...ugs/index.html

jimbo74

roger, you are running the marlin ones right? with the allen hole?

i beleive they are the same... although the application for my truck is not the oem allen one, the part number they had listed for the tranny drain and fill were the same.... for sure, the tranny drain and diff drain and fill are the same plug on my truck.....

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Marlin put his plugs in my t-case when it was rebuilt. The rest I traded for some old style plugs with some 3rd gen folks, I guess they have some of each style. All are the same, 10mm allen socket. Only difference is the washers used, there is supposedly one for aluminum (like the gear boxes) and one for steel (line the axles).

Haven't done anything with my tranny plugs, since they are in great shape and I haven't had to touch the gear oil since I last changed it in 2002.

mt_goat

So Roger, how do you change your gear oil if your drain plugs are welded in?

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

As noted in both the web page links, you simply weld the two bottom nuts to the studs and then simply back out the studs to drain the oil. Works fine, a little slower to drain. Not like you have to do that frequently anyway and usually the only time I drain the oil it to pull the 3rd member out.

seaflea

In his article he uses his 2 lowest studs to drain the oil. he has welded nuts to them to make it easier to get out.

mt_goat

Oh thanks, I didn't see that 2nd link.

jimbo74

just did some searching and the trdparts4u.com site has the same parts available and are cheaper than the link steve provided, but only by a few cents (im talking few cents, the biggest difference was $.06)