One quick question to the one who knows. Over at Marlin Crawler they have the L52 Transmission they have under “Performance Type” a “Standard” and a “Heavy Duty” for an additional $100.00.

What’s the difference?

Please explain in a non-technical way (newbie).

 

Well...the L series 5speed tranny's had issues with a weak input shaft bearing. Undersized, so it would fail prematurely. Add larger tires to the mix (which everybody does with a first gen) and it's even worse. So if you just rebuild it the way it came, it still has that weakness. Drive the truck right and don't have huge tires and you're probably fine, but there was an issue with some of those bearings. Supposedly the L52HD has a later model gear set in it which accomadates larger bearings. So this would eliminate that weakness. For the money I think it's worth it...but then I have one...

They used to have a much better description on the site as to what the L52HD was, but for some reason they took it down. Now there's just a drop down menu to choose from with a "heavy duty bearing" option and no description. I don't know why they changed that.

 

Cool, thank you!

 

I agree with 83..I had an Crawler L52 HD installed into my '83.. For $100 it makes sense, especially if you do any off roading..

 

Will it be okay if I install it on a daily driver with some off-roading in between. I drive a 1982 Toyota Pickup 4x4 SR5.

 

As far as I know the HD has nothing to do with offroad. Sholobeck may have had some custom crawler gears put in his tranny, but the the L52HD is just stronger bearings. Last I looked on Marlin's site, the gear ratios were exactly the same for the L52 and L52HD. My truck is a daily driver, taken it from Montana to Arizona, 70mph. It's a regular old transmission, nothing "offroad". At least that's the way it was when I got mine.

 

I would do the HD, when ever I get to buying a new tranny, it will be the HD, and I won't offroad much, just once in a while.

 

if I had the $$$, I would spend the extra $100 for the HD....i finally found a decent used L-52 on craigslist to replace the other one of broke...I should just suck it up and throw in a W-56 but don't want to move the crossmember 5" and redo my driveshafts (again)

 

Get rid of the L series and get a W56 put in there!!! JMO!