Is it really necessary to remove the transmission with the t-case like my toyota manual says? It seems like alot of trouble. Can i just unbolt the crossmember that supports the tranny, unbolt the drive shafts and dust gaurds, and get the t-case off without the transmission? Also do i need to drain the oil from the transmission when i take off the t-case. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

Most t-cases are seperate units, and can be unbolted and removed from the transmission like your saying. You'll need to remove the t-case shifter knob (possibly the entire t-case shifter will need unbolted, 4 bolts, and removed also. Depends on if you have a 3" BL like me or not) and disconnect the 4wheel drive indicator switch plug and speedo cable too.

And no, there's no real need to drain the transmission. Keep in mind that when the t-case is removed the oil will/should be full up to the transmission output(rear)seal. So if the vehicle isn't level or you haven't left something to support the transmission under it so it's dangling, oil will pour over the seal. Messy.

 

As long as you don't have the automatic, you should be fine removing the t-case from the manual transmission.

 

I was able to install my dual ultimate cases and adapter with the engine/ tranny still in the vehicle.

Do you know if your transfer case is a forward or top shift model? If forward shift, you may have some issues. Following pics courtesy of Marlins site (http://www.marlincrawler.com/).

Forward shift (note how transfer case shift gates integrate with the tranny housing):


Top shift (see how transfer case stands alone):


All my transfer cases were top shift, so I had no issue disconnecting the V6 transfer case and installing the dual setup with the tranny still in place.