I am re-assembling a new to me 1994 Toyota Pickup. Previous owner said it was having transfer case issues so he purchased a used TC but never installed it. I am currently attempting to install it, but am running into an issue.

When attempting to bolt up, the 4x4 shifting forks are hitting the original W56 trans before the TC and tranny are flush with one another, leaving nearly a 1/2” gap between the two. You can clearly see where the forks are hitting the tranny in one of the pictures (I circled the marks it’s making in red). I have tried shifting the forks in every possible way/combination to push them both into the TC further, but to no avail. I do not have much experience with forward shift TCs, but according to Marlin Crawler’s website, mine looks perfectly fine. What am I missing?

 

I spent another hour or so this afternoon playing with the transfer case forks, and still cannot figure this out. I am 110% convinced that I have the correct transfer case (electronic speedo, forward shift) for my transmission.

Everything I’ve read on Marlin Crawler’s transmission and transfer case bible tells me they’ll mate up. According to the model year I have a W56-E transmission and a type 6-B transfer case.

I don’t know what I’m missing. Is there a plate that is supposed to go in between the tranny and TC? I’ve never seen one used in the past…. I’m completely stumped. And to think this is the only thing stopping me from driving it!

 

Further research tells me I might have a 4.5” fork offset, instead of 4”. That’ll explain why I have nearly 1/2” gap between tranny and TC when the forks hit.

Next question - can I easily change my longer forks for shorter ones? I would imagine so. I can’t imagine the internals are any different.

How in the world does my 1994 TC have 4.5” forks AND an electronic speed sensor?

 

Here is what I’m referring to. I’m sorry if I’m repeating info that others already know, I’m learning this for myself as I go! Can I just change out the shift forks or should I just be looking for a different transfer case altogether?

 

Sooooo I solved my problem, and not the way I wanted. The more research I did the more I realized the transfer case I have will simply not work with my transmission.

So I went on FB marketplace and harassed everyone who had a parts truck until I found a tranny/tcase combo from an 89-91 truck (it had a mechanical speed sensor). I took this new transmission, and mated it to the original transfer case that came with the truck. All is well. I’ll need to do some wiring work to make the different connectors work with the truck’s wiring harness but that can wait. It now runs and drive!

For those at home with a similar question, I took a picture of the back of each W56 to show the difference. Left side is the 1994 W56 that only takes a 4” offset tcase, and on the right is the 1989-91 W56 which takes the full 4.5” offset forks. I’m sure all this info is obvious to those who live and breath these older Toyotas’s - but it certainly wasn’t to me.

Hopefully this helps someone in the future!

 

Good info! Glad you got it figured out!

A little late now, but what about putting shorter forks in the other case?