Naw, thanks though. I'm getting the front shaft retubed for the rear and once the duals are in I'll send out the old rear to be redone for the front.

 

Be careful on the mearsurements. I knew that my flange was going to move back 6.25" after the dual case was installed, so to save time, I had the drivelines lengthened/shortened 6.25 each. Unfortunately, the geometry didn't work out and I had to have both of them redone :o(

 

Doing one shaft at a time, that way if I did screw up it won't be as expensive of a mistake. I measured it like 1 million times using an imaginary point where the output will end up and also compared the measurements with a hilift lifting the rear up two inches (frame only, not axle) as that's about how much more lift I'll be putting in. 48.5" was the verdict. Let's hope I was right, or else I'll be and

 

Marlin did not call the measurements in on my drive shafts until after the crawler/transfer case and tranny were bolted back up in the 4Runner.

Is it wrong to say what you saw?

 

YES! Finally your truck will be slower than mine!!!

 

I guess is just depends on how good you are at guestimating, Marlin is a bit of a perfectionist so I can definitely see him waiting to get the exact measurements.
You ever finish that D44/toy front axle you were going to build?

 

no, but I still have the stuff to do it. I don't really know If I want a "fabricated" axle housing under the front of a daily driver.

I have a Chevy front 44 now, with the flattop knuckles. I just need to shorten it, and get some steering and shocks. I haven't worked on the rig in a while, save for the new engine I just put in. So my axle swap has just been sittin.....

I did buy a new welder though.. so that will make things easier.

 

The second-to-last major piece of the puzzle arrived toady!

Last piece to get is the front shaft but I won't be ordering that until I finish the front axle swap. Guess I need to go get a hole saw so I can cut the tranny tunnel for that there extra shifter now huh...

 

Hey Shane,

I'm curious (just cause I'm a toyota nooby)....how much should one expect to spend on this crawler deal?

It seems like you're getting a lot of packages Normally = BIG $$$

 

I used a sawzal and cut mine square. The boot that I got covered the "hole" thing perfectly. Without a short throw shifter kit, I did have to cut out more of the console than I cared to. I wouldn't win a prize for the neatest installation, but it does keep the dust and noise down and looks 'pretty' good. The biggest thing is that it shifts into all gears perfectly!

 

Just for reference, I got mine at www.inchworm.com. This came preassembled except for the v6 to 4cyl adaptor, and no shifters. It cost me $1750 with 4.7 gears and 23 spline shafts, including the budbuilt crossmember, shipping and 2 extra rubber mounts for the transfer cases.

I enjoyed dealing with Jim at inchworm. Everything was deliverd at the exact price he quoted and exactly whenhe said he would. I had an awful time getting through to Marlin. Even the dealers who said that they had back door ways of getting in, took about 3 days to get back to me. By that time, my inchworm product was already shipped.

 

Okay, is pretty expensive Especially considering that I'm Canadian, and I have to convert those dollars over

I have family in the states, perhaps I'll have to visit them on my vacation and bring something across the border with me

Is it the best bet for making the Toy ready to run big trails, without dropping a 350 in it

 

Running Big Trails has nothing to do with a 350, that's for big mud!

The crawler, solid axle and dual lockers are the key!

 

From Marlin Crawler:

MC07 (dual case adapter) and 4.7 gears as well as some extras like a clearanced reduction box housing, output shaft, shifter, shift forks and rods, etc.
$879 shipped, Xmas sale deal
Ack, screwed up. $879 for the adapter and gears, $150 for the extras and $20 shipping. so $1049...


From BudBuilt:

Dual case crossmember with skidplate
$250, no charge for shipping since I was upgrading from an earlier design that I bought from him ages ago and sold so I could get the newer design. Bud is a cool guy, and his products are top notch!


From High Angle Driveline:

Rear shaft - my front IFS shaft retubed and clearanced CV for more travel
$161 shipped
Front shaft - my rear shaft retubed and long travel slip added for the front
$249 quoted price plus shipping which should be ~$20-25 for me


So about $1720 total not counting the OSIFAT* factor, or in Canadian... ONE BILLION DOLLARS!!!

...gotta love that exchange rate



OSIFAT = Oh Shoot, I Forgot About That = tools, fasteners, etc...

 

Thought about that, but just picked up a 3.5" hole saw for ~$10. I also have an extra stock rubber boot that I'm going to cut in half and use for sealing it.

 

After ~18 hours of wrenching (at least half of which was spent cleaning undercoating/oil/sand/dirt off the housings) it's in with only two issues. Still have to boot the shifters, and need to bend them a little as well. I'll take some more pics later, this is all I have at the moment. Was too busy working and didn't have any help.

I don't need no stinking press! Just a bigass puller.

Input comparason. Stock 21 spline input on left, 23 spline input on right.

Now where'd that hole come from?


Everything went together smoothly, only problems I came across was a missing gasket in the kit from Marlin and two bolts that I didn't have from the donor case that I was blissfully unaware that I'd need in the first place. Some RTV and a trip to the hardware store took care of that. The driveshaft was exactly the right length, I have just over an inch of compression travel with it bolted up which is perfect. The BudBuilt crossmember bolted right in with no trouble at all.

 

Holy cow, got meat? I didn't realize there was such a difference in the two shafts. Beefy!

It's looking good, Shane!

 

Thanks Jeremy. Yep, the 23 spline is quite a bit bigger. I can't use it in the front case though, the output on the W56 tranny is only 21 spline. I could pick up an R151 (turbo) tranny and bolt it right in if I were to install a 23 spline input in the front case.

So, I was going to take some pictures tonight but I went and left my camera at work. Mabye tomorrow...
:pat:

 

More pics...

 

dang, I sure like the BudBuilt mount.

I might have to sell my All Pro dual case mount and get one! Having two mounting points should help w/ the torque twisting when crawlin- and it looks like it's got better clearance too.

If you haven't done it already, you might consider chaining down the motor mounts to prevent them from breaking. I used 4 links of chain welded from the frame to the mount front and back sides of it, leaving just a tiny amount of slack to prevent the BUZZZZZZZZZZZ, and used a lighter weight chain looped over the top of the rightside mount and around the frame to keep down the twist when backing up.

have fun!