TRANSMISSIONS
Thanks for looking into those dimensions and gear ratios Mike-
What automatic transmission does the 4WD 3RZ Tacoma use? Is it the same as the V6 Tacoma/Tundra?
Do you know anything about the new 6-speed manual transmissions that are coming in the '05 Tacoma? Might as well use the engine too though, huh?
When I talked to
G-Force, they told me that they make custom bellhousings all the time for their transmissions and since they already make a bellhousing for the 3RZ, MAYBE they could adapt it to the mounting pattern of the R-series transmissions. That would be really cost-effective, because their bell-housings only run about $300. I found a link to
Browell Bellhousing on the
Paradise Racing website. Those certified bellhousings get a little bit more expensive...
TRANSFER-CASES
So all of the Tacomas DO use the same transfer-case? That's cool. Would running a Marlin Crawler weaken the drivetrain any/significantly? I would really like to run one of your dual-case setups for running trails, especially if we gear a tight-ratio transmission (like Supra or 2WD Tacoma gearing).
I'm also really interested in the possibility of adapting an AWD transfer-case, like the new 4Runners use. I was told that the wiring and ECU that controls the electronically-shifted T-case would be a nightmare to adapt though. Can you think of ANY other strong AWD driver's-side output AWD transfer-cases from other applications (I think the newer IFS lexus/Land Cruisers are passenger's-side output).