Author Topic: MARLIN CRAWLER & ROCKSOLIDTOYS GOING TO AUSTRALIA (Read 24045 times)

CLC · « **Reply #30 on:** Mar 13, 2010, 06:29:34 PM »

Quote from: Hilux_Max on Mar 13, 2010, 11:37:51 AM

Wyatt told me 11:20am sunday our time......Ill make sure to look after both of them...already told the misses shes gonna have to cook for two more mouths......

cameras ready, Im sure wyatt will take alot of pics too..... $Beer Chug\'n$

Let me know when you hear from them. Just want to make sure that they made it there safe and sound.

Thanks again,

Mrs. Crawler

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #31 on:** Mar 13, 2010, 06:57:40 PM »

Mrs Crawler,

I just got home......met them at the airport and took them to their hotel they are staying at......they couldnt get over how everything is on the wrong (left hand) side here in Oz

I gave them a map on how to get to my place......hopefully they dont cause too much havoc on the roads getting here

very nice and friendly blokes.......i hope that was them i took to the hotel?

Im sure they'll get in touch with you soon........

they are coming to my place in a couple hours for some drinks first....non alcoholic of course

$Beer Chug\'n$

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #32 on:** Mar 16, 2010, 01:42:39 PM »

Guys,

Marlin and Wyatt and me began this project late sunday night, was supposed to be started monday but Marlin wanted a quick look below the transfercase shift lever boot through the cut out of the floor just to ensure everything was ok......first problem!

We found that the hilux has a forward shifting transfercase rather than a top shifting one like the Tacoma's and FJ cruisers do.....How does this make it a problem?

Let me explain further.....

A forward shift for those that may not know is when the actual shifter itself is located ontop of the adaptor plate between the rear of the transmission and the front of the factory transfercase.......the transfercase has extra long shift rods to accomadate the extra distance needed to shift gears.

This is a problem because we are required to remove this factory adaptor plate from the back of the transmission and fit the marlin Crawler one.

Other problem we encountered straight away was the fact that even thou every technical journal and resource we used to work out what transfercase it was and what gearbox the hilux had, once everything was apart we realised that the adaptor plates were incorrect.....for some reason Toyota used different adaptor plates/bel/housings on the hilux where they would have used a different one again for the US market even thou the transmission and gearbox itself were the same.

So halfway through Monday we weren't looking good.

Marlin contacted his workshop in the USA and organise to get the correct adaptor plates sent down for the Crawler Box, aswell as a short shift kit for the factory j-pattern transfercase as the location it would come up would be behind the auto shifter between it and the lid of the center console. Space is a premium here so we needed everything we could use to help.

Heres is some pics.

First one below is view from underneath with everything pretty much gutted! :shock:

Next pic is view on interior thats been gutted too! :shock:

Pic below is of the factory transfercase and the crawl box beside it with both the front and rear adaptor plates removed, which is why it looks so narrow......if you have a look at the front of the factory transfercase you can see the shift rods exit the front of it - this is where our problem lies......the extra length of those rods goes into the rear of the auto transmission adaptor plate to the transfer.....in this adaptor plate there is an opening on top just like the one you can see ontop of the factory transfercase where the transfer shifter fits in the standard configuration......the opening in the pic below you see is because we removed a blank cover that was fitted there.

Seems toyota uses the same transfercase in multiple market but this configuration is only for the hilux's......same transfercase in tacoma and FJ but they have their TOP shifted whereas the hilux is FRONT shifted......

A front shift configuration you see in applications where the vehicle has a front bench seat fitted and they move the shifter forward for more room.....looks like they have done this in this case and just carried it through across the range.

Last pic, I have just sat the extra shifter behind the auto selector so you can see where it will exit the transmission tunnel......we will be flipping the auto shift cable bracket you see there to make more room for a drilling a hole through the tranny tunnel......in this position is where the factory shifter will be located but we will be using a short shift design as space is at a premium here.

Late Monday afternoon, we went to a Toyota Wrecker to see what sort of transfercases they had here....if they had a "left hand dropped with a top shifter" we would have bought it and replaced it with mine......

Problem again is that no such beast exists here in Australia at all.

We found a couple right hand dropped transfercases with a top shifter but no left hand ones........The idea behind this is that we would purchase these if we had too and use the shift rods out of them.

Tuesday, we went to ARB headquarters here in Kilsyth for a tour of the factory and facilities with the guys.....absolutely awesome......I was speechless......you really get a great appreciation for the quality of a product when you actually see how its built and put together.....the ARB air locker was an impressive unit to see being built....I have pics but havent uploaded them yet to the PC, will do that later on at some stage.

On the way home from ARB, we swung past the wreckers again and we purchased a transfercase out of a 2003 Hilux 3.4 V6.......for 300bux.

We also found from other older toyota transfercases factory made short shifter's, shifter lever and the base and it was a perfect fit........so we took that aswell.

Got home, and we all got stuck into the job.

What an honour it is to see someone like Marlin himself stripping apart a transfercase literally with his eyes blindfolded and explaining exactly the process of it and what each little component does along the way - mate! did I learn abit watching him.

We pulled the shift rods out of the 2003 Hilux's tranfercase since they are shorter because of the top shift configuration and we then stripped my transfercase and removed the longer shift rods from the forward-shift design and slapped the shorter ones into it and then put it all back together.

By the end of last night, I was the proud owner, quite possibly of the only "Left Hand Dropped, Top 'Quick Shifter(Short Throw)' 05+ Hilux Chain Driven Tranfercase" in the world!!!!!!!!!

So we are looking good now.

We can still use the incorrect Marlin Crawler adaptor plates to mount everything up for measurements sake, and work on the new location of the factory J-Shifter Transfercase lever, extend the wiring of the sensors/pickups on the transfercase by 8.5" and ensure the tailshafts have been resized the right amount.

Then when the adaptor plates arrive from the US on thrusday, we just replace them and we are good to go!

Cheesemaker · « **Reply #33 on:** Mar 16, 2010, 02:25:51 PM »

Isn't is just amazing to watch Marlin in action? You are in the presence of a master.

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #34 on:** Mar 16, 2010, 02:57:29 PM »

Quote from: Cheesemaker on Mar 16, 2010, 02:25:51 PM

Isn't is just amazing to watch Marlin in action? You are in the presence of a master.

The man is like a "Transfer-Case GOD!".........LOL

ajordan1975 · « **Reply #35 on:** Mar 16, 2010, 03:26:59 PM »

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #36 on:** Mar 17, 2010, 05:44:23 AM »

This morning we went for a drive to a few stores to pickup an outer gear shift boot that will poke through the center console, so we got a nice grey one to match the console trim.....we got some fluid for the crawl box and factory transfercase and we also got some wire, shrink wrap to extend the wiring 9 inches.

Heres is a picture of the one of a kind transfercase.......the shift lever is just sitting there, the final shape of it is completely different. You can see the much shorter front selector shafts on it now and the higher base mount for the shifter itself.

We mounted the incorrect adaptor plates back onto the crawl box and then bolted it to the factory transfercase, then we mounted it up in the vehicle so we could at least measure up the position of everything and get to work fabricating the crawl box shift lever so it works properly because the top of the crawl box where the shift lever exits sits below the transmission tunnel just behind the front cutout for the factory transfercase shifter when in standard configuration.

Heres a pic of Wyatt extending the wiring under the vehicle -

Below is the shape of the Crawl Box shifter that Marlin and myself were working on whilst Wyatt was doing the wiring....this isnt the final product but is very close to it...it still needed some adjustment.

The open hole that you see in the pic on the transfercase is original forward shift opening that is on the adaptor plate for the transmission...this is the one we converted from and will not be using. On the top of the pic you can see the factory allumnium cover that we were using to cover this hole, but due to the shape of the shifter we needed to make, this was too high as when we shited the Crawl Box into Compound Low the bottom of the shifter was hitting the top of it....we removed it and made another cover out of thin plate steel a dn used that instead, gaining a good 10mm of extra clearance.

At the rear of thefactory transfer case hole that you see, we had to cut out a little piece so when the Crawl Box shifter is in High Range the shaft of the shifter will clear.

The final product that will eventually be sold to hilux owners will have a different design completely that Marlin explained to me that will utilise a completely different design using extra rods and linkages so fabricating a shifter like we did wont be necessary and will be a complete bolt on fit.....its not until you prototype designs like this that you work out better ways of doing things in the future....I love how marlins head ticks!

We then removed the hand brake assembly, the auto shifter assembly and from underneath the hilux we lowered the transfercases and marked the center point on the transmission tunnel where the factory transfercase shifter will be exiting upwards in its newer location.

We then removed the factory transfercase from the back of the Crawler, and drilled a pilot hole from the bottom upwards.

We then jumped inisde the hilux and with a bloody expensive holesaw, (120 bux for a 3" holesaw for metal plus the drill fitting....nice, for one bloody hole!

) and drilled downwards......

Because of the location of the hole we drilled, the front mounting hole for the handbrake assembly had been removed......

So I had a predrilled piece of steel that we cut and adjusted to fit and Marlin will weld it on to the frame of the handbrake assembly tomorrow. Aswell as this, the right hand side of the auto shifter bracket had to be removed to allow more clearance.....

Thats where we got up to today, tomorrow, Marlin and Wyatt are going to have the fun job of fabricating the rear shift lever for the factory (now "short throw") transfercase assembly which will require a couple of dog legs to make it work properly.......once that is done, the inner boots can be mounted to seal the transmission tunnel floor, then we can make it fit the center console trim with the outer boot trim. And all going well the correct adaptro plates should be clearing customs for us to collect as they are awaiting clearance and are in Australia.

Then its just a matter of removing the transfercase and Crawler again, fitting the correct adaptor plates, molunting the factory transfercase back onto it finally, fitting the interior cabin trim and seats, fill the units with oil and fit the modified tailshafts and we will be good to go for a test drive tomorrow night all going well. :mrgreen:

Oh by the way, heres a pic of myself and Wyatt and Marlin after dinner my misses put on for us.....

As you can see they polished off their plates of pasta so they are not going hungry whilst here

you can rest assured Mrs Marlin, we are looking after your hubby for you.

And for some reason Marlin wants to take my toolbox back to the USA with him....he says its very inspirational with the "special" picture on the doors....couldnt possibly imagine what he's reffering too.....LOL

BigMike · « **Reply #37 on:** Mar 17, 2010, 12:19:51 PM »

Look'n great guys

Be sure to have Marlin record a video of your reaction the first time you shift the Dual Ultimate TacoBox into lowrange and start to C..r..a..w..l...

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #38 on:** Mar 17, 2010, 04:45:14 PM »

yep, the correct adaptor plates just arrived from the US half an hour ago as did Marlins taller quick shifter which we will need due to lack of room next to the e-brake!

all going well it should be crawlin tonight and i should hopefully have some video of it to post up!

these guys are awesome!

unfortunately i wont be able to clock the factory transfer case due to lack of room where the shifter is as its very close to the e-brake!

46&2 · « **Reply #39 on:** Mar 17, 2010, 05:09:51 PM »

Lookin' good!!!

BigMike · « **Reply #40 on:** Mar 17, 2010, 10:30:36 PM »

N-I-C-E

Dark Knight · « **Reply #41 on:** Mar 18, 2010, 06:04:59 AM »

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #42 on:** Mar 18, 2010, 12:59:20 PM »

Guys,

After a long week the Hilux is finally complete and crawling :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

The last day of the install saw us receive the parts we were waiting for from the US which was the correct adaptor plates for the Crawl Box, the quick shift base mount, and the longer lower selector pin that we welded onto the shifter handle.

Below is a comparison pic from left to right of Marlin Crawler quick shift base, factory toyota quick shift base, standard toyota shifter base and the plate cover on the transfer case.

Next is a pic of Wyatt grinding down the head of two of the lower bolts. This is required as it grinding down the a portion of the factory transmission adaptor plate so that it clears the marlin adaptor plate when everything is bolted up.

Here you can see Wyatt bashing the hell out of the coupler to install it onto the transmission out put shaft.

And below is the "one of a kind" factory transfercase attached to the Marlin Crawler Box waiting to be installed into the Hilux.

And a very proud Marlin Czajkowski holding his baby before we put it in :lol: (im surprised his shoulder didnt give way with the weight)

The unit being fitted up...yes, all on the floor of the garage, no hoists here.....we did this thing "old skool" :shock:

Wyatt gave us the idea of using the Marlin rubber shifter boot ontop of the console as an "outer boot" rather than an inner boot as it was meant to be and the finish was fantastic....very factory looking.

Last picture of the interior setup before the modified center console went back in.....so all in all, we cut off a tab off the handbrake bracket and welded a new one to the outer side and slightly raise the handbrake itself on a couple of washer before tightening it up so as to clear the new inner shifter boot. We trimmed the inner portion of the auto shifter rod bracket for boot clearance aswell. The transmission tunnel sheet metal is 3 ply thick in places....inbetween them all we used a heavy duty waterproofing silicon sealant I had and Marlin filled in the gaps between the different layers of metal around the 3" hole we had cut with this silicon to eliminate any potential ability of water to get in and sit there. Then Wyatt mounted the inner boot with silicon under it and self tapper screws....

The final product...... :mrgreen: :twisted:

The shifter itself went in extremely tightly....and needed some adjustments by Marlin via filing down the edges.....the end product is a stiff but smooth very short throw shifter at the rear that gets selected by only a couple flicks of the wrist.

After all was done we went to test drive it and couldnt start the hilux!

We removed the console again and found one plug off the auto shifter we forgot to attach and also the auto shifter cable wasn't connected to the shifter. Once that was done she started and I crawled in compound low at 11.30pm at night for the very first time. Like a baby taking its first steps. :lol:

No video footage yet, will try and get that done this afternoon.....promised to take Wyatt and Marlin to the markets to get some souvenirs for their wives as supposedly their wives told them they wont let them come home without a fluffy koala bear or kangaroo!

BigMike · « **Reply #43 on:** Mar 18, 2010, 03:18:26 PM »

Everything looks awesome!

Installing a transfer case "old school" is how we always do it outside the shop (on the trail or in wrecking yards) so it's really second nature to us

When ever I see a Toyota or TRD "Short Throw Shifter" I always laugh, it's a real joke compared to ours

Let's see some video! So what do you think of how s_l_o_w it is?!?!

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #44 on:** Mar 18, 2010, 03:33:33 PM »

wont get a chance to test it out till this afternoon.....marlin and wyatt wanna go shopping....plus its just started raining so hopefuly it goes away as i dont want to test in mud.

yeah, very slow, bout half the speed of waling pace.....wouldnt mind doing my own version of "Max walking the Crawler" like Marlin did!

we did have a slight problem with the base plate for the short throw....doesnt look like its machined enough for the ball on the shifter lever...was damn tight on installation, the guys barely got the circlip in to hold in....something Marlin said will need to be checked when he gets back.

CruzrDave · « **Reply #45 on:** Mar 18, 2010, 03:38:28 PM »

Awesome! I thought Marlin might have to stay an extra week if the parts didn't show up.

Nice install Marlin and Wyatt. Hopefully you guys found time to sleep. I already heard from ARB about your visit

News travels fast.

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #46 on:** Mar 18, 2010, 07:48:38 PM »

Marlin · « **Reply #47 on:** Mar 19, 2010, 10:57:00 AM »

heres some video footage.....unfortunately there was nothing decent close to home so here are two vids of a decent in compound low over some rocky mounds and then an accent up a track where i placed one side into a rut.

both diffs are open in the vids and the hilux is in compound low.....wyatt has some more vids he took demonstrating crawl ability.....will definitely have to get my front air locker leak now fixed and a rear one fitted to make a complete package and benefit from the extra traction and crawl ratio......

Click here for the first video: http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h68/mmaaxx1977/?action=view&current=P10006891.flv

Click here for the second video: http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h68/mmaaxx1977/?action=view&current=P1000692.flv

like I said, the videos arent spectacular but they do show how slow she goes and it feels awesome having that much engine braking going downhills aswell as alot more time and control goin up them.....wyatt will post the other ones when he gets back to the usa.

BigMike · « **Reply #48 on:** Mar 19, 2010, 11:11:08 AM »

Videos look great Marlin! Thanks for posting them

Automatics sure like to run away with themselves downhill

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #49 on:** Mar 19, 2010, 02:16:03 PM »

OOps....my bad, I posted them up without realising that I was logged in as Marlin because Marlin used my PC earlier on....can any moderators change that please?

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #50 on:** Mar 19, 2010, 06:49:53 PM »

Quote from: Hilux_Max on Mar 19, 2010, 02:16:03 PM

OOps....my bad, I posted them up without realising that I was logged in as Marlin because Marlin used my PC earlier on....can any moderators change that please?

its ok there for a minute I thought i needed to call my doctor

crawlin rocks ROCKS

Rocksurfer · « **Reply #51 on:** Mar 19, 2010, 10:36:23 PM »

Marlin got hacked!

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #52 on:** Mar 20, 2010, 10:24:09 AM »

have they landed yet???

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #53 on:** Mar 20, 2010, 01:20:38 PM »

Quote from: 79coyotefrg on Mar 20, 2010, 10:24:09 AM

have they landed yet???

pretty sure they were due to land 9.30am yank time.....

BigMike · « **Reply #54 on:** Mar 20, 2010, 05:10:45 PM »

Marlin and Christine just got home

I checked out his really cool Australian hats

I'm extremely busy and am not sure how soon I can get the pictures up, but I will try my best. I have 2 exams, 2 lab reports, and 1 project design review this upcoming week so I am extremely slammed-

BigMike

BigMike · « **Reply #55 on:** Mar 20, 2010, 05:17:48 PM »

Quote from: Hilux_Max on Mar 19, 2010, 02:16:03 PM

OOps....my bad, I posted them up without realising that I was logged in as Marlin because Marlin used my PC earlier on....can any moderators change that please?

Max,

Currently the forum does not have this ability, but a modification can be applied to enable this. I will have to do this manually (hard coded) which will take some time. Alternatively, I might be able to make a change to the database ID number from Marlins to yours, but I have never done this before so I will have to do some investigation.

I'll try to get it fixed within a couple of weeks..
BigMike

Hilux_Max · « **Reply #56 on:** Mar 20, 2010, 07:03:12 PM »

good to hear they arrived safely...yes, marlin loved those hats....the one with the croc teeth in it really suits him.....Marlin Dundee....lol

"that's not a transfer, thiiss is a transfer!"

lmao

79coyotefrg · « **Reply #57 on:** Mar 21, 2010, 09:23:36 AM »

Quote from: Hilux_Max on Mar 20, 2010, 07:03:12 PM

good to hear they arrived safely...yes, marlin loved those hats....the one with the croc teeth in it really suits him.....Marlin Dundee....lol

"that's not a transfer, thiiss is a transfer!"

lmao

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