Topic: Transfer case - what year?

[87Fontana]

I just picked up this transfer case last weekend.  From the Marlin Transfer case Bible I see that there many slight revisions of the gear driven transfer case.  How can I tell from looking at this which one I have?  The guy I bought it from thought it came from an 87.  Some had "noisy gears" and some had "quiet gears."  Just trying to figure out which one I have.  I don't really see any numbers stamped into it.

[Goldrush]

That is a noisey gear type. Possibly from a first gen judging by the type of front output flange.


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[87Fontana [OP]]

Is that a bad thing?  When they say "noisy" is that in general or just when it is in low range?

[Goldrush]

Not a bad thing at all. The later style t-cases, just have little silencers built into the gearset. In general the gear set is noisier but prolly more so in low range


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[BigMike]

Goldrush is correct, this is a 1981-83 t/case, or Type 1-B t/case (t/case Bible).

The difference between what we call "Run Quiet" and "Noisy" t/cases is related to how the low range gears are designed. The rest of the t/case is unrelated to this difference. To summarize as simply as possible, pre 1984 t/cases have a simple gear-to-gear mesh, but 1984-95 have thin gear plates that are mounted adjacent to and with a preloaded fit on both the idler gear and low speed gear. These thin plates have exactly one tooth less than the main gear they are installed directly onto. Therefore, as the neighboring gear spins around and meshes with this gear+thin gear plate combo, the thin plates have a higher angular velocity (fewer teeth = higher gear ratio = higher rotational speed) which works against the preloaded fit resulting in a gear mesh that has zero free-play. Zero free-play equals zero gear chatter equals "run quiet" design.

Things to note are that run quiet gears are theoretically weaker because each gear is cut to a thinner width in order to make up room for each thin gear plate. So noisy gears are wider and therefore stronger (assuming they are made from the same material and annealing process).

Because the run quiet design is only used on the low range gear components, it mainly only affects low range operation, however, even in high range the low range components are still rotating so gear chatter can occur in high range as well.

When we invented the 4.70:1 ratio in 1995/96, we decided to not include the run quiet design because we wanted to maximize strength. Moreover, customers who desire such a low ratio probably have larger than stock tires which are also more noisy than stock and will drone out any additional gear chatter noise from our gear sets.

Regards,
BigMike

[87Fontana [OP]]

Hey Big Mike,

I am looking for a second t-case for my dual case build.  I found this style out of a 92 Toyota on Craigslist for $ 65.00.  Would this work if I did the top shift conversion to it?

Type 6-B EFI 4Cyl

Installed 1992 - 1995 Pickup
Installed 1992 - 1993 4Runner
Tall Case
Forward Shift, 4" Offset
10mm Flange Bolts
Quiet Run Gears
Block Off Plate
No Flat Washers on Case Bolts
Electrical Speedo Cable Drive
21 Spline Input
27 Spline Outputs


Regards,

Mike

[BigMike]

Hey Mike,

Yes, that is a good t/case. It's especially good because it is a tall case version, which I'd recommend using as the Crawl Box since it will have a better seal above the shift rails at the front conversion plate in case you happen to roll the truck over.

BTW We are working on a redesign to our 3.4-liter front conversion plate, which is listed here and why it's currently out of stock. If you can wait a few months until things go back together then we'll be able to supply ya with some parts

Regards,
BigMike

[87Fontana [OP]]

Is this the top shift conversion kit I would need for the crawl box?  I see they are out of stock.

https://www.marlincrawler.com/transfer-case/shifter-parts/top-shift-conversion-kit

[BigMike]

Yes that is the one. We have everything except for the shift fork but can supply stock parts too, I think. I'll need to check first though because I know we need to save them for complete t/case builds ... but we might be able to round up the parts you need and still offer em your way

I'll check tomorrow

Regards,
BigMike

[87Fontana [OP]]

I got that case for $ 65 bucks.  Now I got both cases and all I need now are the expensive parts 

[87Fontana [OP]]

Hey Big Mike,

If I am using this newer forward shifting case as the crawl box instead of getting your full top shift conversion kit couldn't I just get this?

https://www.marlincrawler.com/transfer-case/shifter-parts/shift-kit-highlow

[BigMike]

If I am using this newer forward shifting case as the crawl box instead of getting your full top shift conversion kit couldn't I just get this?

https://www.marlincrawler.com/transfer-case/shifter-parts/shift-kit-highlow

Hey Mike,

I got your email and yes that is the kit you need, and in regards to the product link, we are making some changes in both design and manufacture with many of our t/case shifting parts and have decided to take most of them off-line until we get updates to post.

We don't have any of these new parts in stock but keep in touch. How soon will you be ready for the top shift conversion?

Thanks
Mike

[87Fontana [OP]]

30 to 45 days ?


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[87Fontana [OP]]

Hi Mike,

When is this going to be back in stock??

https://www.marlincrawler.com/transfer-case/shifter-parts/shift-kit-highlow

[BigMike]

Hi Mike,

When is this going to be back in stock??

We recently were discussing this and other shift kits. Nothing that I'd like to report. We will most likely remove them and others from our website to reduce confusion and then re-release them once they are ready to go-

Thanks
BigMike

[nk]

I searched and searched for the information in this post, this forum has saved my arse more times I swear...like the time I shifted my tansmission standing on end and it got stuck in gear...at any rate I tore apart a donor T-case that had some rough spots in the rotation, to my dismay the issue was in the crawl box side, the side I need, turns out it is these thin "run quiet" plates that are trashed and causing the rough spots in the rotation. My question what to do about it, they don't seem to be available anywhere ( I am going to try Toyota again now I know what they are called but they aren't available from online parts order forms ). Can I just grind the teeth off and leave them in as spacers?

[Goldrush]

Yes you can. It will not hurt anything if you do that. It just might eliminate the run quite part of it pointless but it won't hurt anything.


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[nk]

Thanks Goldrush, I figured this was the case but its always nice to have a second opinion, make sure I am not overlooking something critical.

For anyone else that runs into something like this I was actually able to find sites that have the original OEM parts (toyotapartsdeal.com for example) right down to the detent balls, just had to dig a little deeper, $50 for both sub-gears and you can get the spring plates, c-clips, spacers etc. for a few bucks more.