So I want to go dual transfer case....

For example my old 1968 M38A1 Jeep Rock crawler was geared perfectly for technical rock crawling

SM465 granny gear 4spd 6.54 1rst gear

Dana 18 t/ case with 3.50 low range gears

Warn overdrive 15% reduction

Dana 44 front / rear axles 5.38 gears


I had the ability of 8 forward gears and 2 reverse by splitting ea gear with the overdrive


At 123:1 overall low range gearing I topped out at 5mph at 4k rpm in 1rst gear . Also gearing low enough it over powered the brakes in 1rst gear

I think 125 :1 low range is perfect off road gearing

 

If tons is not in the future, stick with Toyota crap. With the current inflation and covid pricing, it's still cheaper to built your own vs buying 1 assembled, unless you can find a used unit. But unknown condition is what worries me the most.

TG adapters: 1000
MC 4.7xd: 700
MC coupler: 100
Used RF1A: ~2-300

VS

TG fully assembled: 2800?

 

Inflation is REAL








I recall years ago building dual case for under 1200

 

not for 1st gens. Just 2nd gens.

 

Ran both dual 2.28s, and a single 4.7 case for years with 4.10s and 40s-42s. Worked just fine with a little 2rz.
Still was able to idle/power through enough in stuff like this to blow the tcase apart a handful of times, break leafs, shafts, etc.

 

Yeah, 4.10’s, 42’s and 21 spline was a recipe for failure. Not to mention the guys that would hard mount the cases.

 

I was 23 spline/chromo output etc, so the case itself was the weak point. Would just crack cases like so

 

I just pulled my marlin 4.7s out in favor of the NWF setup, and have some miles behind me on the new NWF box, so I will weigh in. Keep in mind that there's some bias here, and no matter how wrong I am, I will stand by my purchase and decision.

The final ratios for me are 229:1 on marlin versus 125:1 on NWF. For the record, there's no argument that having the ability to go slower generally is considered to be better, but it's not 1 size fits all solution, especially when we look at what's available on the market. It comes down to TG and NWF because marlin is out until further notice. I also believe that there's such a thing as too much torque.

That said, in my opinion, the 125:1 offered by the NWF is plenty slow for the large majority of folks out there, especially manual trans folks who just want to slow it down so they are not forced to smoke the clutch or send it faster than they'd like up a ledge trying not to stall. It's perfect for those people. There are certainly folks out there who need or want lower gearing than that, and for them there's trail gear 4.7s. Given what I have heard about fitment issues (I have no personal experience with TG products), I still think NWF is a better option right now. All the parts fit perfectly, everything lined up and I had every single nut and bolt I needed to put it together. Customer support was top notch when I had questions throughout the process. Unlike my experience with the marlin box, I didnt have to custom fab adapters that weren't available, or grind the crawlbox casing just to make the bolts supplied BY MARLIN to fit. NWF is in my opinion, hands down, without question or a shadow of doubt, far superior to both marlin and TG in terms of design, fit, support, and installation.

In my practical experience on the trail, over 3 years and 20k miles, there were very few times that I needed 1st gear double low or that double low was the difference between getting up an obstacle versus not. It was a gimick. Most of the time I ran just the 4.7s in 1st or 2nd gear (89:1 and 47:1 respectively), or double low in 2nd (120:1). NWF gives me 125:1 and 66:1. Good enough.

Maybe someday I'll encounter an obstacle that makes me miss 229:1, but I doubt it. I will let you know if I have regrets, but so far NONE.

Also, the fact that you can use the NWF box with your factory plantaries to adapt to other cases as previously mentioned makes all the arguments about final gear ratio irrelevant. You can have your factory 2.57 or 2.28 up front and put whatever the hell you want behind it without ghetto spline adapters and seal extension housings like you need for the TG/marlin shit.

Just my .02 cents having run both setups.

 

Wow, well thank you for your response. That was very helpful, I might actually swing towards NWF just because it's simple and easy. I wanted to go dual case because I'm manual and would like more control going over stuff without riding the clutch and sending it (basically what you said).

Do you know if I can do some sort of extensions so I can move the shifters towards the stock location instead of cutting my floorboard?

 

The NWF setup is absolutely tits if thats your goal. They offer a triple stick setup that is very solid, but you are cutting a larger hole in your floor no matter what, so go ahead and accept that fact. I also enlarged the opening for the stock location on my plastic console by about 1" on all sides, but got everything to fit more or less the way I wanted. This isn't final, but basically where things landed. Final position, all of the sticks are a little bit further back than pictured below.

 

Oh yeah I don't mind cutting near where the shifters are. What I meant was I want to keep my cup holders
I also sometimes swap in a 60/40 bench seat from time to time, and I'd like to keep that option open as well.

 

I totally understand. I cut the hole way larger than I needed to in my cab to make it easier to fiddle with the linkages, but no cup holders were harmed in my setup coming through the console. That triple stick setup moves that all forward on top of the crawlbox so you can stuff it in if you're patient. Honestly it wasn't difficult on my 2nd gen but I also have a 1" body lift, and i did not clock it. It was much tighter for @Squeaky Penguin with clocking on his first gen so your experience may be different depending on what you want to do. I just bent the supplied sticks against my sliders and cut them down to get the fit you saw. No welding necessary for me, which is good cause I suck at it.

 

Look up SUMO gears, they make a 4.7 gear set and are made in Japan and people have been able to source them. Then all you need is the adapters and then assemble yourself. My advice to everyone is build the crawl box yourself since unless you live in an area with a ton of Toyota rockcrawling specific shops, no one will know how to repair it if/when it breaks. They are easy to assemble and really don't require any special tools. People saying dual 2.xx on a Tacoma is all you need have not wheeled with 2.xx and 4.7 in low low.

You can find used adapters if you are patient, my first dual case setup i built in 2007 was constructed out of mostly used adapters and crawl boxes for Tacomas were pretty rare then.

Man with this tight supply, I should pull my lefty/dual case combo and sell and buy an atlas....

 

I have wheeled 2.57x4.7 and I say exactly that. Dual 2.57s are all you need

 

I still wouldn't build a 1st gen without the 2.xx x 4.7. combo, even with the 3.4 the low end torque blows, and it will still stall in rock gardens with a 5psd. My trucks in 4.7 95% of the time, I really only use double low in rock gardens and big cliffs, but it would suck without it. My point is your doing all that work, go as low as possible if you ever plan on going in rocks on a regular basis.

Inb4 the 1st gen guys tell me the 3.4 has all the torques and power you would ever need despite never having wheeled anything else.

 

Same, my last build I just did a single 4.7 case since I thought 2.28+4.7s was kinda useless in a way that its just too low, atleast for Washington where the rock isn't nearly as grippy as Moab/Cali rock.

 

Can confirm, with the 22R even on 5.29s with tires that measure 35" I'm always in 4.7s low. Going slow on the trail I'm probably in low low and in 2-4th.

With a 4.0 I could see getting away without a 4.7 case

 

I have never driven a first gen on or off road, but i would not hesitate for a second to slap dual 2.xx cases in it. Stalling is a function of driver skill, and thinking that just because you have crawlbox that you dont have to do anything or think about stalling is Can't blame the crawlbox for that.

How often do you use 1st low low?

 

major obstacles, any time I take a buggy line

 

It was almost never for me. But my fat ass doesn't do buggy lines.