One more modification to the transfer case to accommodate the RaDesigns triple shifter.
This time we need to modify one of the shift rail heads to fit the shift lever. The left side shift rail head needs the extra metal bit cut off and the head needs to be ground level with the others.
I stuff a rag in the shift lever hole, then covered it with aluminum foil, then went to town with my dremel. Get it pretty level, I had to go back and take another couple of millimeters off the top after this pic.


Once I got it ground down enough I added the lever plate, making sure the levers were engaged correctly in the shift rails. Fipg and done.

In the above pic my husband put what mode the transfer case would be in at each side of the shift rails. When doing the actual levers it would then be opposite.
Left side is low range lever forward, high range lever rearward.
Right side is 2wd forward, 4wd rearward

 

Back to the Marlin Crawler Taco box install...
Install tacobox to transfer case.

Fipg. There are two studs in the kit with the longer bolts. That's for this part of the install. The studs go in the spot that no bolt will go, easy enough to figure out.
You don't want this to leak, there will be 75w90 in the area this seals.

Apply silicone to edge of transmission tailhousing Very crucial to seal between the transmission and tacobox)
Again with the gear oil within this sealed area.

Mate the Tacobox and transfercase combo to the transmission.
If you did this right the coupler you lovingly tapped onto the transmission output shaft is deep enough on that you will be able to slide the tacobox all the way onto it. If it feels like the last 1/2" isn't wanting to go on, remember you're trying to seat the other side of the coupler housing into the tacobox. Do NOT use the bolts to try to pull it on, you may end up breaking something. It took 2 of us and a bit of gentle wiggling and aiming and sweet nothings to convince the two to be friends. Once we felt we were good to finish I put the fipg on, then we wrestled it the rest of the way on and bolted it up.


PS. The manual transmission is shorter than the automatic. I had pulled the crossmember (won't affect the gas tank mount) and it was still a tight fit to get up in there. Once it was all said and done I do have a few inches in front of the cross member, but before they were together it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle. Patience and don't bump your head a lot. Ow.

Mark and cut hole for tcase shifter.
If you don't want to figure out a way (or, in my case, buy someone else's figuring) to make the oe transfer case remote shift then you'd figure out where in your tunnel you'd need to cut a hole. You will either have to cut a corresponding hole in your center console- or modify or remove it. I can't tell you much about this as I didn't do it this way.

Install shifter and shifter boot
This part might have been easier if I did, but I didn't.

And that was the end of Marlin's Tacobox installation instructions.
I've got to go make dinner now.

Another PS. You will have to extend the wiring for the oe transfer case switches. The vacuum line that runs between it and the transmission will also need replacing with something longer.

 

Don't forget to put gear oil in all those cases.
You will also need to extend the wiring to the switches on the transfer case and the hose that runs between the the transmission (near, to the right, and back, from the shifter housing on the transmission- and on the shifter housing on the transfer)

Back to the RaDesigns triple shifter. Most of what i did is further back in the thread.
Step one was the transmission shifter. There is a lot of room between it and the dash. It bends somewhat easily- easier than expected. Bending occurred, checking, bending, checking, bending, checking.
Same thing for the tacobox shifter- I did some bending, but also installed it backwards because that was how it fit best.
The other two shifters provided by RaD were flat bars. They also bent easily. I didn't bend them a lot, just enough to make everything fit together without being too far outside the console area so legs and seats wouldn't hit them.
A lot of try-bend-try and it all went together. I did cut the RaD lever threading for the shift handle down about 3/4" so they better fit in with the oe lever for the tacobox.
The RaD levers are attached to the transfer case via adjustable heims on a threaded rod. That was also lengthened or shortened to get everything to work together.

Closest the transmission shifter gets to the oe transfer case shifter is 2nd/low


Closest the transmission shifter gets to the tacobox shifter is low/reverse

 

Once I got the levers sorted I used a combination of the RaD boot and bracket, and the oe transmission boot and bracket. Various things were cut to make everything work, then an extra layer of rubber was added to cover the holes I made in the RaD boot, which is too bulky without cutting it down.
Here's the beginning of figuring that out.

The bracket for the shifter and center console trim was bolted on top of the RaD bracket, in its proper position.

I had to be careful where I put the screws in- the heims are in the way of the center holes of the RaD bracket, even with the 1" body lift it is too shallow there for the oe screws. No worries anywhere else, though, so, um...no worries.

 

A junkyard run and some sewing for the shift levers udder, put console and trim back on, handles too...
Ta-da!


Now I've just got clean-up, secure the wiring, add the 1/8npt x 3/16 hose barb for the oe transfer case and a new hose.
Oh, and driveshafts. Tacobox is 8 1/2" long, rear driveshaft needs to be 41 1/2" and front needs to be 35".
Friend Mightymouse to the rescue once more. Someone he trusts is making the driveshafts, hoping for this coming week.

Then we get to see if it actually works.

 

96 4Runner 316,048 miles

Sooooon we get to see it it'll go.

Picked up the prettiest pair of driveshafts from Mighty Mouse today, will install tomorrow. Happy me is, er, happy!
Pics tomorrow, much heavier duty than the oe driveshafts, and smaller diameter will work next to the gas tank skid much nicer

 

Now to apply some paint to them while she isn't looking...

 

Nope nope nope nope...

bundling up now, itchy to get to it.

 

I'm excited to see it move really really slow.

 

One last piece. I'm waiting on one last stinkin' piece.

Driveshafts are in.
Once the breather gets here I'll install it and the hose.
Once that's done I can bolt the cat back on.
I did run it for a bit the other day.
It sure is loud right now.
We were both out there, checking that flanges were turning when they should before I bolted the Woodys on.
We spent the time yelling "WHAT??"

 

Still waitin' on that piece, but started it up anyway. Transmission is, unfortunately, not healthy. That was not expected, obviously. Spun by hand, there was no indication of uh-oh. Even in the truck it's definite, but you have to listen to hear the trouble. Once under load, though...
always a chance taken on any used part, no worries. On the plus side I get to drive it while figuring out what to do with my original trans.

The rest of the deal seems good on the short test drive.

Husband says the tranny shouldn't cause any damage to the important stuff so I'll drive it around town until I can *notsmileyface* do what has to be done next.
On the plus side, I can buck up and get mine rebuilt while still being able to roll- then we can get this one rebuilt later on down the road if needed.

One step closer to being able to build a 4runner out of spare parts.

 

As best as I can tell, it's some issue with the input gear, or the layshaft, or layshaft bearings. Little to no noise when not under a load, but when driving a 'tickatickaticka' noise that's not good in 1, 2, 3rd gear. But notably absent in 4th - which doesn't send torque through the input gear/layshaft - it just locks the input shaft to the output shaft.

But worst case - the bad trans just gets worse with use, it doesn't share oil with the transfer cases, so it's not likely to spread it's failing issues to other components. And absolute worse case at some point it may grind up some gears and become a 1 spd trans (4th) full of gravel. Probably still make it back home. I just wouldn't take it on any long trips for now.

 

96 4Runner 316,1xx miles

Drove it to work (3 mile round trip) 4 days, then parked it on Tuesday. There is a weird rolling noise and a pop sound when beginning to move for the first drive of the day. The first couple of days was the pop sound, the next couple were random rolling weird rubbery/metally sounds. Day 4 the sound was becoming more prevalent so it got parked until I could diagnose.
Yesterday I pulled the wheel and drum, everything is pretty and dry inside. No rub marks anywhere on the wheel or the inner or outer part of the drum. Put it back together and the hubby rolled it down the driveway while I listened and pin-pointed the noise.
It was definitely the left rear, and was all the way around except for one small spot in the rotation of the wheel. Having the wheel on made it more likely to make the sound.
Cue sinking feeling.

This morning I pulled wheel again and checked for in and out play. Sure enough, play with noise. Pulled the axle.
Bad wheel bearing.

What in the heck, truck?? Turn 25 (this month!) and you're gonna fall the hecking apart on me??
That bearing was replaced with a Koyo bearing from Toyota at 279,210 miles. Was not expecting that it would last almost 30,000 miles and no more. Was pressed by a shop that has a lot of experience with Toyota axles.

Hey, at least this one will be a lot easier fix! Once it comes back from the machine shop I'll have it back together within 1/2 hour. If I stop for a coffee break.
And I just might.


Looks better than when I did the right one, but does have very obvious play.

The left axle takes the bearings for 96-2000 4Runner w/abs- it's original to the truck

 

It's wierd how one thing will last seemingly forever, get replaced and last such a short time.
glad you got it figured out. I can't hear my wife sometimes but was able to diagnose a left rear wheel bearing on her old forester going out. Fix it and than she gets rear ended in a hit and run and her car gets totaled. It was time to get her an upgrade anway

 

I have a pop on first drive sometimes too. I’ll pull the wheels and check for in/out play. Thanks for the tip. Any other things to look for?

 

Nope nope nope nooooooo! I'm glad she was ready for an upgrade, but I am NOT! Nobody hit my truck!!! The short life is head scratching, guess either daily driving and the small amount of wheeling on 33s is hard or they're not making them like they used to?

Funny how our hearing goes so selectively
I had to diagnose between all the noises that infest suburbia, like really, leaf blowers in December???

 

Welcome to the thread.

Year/model/drivetrain might help.

If it's a 3rd gen 4Runner-I don't know if where you're at is freezing yet- sometimes the ends of the parking brake cable will become contaminated with water that then freezes and causes the cable to stick until it releases with a pop.
The bell cranks are another place to look.
Often you'll see gear oil on the inner side of the rear tire(s) when the axle bearings go bad. It didn't happen for me this time, but often does. That leaking oil can cause the shoes to stick and that can make a pop sound.
Any suspension point, front or rear- upper and lower control arms, links, etc.
Anything- if you are in the rust belt- that is notorious for rusting out, such as the rear lower control arm front mount or the rear shock upper mounts...though the sound would then likely be more often.
I don't know what you have or if you're familiar with the front lower ball joints for this era of 4runers/t-100s/tacomas...another place to check out especially.
There's other stuff, that's a start.

I'm no mechanic, have to listen, pinpoint, look. I didn't get to the bad bearing diagnoses until it started making other noises that I could narrow down.

 

Sorry I almost only post on 3rd gen 4runner forums, forgot where I was lol. 98 4runner, where I live we hit a low of 70 degrees Fahrenheit so no worries about stuff freezing up, rust is not really an issue here either. Thanks for the tips I’ll poke around when I’m under there for other stuff sometime this week.

 

Lucky you on the temps and lack of rust!
You did post in a 3rd gen section so you are correct, sometimes people accidentally end up in the wrong area so I had to ask.

Sometimes trying to find the source of a noise is so aggravating. Front or rear? Which side? Is it when moving? Does it slow down or speed up with the truck? Does braking change it? Does steering affect it? Does it happen on an upward or downward suspension change?
My husband's 99 has a clunk that hasn't been pinpointed yet, it'll get found eventually. Good luck finding yours!

 

I ordered Marlin's Rear Axle Service Kit MCAX-241 this evening using their discount code 102020, looks like it'll be here next week sometime.
Given all the crap and crazy stuff that's happened this year perhaps not being able to drive it again until almost 2021 won't be such a bad thing.