The purpose of this page is to document my Marlin Crawler ToyBox installation into my 79 FJ40 using the stock H42 4 speed transmission and 4 speed transfercase. Please send any questions or feedback to fj40smurf@yahoo.com

UPDATE: 2007
I have put a few thousand miles on the ToyBox on the streets and highways and two years of trail riding. I have drained the transmission, ToyBox, and transfercase twice in that time and the gearoil was clean, with very little metal dust on the magnetic drainplugs. I can honestly say it is the best modification I have done to improve truck's 4 wheeling ability. The control you have with the ToyBox combined with the stock transfercase allows you to pick your lines and take your time crawling over big obstacles you once had to power over with the skinny pedal. I am running 36" bias IROKs with the stock 4:11 gears in the differentials which gives me great highway RPMs (low). Once I get to the trail I usually use just the ToyBox and only engage the stock transfercase low range when I reach a very tough obstacle that requires "Silly Crawl" as I like to call it. The first time you drive up to an obstacle you used to have to power over or ride the clutch to get over you will be smiling ear to ear as you crawl over it. Thanks Marlin!

Introduction:

First a little background about this project. If you own a 1979 or later FJ40 the gas tank is located under the truck, not under the seat as in early models. You can NOT fit a ToyBox under the truck with the tank in the stock location. The transfer case ends up where the gas tank is.  I spent a few hours under my truck trying to find a way to move the tank and keep it under the truck. I could find no way to retain the stock tank under the truck. If you are able to install a ToyBox and retain the stock tank please contact me. I am going to run a fuel cell in the bed section of my 40 or a small tank from a vehicle like a Geo Tracker or other small SUV directly behind the rear bumper. This is the same location used by the MAF auxiliary fuel tank which could also be an option if you don't flip your rear springs.  You will also have to address the fact that the ToyBox and adapters will add 6.5 inches to your driveline.  I am performing a SOA conversion and flipping my rear springs to compensate for the 6.5 inches the ToyBox will add to my driveline. I have read about other ToyBox owners who run a CV on the rear driveshaft. Whichever route you choose you will need to lengthen the front shaft and shorten the rear. I ended up needing to run a CV driveshaft in the rear. I am using a front CV shaft from an 85 Toyota minitruck.

The first part of this project requires you to replace the output shaft of your transmission. If you have never taken apart a transmission you may want to pay someone to complete this first and most complex part of the project. When I ordered my ToyBox from Marlin I was told I would need to take my transmission to a local shop to have this output shaft replaced or that I could do it myself. Of course I decided to undertake this part of the project myself, so armed with the factory service manual I got started...

You will require certain specialty tools you may not own to complete this project. I have listed below all the tools I could not have completed this project without that may not be in every shade tree’s tool box.

Special Equipment List:

Two jaw gear puller, 2lb or heavier plastic or rubber deadblow hammer, 36mm socket, torque wrench, snap ring pliers, transmission jack or engine hoist (cherry picker), and bearing splitter.

Warning!: Do not attempt to undertake this project unless you have have a Toyota Factory Service Manual (FSM)!. This page is intended to supplement the instructions found in the FSM on how to R&R your transmission.

I accept NO responsibility for anything that may happen to you or your truck if you follow these instructions! Working on your Land Cruiser is dangerous! Wear eye protection, protective clothing, and protective footwear!

With that out of the way lets get started!

Step 1

You must first remove your transmission and transfercase from your truck. This is accomplished by first removing your seats, then the access cover over the transmission, then remove the tranny shifter by pushing down the base of the shifter with the tool of your choice and rotating clockwise, yes clockwise. Some early transmissions I hear use a counterclockwise turn to remove the shifter though. I use an adjustable wrench for this. I have also had good luck using two large slot head screwdrivers. There is also a Toyota SST for this. Drain both the transmission and transfercase gear oil.  Remove the speedometer cable from the transfercase and both drive shafts. Remove the four bolts holding in the tranny and pull it back away from the bellhousing. I use an engine hoist from above to lower the tranny/transfercase combo. Lots of folks have had good luck with a solid piece of wood or metal on top of the window sills using ratchet straps. Some use a tranny jack but most avoid this method. If it falls off and cracks the case you now have a much bigger problem. The tranny/transfercase combo is very heavy. Please do NOT try to lower it manually unless you enter strongman competitions on a regular basis.

Step 2

Once the transfercase tranny combo is out of the truck its time to clean off the years of built up dirt and grime. I used simplegreen, a stiff bristle brush and a hose. I am sure a pressure washer would work great also.

Here is a picture of the transmission and transfercase combination before cleanup. You can see the webbing straps still attached which held the combination to the engine hoist.

First you need to remove the transmission cover. There are eight bolts holding it on. I had to tap gently on the shifter tower with a rubber mallet to break the seal. Then I used a flat blade screw driver working my way around the cover evenly prying gently to raise the cover above the two studs before I was able to pull up the cover and remove it from the tranny. Pull straight up to clear the shifter forks and you will see what is in the picture below. Note I have also removed the transfer case shifter and linkage in this picture.

Cover Removed:

What your transmission looks like inside, close up.

Now we will separate the transmission from the transfercase. First remove the side access panel of the transfercase (six bolts) then remove the two bolts in the picture below.This spacer will fall out when you separate the transfercase from the transmission, this is normal. Go ahead and set it aside as you will not be reusing it.

Now remove the nosecone (six bolts), then the three bolts listed below, and the “Big Staked Nut”

The “Big Staked Nut is supposed to be torqued to 80-101ft-lb. according to the FSM. Directly behind the nut is a spacer. I was shocked to find that I had play between the spacer and the nut. I spoke with a friend of mine who also performed a ToyBox install and his also had play. This nut is 36mm, I was able to remove it by hand but you will need a 36mm socket to remove it if yours is not loose like mine was and you will need that same 36mm socket to install a new one later.

I believe this slop is the reason I was able to easily split the transfercase from the transmission without any tools. After unstaking the nut and removing the spacer I was able to remove the transfercase from the transmission by simply pulling it off the output shaft. I have seen pictures of homemade pullers people have made to to split the two apart on the Web. Here is an example if you are not so lucky. Home Made Puller. Remember the “spacer” in the transfercase picture above? It will most likely fallout when you split the transfercase from the transmission.

Once the two are split set the transfercase aside. We are now going to focus on the transmission. Remove the input shaft cover by removing the seven bolts and gently tap on the cover to break the seal then remove. Here is a picture of the cover and the two front bearings exposed.

Now we will remove the rear cover. Another seven bolts need to be removed and you should be able to tap off the rear cover. Upon removal I found a small amount of metal dust residing in the very bottom of the cover. Easy to see in the picture below. My belief is that this is where it had collected over the years from gear wear. Better to be trapped there that circulating around the transmission in my opinion.

Here is what the backside of the transmission looks like. Note the spacer on the output shaft. You will not reuse this spacer so you can set it aside. If you look at the area behind it where the output shaft drove the gear in the transfer case you will see wear. I have heard of people having to replace their output shafts due to excessive wear in this area. A great excuse to get a ToyBox! You can’t see it in this picture but mine had noticeable wear in this area.

Now we need to remove the lower bearings on both the front and back side of the case. Start with the one on the front (input shaft) side of the tranny. Remove the snap ring from the bearing and the snap ring from the countershaft. Now put your puller jaws or bearing splitter on the bearing lip that is now exposed since you removed the snap ring from the bearing and pull it off. I used a small Craftsman two jaw puller for this. A bearing splitter would have probably been an easier tool to use. I put a bolt through both puller arms, grabbed the bearing lip and yanked on it while pressing against the case with my feet.

There is an SST to pull all these bearing that is no longer available from OTC as a singular tool. It is only available as part of the “Master Universal Toyota and Lexus bearing puller set” This set costs $1,700 from OTC (the company who makes all the Toyota SST tools). If you want to buy it you can feel good knowing you will pay the same as any dealer will. I will tell you why I know all this later on.

Now lets remove the lower bearing from the back side of the case. This bearing is not like the others. It only has a snap ring on the countershaft. There is no snapring on the outer bearing. Don’t be surprised when the front bearing cover falls off after you remove the snap ring. Here is a shot of the bearing removed with the inner race still on the countershaft. With no bearings to hold it up your countershaft will now be sitting in the bottom of the transmission case. Make sure it does not get hung up on anything and is sitting in the very bottom of the case. This is very important! If it is not resting on the bottom of the case you will not be able to perform the next step.

.

Next we will need to pound the input shaft assembly out the front of the case. You will want to use a brass drift for this so you don’t damage any part of the input shaft bearing. There is a picture in the FSM showing this step. With the brass drift pound on the bearing so you drive the bearing out the front of the case.

As the bearing starts to exit the case you will hear the 17 roller bearing pieces fall into the bottom of the case. This is normal, don’t freak out. DO NOT remove the bearing from the input shaft as I have done in this picture! It is not necessary and you will only have to reinstall it which can be a PITA if you don’t own a press. I ended up using a length of 2x2 box steel and my deadblow to reinstall it. If you do this make sure to remove the synchro on the end first.

Here is a shot of the input shaft assembly and a shot of the case with it removed.

Now it is time to tackle the last bearing on the case, the one on that long output shaft. You see, you will not be able to remove the output shaft assembly from the case unless this bearing is removed. This is where you will wish you had the SST I mentioned above. I decided to make my own SST. There is a picture of it below. I took some J-hooks and cut part of the ends off and drilled some holes in 1.5” box tube I had. I put my 8 ton puller on and only managed to straighten the J-hooks. This bearing happened to be frozen on my output shaft. Lucky me. I hit this bearing with a torch, PB Blaster, etc. Nothing would budge it.

So I thought what the hell let me see how much Toyota wants for the SST. That is how I got all the information mentioned earlier about it. Since I did not have a cool $1,700 for a master puller set I headed to my local Toyota dealer. Lucky for me I have a good relationship with the Parts Manager at Darcars Toyota in Silver Spring, Maryland. If you ever need parts locally ask for Mark Braund and tell him John Smith sent you. He introduced me to the Service Manager who after I told him my tale of woe agreed to charge me one hour of labor to remove the bearing using his pricey SST. Most dealers will laugh at you if you show up with a tranny in your hands asking them to remove a bearing. He told me he was making a “special exception”. I believe he wanted to actually use this puller which was probably covered in dust. He told me they don’t do any tranny work anymore. If a tranny goes bad they just order an entire unit and swap the whole thing out.

I left the tranny with him and received a call a few hours later... “Sorry Mr. Smith but I was unable to remove that bearing. It would not budge so I hit it with the torch then tried again and broke my puller so I won’t be charging you for that hour of labor.” He broke the SST! How in the hell was I going to get this bearing off when he broke the SST trying to remove it? Read on.

My homemade puller

Defeated.

Needless to say I was at a loss as to how I was going to remove this bearing. I decided to sacrifice the output shaft and cut the end of it off with my cutoff wheel so that I could remove the output shaft assembly from the case and access more of the frozen bearing to remove it. I was prepared to cut the bearing off the shaft is necessary as I figured it was already toast from being hit with the torch many times.

It did not stand a chance.

.

Once I cut it off I was able to remove the output shaft assembly from the case with the bearing still attached. You can see it in this picture with the countershaft next to it. When you remove the output shaft from the case be very careful to hold the gears on the backside of the shaft onto the shaft with your hand. If the bearing were not there they would just fall off. I ended up using my 8 ton puller with a two foot breaker bar to remove the bearing. I purchased a new bearing as I did not trust the old one.

Here is a shot of the bare case with only the reverse gear left. There is no need to remove it so I did not. Now would be a good time to clean the case of any stray metal particles.

Click Here to Continue onto Step 3: Installing the new output shaft