Am I getting some bull from Marlin? Long....

[2ndGen]

are these guys at Marlin giving me BS?

i've been having some transmission/clutch problems recently, had a blown gear bearing recently, had a local transmission shop replaced all the gear bearings and syncro rings, big $$, 1500 bucks. when they re-install the transmission, i asked them to re-use the clutch because it was only 3 months, few thousand miles old. i got the truck back early Feb. 700 miles later, i'm getting some weird noises from the transmission, but the problem is it's not coming up all the time. the trans shop couldn't help me figure out what it is without listening to the actual noise.

at the main time, i'm trying to isolate the problmes between a tranny issue or a clutch issue. based on what i discribed symptems, the shop said it could be the release bearing.

who else to call????? Marlin Crawler, where i bought the clutch.

i talked to 3 different guys at Marlin in 4 different phone calls, i was told by all of them last week and today, quote: every time you lift a truck, you need to rotate the axle housing to have the correct drive line angle. otherwise, there will cause all kinds of drivetrain problems. you either cut the spring perches off and and reweld them back or use spring shims.

they even asked me to measure the pinion angle which came up at 4 degrees, then told me i can not have more then 1.5 degrees.

basically, they are saying their clutch parts are not the problem.

at that time, i've never heard all of these before, so i hang up and did some research on these termnologies. also, asked around on the YT forum.on friday, i called Steve at Sonoran Steel, too.

i called this morning, asked are your sure it applies to my truck? i have a 5-link coil spring suspension, not leaf, spring shims don't work on coil springs, also a double cardan(CV) drive shaft. answer: yeah, i'm sure, it doesn't matter what model year, you need to need to correct the pinion angle, every truck we lifted here has done that.

any of you guys has done that on your truck? Steve told me it's non-issue. a local axle shop told me they've never done a coil spring rotate job on a Toyota truck before, leaf springs yes, but only on very extrem tall lift, small lift they just put shims under springs. there are thousands of lifted Toyota 4Runners out there(not counting the Tacos), with less then 2.5" lift in the front and 3.5" in the rear. can anyone confirm that?

btw, maybe you guys can help me diagnos the noise. it's a high pitch pausing grinding noise, coming from tranny or clutch or t-case. when it comes up, transmission is in gear, any gear and when NOT accelerating, (or cruising). the noise goes away IMMIDIATLY when doing any one of:
a.) press down clutch pedal,
b.) shift gear in neutral,
c.) press down gas pedal, accelerate.

for you folks with manual, it sounds like the humming noise when cruising in 4th gear, but only 20 times louder.

i hope it's a transmission problem so the shop has to fix it. but if it's a clutch problem then i have to pay them for labor. i ordered another set of clutch kit from Marlin any way, i would have the parts on hand if any thing needs to be replaced.

ERRRRR, it sucks.

sorry for the vent.

[04 Rocko Taco]

Sounds more like a tranny problem, but I am no expert.

And no, I have never heard of having to rotate your axle housing for a stock length driveshaft on a relatively small lift, I've only heard of people rotating axles when they have HUGE lifts, or when they have like some crazy combo of tranny and t-case which makes the DS VERY short, you may have to rotate to keep that DS angle happy.

[Seanz0rz]

all due respect to marlin: sorry, never heard of any problem with lifting the rear and needing to rotate the axle. with the 4link w/panhard bar, the axle should rotate anyway(not much with the geometry, but enough). seeing they deal with mostly older trucks, and trucks with rear leaves, im going to say they just arent understanding what is going on with the rear axle.

what does your tranny mount look like? what about the fluid in the tcase, and youre rear diff for that matter.

sounds like the back side of the teeth (not in contact when accelerating, but in contact when decelerating/coasting) are grinding, suggesting improper gear setup (like in a ring and pinion) but somewhere in the trans or tcase.

[Obi..]

You fail to mention aside from the double cardan if your driveshaft is fixed or slip yoke. I have seen this issue before, and yes, it was for that specific vehicle, a driveline issue. We switched to a slip yoke and it went away, as the slip allowed the pulses created to dissipate out.

Also, FWIW, my 2nd Gen will make a low noise whenever I let off the acceleration at speed on the freeway and over 60mph or descending and doing similar.

Marlin's guys answer this type of stuff all day long, (you'd be surprised the amount of questions they get) and are on track.

Considered picking up some adjustable links to correct the angles??

Also, how reputable was the shop that did your work on the transmission?
Was the issue present before you blew your gear bearing, and what caused the bearing to fail?
(*Bad replacement part, bent/warped/burnished shaft due to the failed and overheated bearing, bad clutch or t/o re-install.)

[Seanz0rz]

it would be a slip yoke drive shaft, right? just like mine (auto trans)

i have a hard time believing his pinion angle is to blame, considering ALL of the lifted 3rd gens out there, and this is the only time ive heard of this problem.

[CJM]

I bet you its the trans shops doing, thats the last thing that changed since them.

Trans are complicated and even sometimes experts make a mistake.

[Obi..]

it would be a slip yoke drive shaft, right? just like mine (auto trans)

i have a hard time believing his pinion angle is to blame, considering ALL of the lifted 3rd gens out there, and this is the only time ive heard of this problem.


Sometimes, even if you put in the 1/2" drop adapter for the center link of the driveshaft it resolves vibration and noise.

[Small_words]

Probably a stupid question, but are you sure the CV joints are in good shape? When you engage the clutch, the driveshaft stops turning. When you put it in neutral, the driveshaft stops turning. Hitting the gas however may take up any slack in the driveshaft due to broken/worn CV joints.

[4runnerchevy]

I also have a hard time believing angle. But, on the other end, I have read 3* at a single stock joint is max recommended.

[2ndGen]

You fail to mention aside from the double cardan if your driveshaft is fixed or slip yoke.

Also, how reputable was the shop that did your work on the transmission?
Was the issue present before you blew your gear bearing, and what caused the bearing to fail?
(*Bad replacement part, bent/warped/burnished shaft due to the failed and overheated bearing, bad clutch or t/o re-install.)


it is a double cardan with slip yoke drive shaft. greased every 75k miles.

the shop was recommended by other TTORA members here locally. i'm new here so don't really know whole lot of their history.

the whole reason for me now is to isolate the problems. the reason i called Marlin wasn't to blame anyone, just want to hear some input from Toyota professionals. i wasn't to point fingers at their parts. it's like going to a different doctor for a second opinion.

well, i'll have the shop to open up the clutch to see if indeed the release bearing is out. i'll take the drive shaft to a specialty shop to get balanced in few days.