Marlin Crawler Tacobox for 3rd gens

[Tacomadad18]

That’s right. The awesome people over at Marlin Crawler have developed a tacobox for the 2016-2019 Tacoma. They can be installed on either automatic or manual transmissions.

I am in no way a sponsor for them but wanted to share the technical aspect of these boxes. I have had a lot of questions and hopefully this will help answer all those. I am simply posting this due to the awesomeness it brings and the control you can have with off-roading.

Do I think it is a must have for everyone? Probably not. But, if you are into real rock crawling and testing your truck to see what it can do, this is probably for you. I stumbled upon the videos on YouTube and I was hooked. So hooked, I ordered a tacobox for my truck less than 3 weeks after finding out about it ??

*This is taken straight from Marlin Crawler, feel free to check them out yourself.


What does the TacoBox do?
The TacoBox has three shift positions that may be engaged from a stop at any time:

• High: High Range is 1.00:1 so shaft speed & torque enters and departs at the same rate and is used for normal City and Highway driving. The ECU and all associated systems such as cruise control, traction control, stability control, the full ensemble of Toyota Safety Sense, ABS, ATRC, and Crawl Control, function normally. City and Highway Fuel Economy is unaffected. The truck will feel and operate 100% like factory both on-road and off-road, 2WD or 4WD. The TacoBox is simply bypassed.
  
  
• Neutral: Neutral is a fully neutral position and allows for such things as flat towing without any damage to your transmission. In fact, many electronic shift Toyota transfer cases do not have a Neutral position. The TacoBox fixes that.
  
  
• Low: Low Range is our famous Marlin Crawler 4.70:1 ratio. When engaged, your truck instantly becomes 4.7-times more capable and will blow your mind at how much control the truck has and how easy it gets up and down obstacles.

The end result will look like this:

Engine > Transmission > TacoBox > Transfer Case

... thus transforming your 2-speed (High/Low) factory transfer case into a 4-speed TacoBox-equipped transfer case as follows:

Factory 2-speed T/Case High Range (1.00:1) Low Range (2.57:1)​

TacoBox-equipped 4-speed T/Case High Range (1.00:1) ← TacoBox in High, T/Case in High Factory Low Range (2.57:1) ← TacoBox in High, T/Case in Low TacoBox Single Low (4.70:1) ← TacoBox in Low, T/Case in High TacoBox Dual Low (12.08:1) ← TacoBox in Low, T/Case in Low​

In a 5-speed transmission example, the truck will now have 20 different forward gears and 4 reverse, making it a 24-speed truck!



What’s not to love about it?

I am in week 1-2 of the 6-8 week time frame I was given. I’m itching to get mine so I can get it installed. I will be installing it myself, so lots of pics and probably some videos will come along with it.


In the meantime, check out Marlin Crawler on YouTube. Some of the things the Tacobox allows the truck to do, will blow your mind.

 

[Victory4x4]

Love Marlin's stuff

So new driveshafts for sure. Any other mods? Transmission tunnel clearance? Do they have a shift linkage and bezel for it, or is that a DIY affair? I saw some of the original photos and that shifter position wasn't really finished looking.

 

[Rob Daman]

nice

 

[Tacomadad18]

Love Marlin's stuff

So new driveshafts for sure. Any other mods? Transmission tunnel clearance? Do they have a shift linkage and bezel for it, or is that a DIY affair? I saw some of the original photos and that shifter position wasn't really finished looking.

Just adjusting the lengths of the driveshafts.
Adding about 9” to the trans wiring harness
Cutting the hole on the inside for the extra shifter ?

That’s about it!

I have to figure out the shifter position as I would like to make mine come out near the parking brake.

 

[WarFabArmor]

Also iirc, automatics will need to source an input shaft as there is a difference and they do not include in packaging? It’s been a while since I looked at them. Any gear reduction is good reduction.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Also iirc, automatics will need to source an input shaft as there is a difference and they do not include in packaging? It’s been a while since I looked at them. Any gear reduction is good reduction.

From what I was told, the above was all it needed? I guess I’ll find out when mine comes in lol. I’m sure they would have mentioned that. I see they mention the hd cross member add on which I’ll get.

 

[WarFabArmor]

From what I was told, the above was all it needed? I guess I’ll find out when mine comes in lol. I’m sure they would have mentioned that. I see they mention the hd cross member add on which I’ll get.

Correct. Had it backward. MT guys have to use the coupler and swap the input/output. Big mike talks about it on ‘that other board’

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

That’s right. The awesome people over at Marlin Crawler have developed a tacobox for the 2016-2019 Tacoma. They can be installed on either automatic or manual transmissions.

I am in no way a sponsor for them but wanted to share the technical aspect of these boxes. I have had a lot of questions and hopefully this will help answer all those. I am simply posting this due to the awesomeness it brings and the control you can have with off-roading.

Do I think it is a must have for everyone? Probably not. But, if you are into real rock crawling and testing your truck to see what it can do, this is probably for you. I stumbled upon the videos on YouTube and I was hooked. So hooked, I ordered a tacobox for my truck less than 3 weeks after finding out about it ??

*This is taken straight from Marlin Crawler, feel free to check them out yourself.


What does the TacoBox do?
The TacoBox has three shift positions that may be engaged from a stop at any time:

• High: High Range is 1.00:1 so shaft speed & torque enters and departs at the same rate and is used for normal City and Highway driving. The ECU and all associated systems such as cruise control, traction control, stability control, the full ensemble of Toyota Safety Sense, ABS, ATRC, and Crawl Control, function normally. City and Highway Fuel Economy is unaffected. The truck will feel and operate 100% like factory both on-road and off-road, 2WD or 4WD. The TacoBox is simply bypassed.
  
  
• Neutral: Neutral is a fully neutral position and allows for such things as flat towing without any damage to your transmission. In fact, many electronic shift Toyota transfer cases do not have a Neutral position. The TacoBox fixes that.
  
  
• Low: Low Range is our famous Marlin Crawler 4.70:1 ratio. When engaged, your truck instantly becomes 4.7-times more capable and will blow your mind at how much control the truck has and how easy it gets up and down obstacles.

The end result will look like this:


... thus transforming your 2-speed (High/Low) factory transfer case into a 4-speed TacoBox-equipped transfer case as follows:

Factory 2-speed T/Case High Range (1.00:1) Low Range (2.57:1)​

TacoBox-equipped 4-speed T/Case High Range (1.00:1) ← TacoBox in High, T/Case in High Factory Low Range (2.57:1) ← TacoBox in High, T/Case in Low TacoBox Single Low (4.70:1) ← TacoBox in Low, T/Case in High TacoBox Dual Low (12.08:1) ← TacoBox in Low, T/Case in Low​

In a 5-speed transmission example, the truck will now have 20 different forward gears and 4 reverse, making it a 24-speed truck!



What’s not to love about it?

I am in week 1-2 of the 6-8 week time frame I was given. I’m itching to get mine so I can get it installed. I will be installing it myself, so lots of pics and probably some videos will come along with it.


In the meantime, check out Marlin Crawler on YouTube. Some of the things the Tacobox allows the truck to do, will blow your mind.

Whoa, that's a crazy mod! I guess if you do a lot of crawling, it would be worth it. Looking forward to seeing the install.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Whoa, that's a crazy mod! I guess if you do a lot of crawling, it would be worth it. Looking forward to seeing the install.

That is more of what I’m into. We don’t really have the trails/ parks to be able to Overland so I’ve always been a crawler. I came from Jeeps and that is what made me love crawling so much.

Thing that made it a no brainer to get was if you see big mikes truck (3rd gen white one in all the marlin videos) he does all the big name spots and he has little trail damage. Even before he went to 40s. The tacobox gives you so much control and eliminates the need for wheel speed to get up and over obstacles

 

[Romp-A-Taco]

That is more of what I’m into. We don’t really have the trails/ parks to be able to Overland so I’ve always been a crawler. I came from Jeeps and that is what made me love crawling so much.

Thing that made it a no brainer to get was if you see big mikes truck (3rd gen white one in all the marlin videos) he does all the big name spots and he has little trail damage. Even before he went to 40s. The tacobox gives you so much control and eliminates the need for wheel speed to get up and over obstacles

That's bad ass.

 

[Tacomadad18]

That's bad ass.

I look up to Marlins 3rd gen. I would loooooooooove to be on 40s. If you watch the videos he walks over everything.

 

[WarFabArmor]

I look up to Marlins 3rd gen. I would loooooooooove to be on 40s. If you watch the videos he walks over everything.

Big tires make things nice. But I’d like to see him run some harder stuff. Show it working in tech sections vs just big climbs.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Big tires make things nice. But I’d like to see him run some harder stuff. Show it working in tech sections vs just big climbs.

Yeah for sure. I see the stuff he climbs and would love to have that clean of lines where it at. All our local trails are overgrown, boulders everywhere. There’s hardly any clean rocks like that around here.

 

[WarFabArmor]

Yeah you must be out east a bit. We have good rocks here but it’s a bit more tech than easy climbs. Supposed to get with mike next month for some
Wheeling.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Yeah you must be out east a bit. We have good rocks here but it’s a bit more tech than easy climbs. Supposed to get with mike next month for some
Wheeling.

That’s awesome. Def take all the pics! I love your truck too man, I like seeing the 3rd gens out crawling ??

 

[WarFabArmor]

That’s awesome. Def take all the pics! I love your truck too man, I like seeing the 3rd gens out crawling ??

Thanks. Headed to Moab in 2 days so should have some fun to share.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Thanks. Headed to Moab in 2 days so should have some fun to share.

Super jealous. Have fun!

 

[TrainerTed61]

That’s right. The awesome people over at Marlin Crawler have developed a tacobox for the 2016-2019 Tacoma. They can be installed on either automatic or manual transmissions.

I am in no way a sponsor for them but wanted to share the technical aspect of these boxes. I have had a lot of questions and hopefully this will help answer all those. I am simply posting this due to the awesomeness it brings and the control you can have with off-roading.

Do I think it is a must have for everyone? Probably not. But, if you are into real rock crawling and testing your truck to see what it can do, this is probably for you. I stumbled upon the videos on YouTube and I was hooked. So hooked, I ordered a tacobox for my truck less than 3 weeks after finding out about it ??

*This is taken straight from Marlin Crawler, feel free to check them out yourself.


What does the TacoBox do?
The TacoBox has three shift positions that may be engaged from a stop at any time:

• High: High Range is 1.00:1 so shaft speed & torque enters and departs at the same rate and is used for normal City and Highway driving. The ECU and all associated systems such as cruise control, traction control, stability control, the full ensemble of Toyota Safety Sense, ABS, ATRC, and Crawl Control, function normally. City and Highway Fuel Economy is unaffected. The truck will feel and operate 100% like factory both on-road and off-road, 2WD or 4WD. The TacoBox is simply bypassed.
  
  
• Neutral: Neutral is a fully neutral position and allows for such things as flat towing without any damage to your transmission. In fact, many electronic shift Toyota transfer cases do not have a Neutral position. The TacoBox fixes that.
  
  
• Low: Low Range is our famous Marlin Crawler 4.70:1 ratio. When engaged, your truck instantly becomes 4.7-times more capable and will blow your mind at how much control the truck has and how easy it gets up and down obstacles.

The end result will look like this:


... thus transforming your 2-speed (High/Low) factory transfer case into a 4-speed TacoBox-equipped transfer case as follows:

Factory 2-speed T/Case High Range (1.00:1) Low Range (2.57:1)​

TacoBox-equipped 4-speed T/Case High Range (1.00:1) ← TacoBox in High, T/Case in High Factory Low Range (2.57:1) ← TacoBox in High, T/Case in Low TacoBox Single Low (4.70:1) ← TacoBox in Low, T/Case in High TacoBox Dual Low (12.08:1) ← TacoBox in Low, T/Case in Low​

In a 5-speed transmission example, the truck will now have 20 different forward gears and 4 reverse, making it a 24-speed truck!



What’s not to love about it?

I am in week 1-2 of the 6-8 week time frame I was given. I’m itching to get mine so I can get it installed. I will be installing it myself, so lots of pics and probably some videos will come along with it.


In the meantime, check out Marlin Crawler on YouTube. Some of the things the Tacobox allows the truck to do, will blow your mind.

Well, I tried to order one late in 2017, right after I got my truck. Still waiting.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Oooo that’s upsetting.

I contacted them, they said they ran out of aluminum and would be getting more by the end of May. They said mine would be built the beginning of June, so maybe there is hope on the horizon.

 

[TrainerTed61]

Oooo that’s upsetting.

I contacted them, they said they ran out of aluminum and would be getting more by the end of May. They said mine would be built the beginning of June, so maybe there is hope on the horizon.

Yeah I've heard that one, too. Also, despite Mike's manual tranny, the version for the manual has fluid issues. I was told it either has to be run low and "watched" or deal with leaking and top it up regularly.

 

[Tacomadad18]

Yeah I've heard that one, too. Also, despite Mike's manual tranny, the version for the manual has fluid issues. I was told it either has to be run low and "watched" or deal with leaking and top it up regularly.

I did talk to them about that one as well. They mentioned a new seal that is to take care of that I believe. I do have an AT, I have not heard any issues...yet.

Seems to be the same answer from everyone, which is upsetting.

 

[TrainerTed61]

I did talk to them about that one as well. They mentioned a new seal that is to take care of that I believe. I do have an AT, I have not heard any issues...yet.

Seems to be the same answer from everyone, which is upsetting.

My optimistic side says they are trying to drum up enough interest to justify building enough of them to make money. But, it's vaporware at this point. My frustration is palpable. The TacoBox is truly the basis of my build. Where we wheel in Virginia (and the east in general) things are tight, steep, and slippery. I have worked with a lot of different vehicles over the years and I can say, low speed torque is the most effective characteristic affecting capability of any vehicle. I chose a Tacoma for space and versatility based on the ability to gear it ultra low for crawling, yet have the versatility for more general driving. I have watched stock Wrangler Rubicons (4:1 Low Range) spank built Wranglers on 35+ but no crawling ability. It's just key.

 

[Tyler]

@SDCementTacoTruck are you in or are you in?

 

[SDCementTacoTruck]

@SDCementTacoTruck are you in or are you in?

I think so... I have most of the $$$ put aside, If I could do myself, this would be a game changer, hope @Jfrisch01 posts detailed enough videos that I feel I could do myself! @Jfrisch01 will you have a shop do your driveshafts?

 

[Ts7xTaco]

I have seriously considered this, I have a factory e-locker rear and ARB front. So if I wanted to use the single 4.70 case I wouldn't be able to lock the rear diff, the factory case would have to be in 4lo and then to put the second case in 4.70. I'd be super low, which is ok in some scenarios, but I'd like to be able to lock the rear diff with the factory case in 4hi. As far as I know there isn't any solution to being able to engage the factory e-locker in 4hi, or is there?

 

[Tyler]

I have seriously considered this, I have a factory e-locker rear and ARB front. So if I wanted to use the single 4.70 case I wouldn't be able to lock the rear diff, the factory case would have to be in 4lo and then to put the second case in 4.70. I'd be super low, which is ok in some scenarios, but I'd like to be able to lock the rear diff with the factory case in 4hi. As far as I know there isn't any solution to being able to engage the factory e-locker in 4hi, or is there?

There was a mod for the older generations called the grey wire mod that let you use the locker in 2wd and 4hi. I don’t think that mod works on the 3rd gen and I don’t think there is a solid way for us to do this yet.

 

[Tacomadad18]

I think so... I have most of the $$$ put aside, If I could do myself, this would be a game changer, hope @Jfrisch01 posts detailed enough videos that I feel I could do myself! @Jfrisch01 will you have a shop do your driveshafts?

Yes, I will video the install. I have a local shop that is going to fix the driveshafts for me. They said half a day turn around for about $450. Easy choice to have them do it.


Marlin said June so hopefully in a few weeks I will have it!

 

[SDCementTacoTruck]

Yes, I will video the install. I have a local shop that is going to fix the driveshafts for me. They said half a day turn around for about $450. Easy choice to have them do it.


Marlin said June so hopefully in a few weeks I will have it!

Can't wait to see your install... I hear a shop about 90 miles from me will install for $1700 + cost of the Tacobox. Wonder how doable this would be to install myself??? Will you post here?

 

[Tacomadad18]

Can't wait to see your install... I hear a shop about 90 miles from me will install for $1700 + cost of the Tacobox. Wonder how doable this would be to install myself??? Will you post here?

It doesn’t seem to bad, dropping transfer case. Booting up taco box, adjusting wire lengths, cutting hole for shifter.. I to be honest do not trust a shop to do it! I had a local shop install my locker and they messed it up and caused a headache for me.

I will post here as well as YouTube.

 

[TrainerTed61]

Yes, I will video the install. I have a local shop that is going to fix the driveshafts for me. They said half a day turn around for about $450. Easy choice to have them do it.


Marlin said June so hopefully in a few weeks I will have it!

June?! Really?