Marlin crawler setup Q&A

[jmoffroad]

I have a 95 3.2 passport in that we want to put a toyota manual trans and crawlers in. My main question, can I run a turbo trans (r-151), or must it be a 96+ R-151F like I have been hearing. Tried to call Marlin about 20 times in the last month, but he's just as busy as the rest of us. Thanks!:confused:

[randii]

UP FRONT: To bolt to a 3.2, easiest path requires the right bellhousing (Trooper, IIRC) and a 96-and later R-150 tranny. If you start with a R-151F tranny, you can fab your own bellhousing or swap the front of the the transmission case with the R-150.

OUT BACK: To bolt to a Toyota gear-driven transfer case (assuming you want passenger-side drop and cheap gearing options), the easiest path is the R-151F tranny, which has the right tailhousing and mainshaft to bolt to a 23-spline gear-driven toy case. If you have the R-150, you'll need an adapter out back, or to just live with the driver-side drop stock transfer case.

There's some mojo required to make the input shaft work, lengthwise -- I recommend searching at 4x4Wire.com, where all the folks who have run and installed Marlin Crawler setups have posted in the past.

If you have an R-151F tranny, my best suggestion is to keep calling Marlin until you get through, and see if he'll work a trade for the Turbo bellhousing you have (in reasonable demand) or even to swap the tranny you have for one built for your needs. It is possible to piece these together on your own, but path of least resistance is to dial the Man.

Randii

[jmoffroad]

Thanks for the good info boss. I'll keep callin'. I love the idea of the turbo trans because (a) I have it and (b) I only need one adapter for the crawler. Thanx!:D

[Greg55_99]

Some good info on this site:

http://www.mjw.com/amigo/marlin/index.shtml

The upshot is, as Randii has pointed out, you can't use the stock Isuzu 3.2\3.5 bellhousing with the R151F because the input shaft is far to short. They will physically bolt together however. It looks like Marlin used the 96.5 and later R150F because it's input shaft is longer and fit pretty well. You could do as Randii has done and that's find a bellhousing with the GM 60 degree bolt pattern on it with the starter opening on the drivers side and mod it.

Greg