Marks4wd Cruiser Crawler Install

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I will have to agree, that is a poor design, but not knowing all the R&D facts I hate to throw stones. If they have re-vamped it and it is a solid piece now, then that is definitely much stronger, but I am curious as to why in the original design they didn't try to spline the shaft and gear to help offset the torque applied to the welds.

I am definitely not a machinist, but looking at the pictures there appeared to be enough material to work with. Just a couple of small keys would likely have eliminated the weld failures.

Anyway, post up some pics of the new gear if/ when it comes in. I am curious to see the re-vamped gear.

Good luck,

Tucker
 
Wrench said:
Pics. As you can see again not a good design. You are asking an awful lot of those welds to withstand 275ft of torque at the back end of the transmission. Not a good scenario.
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My take on this is that gear is an OEM gear that they used to save them from remaking the whole part. They turned out the center of the gear and pressed/welded the splined piece into it. As far as the weld the tig looks fine but the steel is a very high carbon to get the hardness needed on the face of the gear. When welding the carbon migrates into the weld and causes the weld to get harder than desired. Not much you can do on that other than use a tig rod meant for this application.

This gear can be made in one piece no problem

Kirk
 
kirk said:
My take on this is that gear is an OEM gear that they used to save them from remaking the whole part. They turned out the center of the gear and pressed/welded the splined piece into it. As far as the weld the tig looks fine but the steel is a very high carbon to get the hardness needed on the face of the gear. When welding the carbon migrates into the weld and causes the weld to get harder than desired. Not much you can do on that other than use a tig rod meant for this application.

This gear can be made in one piece no problem

Kirk
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Genius! That exactly what they did!
 
Well it has arrived! Looks great. This is how they should of made them in the first place. Don't think I will be breaking this thing now.
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Looks well made. They even put several little oil weep holes in the gear.
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That is nice! I just think they should be working with you on $ side of it since it was a faulty design in the beginning. "IF" it was a toyota part i'm sure it would be replaced under a recall.
 
sleeoffroad said:
The crawler box is used for hardcore rock crawling. Normal warrantees does not really apply. If it was a faulty part and it was a common breakage, I would understand. However it is difficult to warranty for every occurrence.

I do hope that they did help a little on the cost.
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I agree in principle with you. However it's a product that is designed/built and sold specifically for "hard core rock crawling" and so if it can't do that, it's a faulty design.

I now you and Gary haven't had the same issues, but you have had some. And, based on what Grench has shown, it was a faulty design, to the point that they developed a whole new part to replace that one.

Not saying they have to cover all the cost, but they should cover some of them.
 
sleeoffroad said:
I do hope that they did help a little on the cost.
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Yeah they did.
concretejungle said:
I agree in principle with you. However it's a product that is designed/built and sold specifically for "hard core rock crawling" and so if it can't do that, it's a faulty design.

I now you and Gary haven't had the same issues, but you have had some. And, based on what Grench has shown, it was a faulty design, to the point that they developed a whole new part to replace that one.

Not saying they have to cover all the cost, but they should cover some of them.
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You got to remember I'm not the original purchaser. They have no record of my name in their system. So it's hard to get any warranty.
 
Grench = Grinch? LOL
 
Paul Harvey says JB weld can fix anything. Maybe you should try that on your spare? The new gear looks great. Problem solved. Hopefully I will not break mine.

Merry Christmas,
Kirk
 
kirk said:
Paul Harvey says JB weld can fix anything. Maybe you should try that on your spare? The new gear looks great. Problem solved. Hopefully I will not break mine.

Merry Christmas,
Kirk
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Yea right; i cant even get JB weld to hold together on my RC rock crawler. :o
 
concretejungle said:
Yea right; i cant even get JB weld to hold together on my RC rock crawler. :o
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I repaired a volkswagen 1600 engine block with JB weld in the mid 90s. I have not had a successful JB weld repair in about 10 tries since then.......
 
I was just joking on the JB. I thought i would mix a little humor into the thread. If a tig wont hold it nothing will. The outcome was the right solution.

Mr. Wrench. When the old gear failed did you lose all ability to move the 80 under its own power or just lose the crawler gear?
 
i know you were.... and i was too, but i was kind of being serious in that i can't seem to get JB to perform like it used to.

I have a little plastic arm on my remote control rock crawler that broke and i jb welded it back and it broke twice again. You would think JB weld could hold that at least!

back on track sorry.........................
 
kirk said:
Mr. Wrench. When the old gear failed did you lose all ability to move the 80 under its own power or just lose the crawler gear?
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Yes when it breaks the 80 won't move at all. You are stranded. You lose park as well. That's what made it frustrating you're stranded and need a tow. No limping home on a busted birfield. Remember this is the input shaft/gear this is before the crawler box. Never had an issue with the crawler box itself. Hope all this makes sense.
 
Enigma said:
Any updates?

I would assume that this is the crawler box you have?
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It's all together. Been about a week and a half now. All seems well. Drives fine. Gear whine but that is normal. No leaks this time. I've been chasing leaks before with this thing. But none now so far. Now watch it start leaking lol.
Yes that is what I have.
 
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