I have a friend who bought a t-case member for his 85' from Trail-Gear. He was told by the saleman that it would work with his single case stock setup with some grinding so he bought it. He came by after installing it and I took a look. Unfortunately it fits like crap. The t-case hits the member when driving. He's been looking at there site all month and is seriously bummed. I told him he should have bought Marlin and gave him a beer! Has anyone else had problem with fitting Trail-Gears t-case skid too? What's the fix? Thanks for any advice.

Trail-Gear and Marlin's crossmembers are the same. They're made by the same manufacturer.

I have products from both companies, and they both sell and make good parts. They both also stand behind their products, so have your friend contact T-G to discuss the problem.



That said, BudBuilt has the best crossmember he could buy, especially since he only has a single case. I've been running a dual case BudBuilt for years and it kicks ass.

Thanks for the info and advice. Good to know Marlin and Trail-Gears products are one in the same. Unfortunately this particular one just doesn't fit right. the customer support doesn't seem to be there from Trail-Gear's sale staff. My friend John has been calling daily since last Wed. I told him to send an email and he did today. Hopefully everything will work out for him on Monday. I almost bought a pair of front and rear greasable shackles there but will wait to see what happens.

Better to know Bud built has a single t-case cross member. Just like my friend I've found smashing the stock member is no fun and I want to get one too. I'm gonna check them out. I'm also interested in high steer too but don't know who to buy from. Is there any other manufactures you could recommend? Thanks again!

When he calls Trail-Mart tell him to ask for Chris, he should make it right. With that said, there are only two x-members that I would buy, BudBuilt (which I have been running for about five years) or FROR. I looked at T-G's site and did not see a X-member for a single case, just duals, maybe whom every he talked to did not know what he was talking about and it does not work on a single case. Another solution would be to call Marlin and get a dual setup!!!!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I too like the dual setup option. Someday my wife might hit that lotto finally <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> I'll give my friend John a call tommarrow and tell him to talk to Chris if T-G sales doesn't call him first. I fell bad cause money is usually tight for him and he likes to build his own mods from steel he buys. He has built his own shackles, rock rails, front and rear bumpers. He's been looking for a single T-case member and thought John had hooked him up. He just got paid and had a couple of franklin's burning a hole in his pocket for some new Toyota parts and felt T-G had the best deal with the 3/8" steel. Thanks for everyone's advice and experience of what works best so far.

The T-case hits the member? Do you mean the driveshaft?

I've seen guys run this skid with single cases and no problems. Does your friend have a CV rear shaft and a really high suspension lift? If you show us some pics or let us know some details, we may be able to figure out a solution. It sounds like he has some fabrication skills so I wouldn't think it would be that hard.

Just talked to Chris and cleared things up. The member was not intented for a single case application. Check out the pictures. We we were wrong in the information we got and don't buy it until you've installed the second case.
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/davidjudkins/Toyota/shota.jpg
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/davidjudkins/Toyota/shotb.jpg
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/davidjudkins/Toyota/shotc.jpg
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/davidjudkins/Toyota/shotd.jpg

Boy, them is some big pics.

So now that you have hacked it up, I guess any chance of getting the $$ back is gone...

Nope. Chris is very understanding and refunded the complete cost. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> As he said the Trail-gear t-case member is only designed for dual case application. Don't try and get one if you have a single case. If you have a single case buy a single case t-case member. Chris is a great guy to work with. Gonna buy some shackle's from him now.