L-52(HD?) or W56

JThompson · Feb 5, 2008

I may very well be going from a W-56 in my SAS 92 Toy to an L-52HD from marlin. It works out very well with my measurements, as in tranny/dual t-case/existing driveshafts....The tranny is just short enough, that with a dual case setup added on to it, it comes out to about an inch longer than my stock setup, slightly lengthening my "too-long" front shaft, and shortening my "too-short" rear shaft...

Am I crazy? I have heard good things about the Iron tranny, and also about the W-56. I have also heard negative about the W-56, mine was rebuilt at 120k....

heep70 · Feb 5, 2008

I run an L52HD from Marlin. Works fantastic once it is all broke in. I also have the dual cases, so it being shorter worked out for me also. I don't think there is anything wrong with the L52HD if you don't mind the cost.

Mark m. · Feb 5, 2008

I put a rebuilt L-52 trans in my truck about 15 years ago and have not had any issues at all with it.

London Gentleman · Feb 5, 2008

Josh, your truck is a 91 not 92... Save a few bones and do it.

TTF Fabrication · Feb 5, 2008

marlin ran a l52-hd in their formula toyota. marlin of all people could've built a beefy r151f but he chose to do a l52-hd. it is the advantage of having the short trans and has the guts of a g54. i put a l-52 in my 92 because i had it, but i think it's a solid transmission. the only thing you will have to do is buy the little deal from marlin that converts your cable speedometer transmission to work with your electronic speedometer instrument cluster. i believe its called the vss or something, i just bought one.

kingkrawler · Feb 6, 2008

I just got off the phone with someone from Marlin and he said that the W-56 is stronger than any L tranny out there, including their HD series. And the added length of the double still isn't that big of a deal. Now I want to go back to my W-56, but it needs to be rebuilt.

JThompson · Feb 6, 2008

London Gentleman said:
Josh, your truck is a 91 not 92... Save a few bones and do it.

Shut up

TTF Fabrication said:
marlin ran a l52-hd in their formula toyota. marlin of all people could've built a beefy r151f but he chose to do a l52-hd. it is the advantage of having the short trans and has the guts of a g54. i put a l-52 in my 92 because i had it, but i think it's a solid transmission. the only thing you will have to do is buy the little deal from marlin that converts your cable speedometer transmission to work with your electronic speedometer instrument cluster. i believe its called the vss or something, i just bought one.

I accidentally said my truck was a 92, it is actually a 91. I think it is still a cable speedo...?

kingkrawler said:
I just got off the phone with someone from Marlin and he said that the W-56 is stronger than any L tranny out there, including their HD series. And the added length of the double still isn't that big of a deal. Now I want to go back to my W-56, but it needs to be rebuilt.

Interesting.... I had heard otherwise. But, like I said before, I have heard good and bad stories about both trannies, and everything in between. I can say one thing- I was up talking to a guy who had an older Toy with a 302, D60's, an Atlas t-case, and a bunch of other goodies and was just hammering the hell out of the thing. The only thing still Toyota was the original W-56, and he had no plans of replacing it.