ok so I'm a tard :( I keep lookin at all the pics of broken cases and they all seem to be broken at the nose cone :confused: but the savers that i can find seem to brace the case its self not the cone .... I got a SMOKIN deal from Mustard dog on his sm420toybox 3sp case and the nose cone is broken all the way around :eek: I have a spare ... or two but what can be done to stop this nexted time i hope to go 350V8 in front of it with 60 axles and 36's and square shafts .... can I make a brace off of the cross meber or skid plate ?? if i did how should i do it ??

couple things you can do from what i have read.

1) Switch to 10mm studs
2) Find a "billet" Nose cone that wardens used to sell
3) another issue is if you bang your d-shaft a lot you could break the nose cone and not the d-shaft so maybe a "thin" d-shaft to help save the cone/output? Though i know some folks have not had this problem.

Stew..not in the know

I tend to agree with cruzer75... limit nose cone breakage by limiting the times you land on that front drive line. Protect the front drive line by keeping it out of harms way and you protect the nose cone. Also, ensuring you have the proper length so that it can compress all the way without pushing on the t-case.

DON'T brace the nose cone or any other part of the engine tranny combo to the frame or anything attached to the frame. THAT'S a for sure means of breaking it!! There is movement all the time between the frame and engine, that's why there's rubber mounts for all that stuff.

yes, the tcase savers he is referring to bolt to various parts of the tcase itself to add strength, but do not bolt to anything else as you have noted.

Yep, I know the "T" case saver he's talking about. I put one on my daughters FJ55/3B restoration and I'll be putting one on my '67 FJ45LV restoration as well. Personally I've never heard of the nose cone breaking, just the case opening up from the top cover down. I'd bet nose cone breakages are due primarily, like the other posters were saying, from impacts during hard wheeling not due to any weakness in the case itself.

I've broken a case from a too long driveshaft. But, knock on wood never a nose cone. I also have upgraded to 10mm bolts.

I've busted two front nose cones, which I guess is better to have that the weak link than the whole tcase. Both times have been from my dshaft becoming nothing more than a twisted hunk of steal. I've heard that the square tube drive lines are to much for the cone but I also think a thin wall shaft is not enough. Maybe dipping the cone in jb weld will help :D