One point everyone is forgeting is that Fordfan's car was a very heavy Mopar, had drag slick on the vehicle, and he had a very aggressive Spec 3 clutch installed in his car. Tremec does not recommend Spec 3 clutches for there transmissions because they are just to aggressive. All of these factors lead to the failure, not the gear alignment. Tremec tested the TKO600 in the factory and it took well over 1100 ft lbs of constant torque to cause the unit to break. As for the "light duty" comment, I have personally sold and installed these transmissions in 55-57 Chevy Belairs, all years of Camaros, Mustangs, Cobras, Pick ups, 32 Fords, 23 T-bucket, all years of Corvettes, all years of Chevelles, Impalas, Farlaines, Panozs race cars, and alot of those cars see the track on a regular basis. This transmission is not designed for heavy competition drag racing, it is designed for street driving, that is why Jerico's, Lenco's, and all the other racing style transmissions are 2-3 times the price of the Tremec TKO600. Guys Tremec is trying to supply the market with an affordable option to the higher priced alternatives I named above. How many cases of this failure have you guys ran into, I bet you can count them on one hand, maybe even one finger. It all really boils down to this, Fordfan's application was not best suited for a TKO600, and if he would tried to purchase one from me I would of explained that to him. It's not always about the sale, you have to make sure it best fits the needs of the customer. As for the misalignment I have been assured by Tremec that the contact area of the third gears is fine and has not compromised the integrity of there transmission. Look at how many cars are out there with a TKO600 in them, let alone how many Cobras on this site, with 20,000 or 30,000 miles on them with no problems at all, unfortunely those aren't the threads with 50-200 posts. I feel like Tremec is getting a bad rap here when all they are trying to do is offer a reliable transmission that will take alot of power, at a reasonable price to the consumer. I can tell you this, I have stated it in the past and I will say it again, for the money you will not find a better or stronger transmission on the market. I can also tell you this when I get close enough on the couple of projects I am working on there will be a TKO600 installed in them, not because i sell them, but because I deal with them everyday and I see how dependable and strong they really are.
jimig@standardtransmission.com