Oh dear , everytime I go away!

while in France my phone rang ....never a good thing and in general means one thing , this wasn't any different
Daughter ." Selected 4wd to go down the track , but now the lever is sloppy and there's a metal squealing sound, so I've parked it up and using the spare jimny" ( advanced planning)   "Any ideas ? " 

To be fair only by reading these pages had I an inkling...." Transfer box mounts I said with assured confidence (  blagging)"
Got home today 30 seconds to diagnose I was correct.     

Question ...is the transfer box goosed , along with prop shaft or can it be just a case of new mounts and a sleeve/ cover?

Oops. If it wasn't driven far you might get away with just new mounts.

As you need new mounts that's the place to start. Throw some new on and see if you have any other issues, no point making work (and cost) for yourself. Hopefully that's all you need.

As an aside anyone know why they break? Are they susceptible to damage or just weak and fail in general use?

Only interested as I tow a lot so put a lot of strain on the transmission. 

My understanding is impact is the greatest concern rather than torque applied. It needn't be a full at the moment break, it can be a fracture that progresses over time.

I guess that's a good reason to fit a guard then, not just to protect those electrical cables. It looks like an old fracture in the photo to me, upper right appears to have the same colour as the outer casting, rather than a new break. Could be just a trick of the light in the photo.
 

From memory the SJ gen.2 used a pressed steel plate. Would that style of mounting fit the gen 3/4?

Roger