Hey peeps, I own and love my 3G Tour Ultras and i'm on my second pair.  To me, best shoes ever.  The last pair I had, I ate right through the toe cap, and now that i'm on my new pair, I see that it is already starting to show wear on the cap. The damage is on the tip of the shoe. I tried using duct tape, Shoe Goo, and even used a shoe protector (the showercap looking ones) and none of them will last.  The duct tape rips withing a few frames, the Shoe Goo won't stick very well, and I actually ripped a hole in the shoe protector after 2 days of bowling (maybe about 6-8 games).

I know that the shoe cap can be replaced (seems a bit tedious, but it can be done by yourself), but I'm looking at protecting it from damage in the first place.  Any "toe draggers" out there have any other suggestions? 

I wear thru the toe cap every 15-18 months.....when dexter stopped offering replacement soles for push off foot it crushed me.
Now I pony up and buy new shoes every 18 months.
Ebay.com becomes my friend on closeout Dexter SST5's

Super glue or use Shoe Goo to attach a piece of scrap leather to the spot you wear out...

You know how you have to custom fit the replacement soles for 3G and Dexter?  That's the perfect material.  Just use a little acetone on the velcro side and it should slide off... clean the sticky residue off before using another adhesive.

Thanks for the dexter heads up.
I used to take my shoes to a good cobbler in the area.
But both gentleman have retired and there isn't one that I know of in the area.

Since Dexter SST5's are no longer being made I will have to make some adjustments and find a replacement shoe.

Replacing the toe cap on the 3G's isn't that difficult.  The whole purpose of the toe cap is to protect the shoe if you drag your toe and it's meant to be replaced as necessary.  If you drag your toe then something has to give.

Dexter has something called a "power step" that I use, because I have the same problem.  My push off toe wears down, and being that I have SST8s, the T3 pad on the push off foot is velcro.  Well the velcro starts getting weak at the toe and then just doesn't stick any more.  I bought a power step not necessarily for more power, just to keep this from happening.  Here's a link:

http://www.bowling.com/products/dexter-max-powerstep-t3-.htm

I'm really happy with mine, it's comfortable, you barely notice it's there, and it doesn't affect my approach at all. 

Darn, this is specifically made for the Dexter SST8's. 

has anyone ever tried the stuff people would protect hockey skate toes, on bowling shoes?

Something like this:
http://www.icewarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=TOEPT&gclid=CJKdlbWakbkCFchDMgodagcALg

Looks interesting.  Did some research on it and could only find one review.  It did get 5 stars, and the person said it worked but he had to use a lot of coats.