Hello all,
I have my D-2 5U tore down for steering clutch work. I removed the P.T.O. to reseal it and while I had the back of the transmission opened up I thought I would see if the pinion bearing had any movement. It seems to have an abnormal amount of play for a ball bearing. Have any of you found this same scenerio and how much is normal? The ring gear looks really good and doesn't show any abnormal wear.

The Cat manual doesn't really say much about it. All they spec is the backlash at .007 - .009. I like to set up pinion bearings with a slight preload so there is no movement if you can but that does not seem to be Cats approach. Even the later double taper roller bearing and single race has no adjustment other than fore and aft for backlash.

I just replaced the pinion bearings in my D2 #5U7066. It had the later style double roller bearing setup previously installed. Old Magnet gave me the number for the bearing group, got both roller bearings and races along with the machined spacer all in one box. When installed there was little to no preload but no play either. I would suppose the ball bearing setup may exhibit some movement if the bearing is worn, also would the bearing at the front of the pinion shaft allow it to move around if it is worn?