Eddie: technique to get a tight D2 bevel gear bearing

Hi Neil,
only ever worked on 933's back in the early to late 1960's and I am sure they had double Timken taper bearings.
I cannot recall how they were held in place--more than likely the same locking system.

From my old J series SRB and Parts B the lock washer has 3 lock screws screwed thru the lock plate and into the nut.
I would expect that because the lock plate engages the splines of the pinion shaft you should be able to "Vernier" the lock plate on the splines to align the lock screw holes in the lock nut in just about any position--I stand to be corrected.

I would likely prefer to machine or, emery down on a fine emery sheet on a flat surface, a small amount off the nut face to gain a good tight joint and lock alignment--I would be wary of shims for the reason you mentioned.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

Righto, sounds good Eddie, many thanks. I think I do need to get the adjustment better, because the bearing is not held at all at one slot back, but I can't advance to the next slot/spline on the shaft.

I neglected to mention that later on in my parts book, after my unit which is 5U13753, they changed to the double-row tapered bearing at 5U14774, and that unit does not have a bearing retaining nut. I guess the force on the bevel pinion is always outwards, keeping the shaft into the bearing