Thanks Mike! I would assume that if a guy took the super slow tact of welding them up if I could just leave them assembled. One or two beads per pass and let cool wouldn't get the roller very hot I wouldn't think. Would just make sure to ground as close to the work as possible to not cause an arc internally. Just a thought at this point and without having them on the workbench to evaluate, they might need gone through anyway.

Thanks
Jordan

The other option for D2 rollers is to use shim bars to set D3 rollers down to the correct height for the D2 track frame. Seems like it takes about 1-1/8" to get them right.

Never done it myself, but I think if you take the rollers off the track frames, the end caps just pull off of them. If you wanted to work on them without disassembling them you would remove the track frames and flip them over to weld them up.

I welded up my d2 and 941B rollers and idlers---i took them off the track frame but left them assembled and had the bottom 1/3 in a water bath--had 4 of them setup like that at a time and went from one to the other so they wouldn't get too hot for the seals

Thanks for the tips! I would probably remove them from the frame to weld them, seems easier than pulling the whole frame off.

Thanks,
Jordan

Maybe........maybe not....... Depends on how rusty the bolts holding the rollers on are! You can remove rollers without even breaking the track if your adjuster is loosened up all the way and you park on two blocks, one under sprocket and the other under idler.

I can see that turning into a nightmare if the bolts were really rusty and you broke some of them off in the process. I think there are some files here on the site that detail the recommended way to weld them. My first inclination would be to weld around and around, but that was not recommended for hand welding. Instead welding one or two short beads crossways and then moving to the opposite side or even another roller before welding again was recommended to avoid distorting the roller shells.

On my 5J, I took the rollers all off and welded them up. Use a heat wrench to get the flange bolts out, and put new Grd8 in. All my rollers use the bellows seal, I have #'s at my shop, not here. Switched off on rollers to keep the heat down. Then machined them as best I could on a lathe. From the looks of the picture I would say your rails are worn down to the point the roller flange is hitting the pin boss's. I put new rails on also, tightened up the side play where I had trouble with the drive chains running off the rollers. My pony doesn't seem to turn fast enough to get the main started. I use compressed air in the fuel tank and crack the injector lines when trying to start the main. I have to check RPM with a tach next time trying to start it. Haven't messed with it in a few years. That hurts.

"vansgarage" wrote:

On my 5J, I took the rollers all off and welded them up. Use a heat wrench to get the flange bolts out, and put new Grd8 in. All my rollers use the bellows seal, I have #'s at my shop, not here. Switched off on rollers to keep the heat down. Then machined them as best I could on a lathe. From the looks of the picture I would say your rails are worn down to the point the roller flange is hitting the pin boss's. I put new rails on also, tightened up the side play where I had trouble with the drive chains running off the rollers. My pony doesn't seem to turn fast enough to get the main started. I use compressed air in the fuel tank and crack the injector lines when trying to start the main. I have to check RPM with a tach next time trying to start it. Haven't messed with it in a few years. That hurts.

You're right, the right side is wearing on the pins, left side is OK. I assume that can be caused as much from worn rollers as it does from rails. Since it looks like 3 of the 4 rollers were replaced after it was last painted I would hope the bolts come out with out breaking off. Everything on this machine has come apart so far with out fuss (knock on wood). We are in a really dry climate and don't fight the moisture and rust like many other places do. But, considering where the bolts are for these it can be dry as a bone but get some mud stuck in there and it would corrode real nicely.

It's also possible there is a roller height mismatch and maybe only one of the rollers needs fixed to keep the roller from riding the pins. I'll dig in to it one of these days to find out more.

"ccjersey" wrote:

Maybe........maybe not....... Depends on how rusty the bolts holding the rollers on are! You can remove rollers without even breaking the track if your adjuster is loosened up all the way and you park on two blocks, one under sprocket and the other under idler.

I can see that turning into a nightmare if the bolts were really rusty and you broke some of them off in the process. I think there are some files here on the site that detail the recommended way to weld them. My first inclination would be to weld around and around, but that was not recommended for hand welding. Instead welding one or two short beads crossways and then moving to the opposite side or even another roller before welding again was recommended to avoid distorting the roller shells.

Yup, welding across the face is the best way to keep it from shrinking, I found the Caterpillar service bulletin on this website that has the directions to properly weld these up in that fashion. A friend of mine said they use to be able to buy shells that would weld on over the worn surfaces but I'm sure those are not available anymore and haven't seen any mention of them on this website.