I am replacing the center plate (fiber) in my 5J D2's flywheel clutch. The old center plate was glazed, had a few cracks in the face, and had a thickness of about 3/8" even in the area of the teeth, an area not subject to wear.
My new replacement center plate (fiber), not from Caterpillar, was designated as a replacement for the center plate of a D2, but not specifically for a 5J D2, or, for that matter for a 4U D2 or a 5U D2. The new plate is 11/16" thick. This difference in thickness does not let the teeth of the geared clutch plate fully enmesh the teeth of the pressure plate, making me believe that the fiber clutch plate for the J series D2 is not interchangeable with the U series D2.

So, does the J series and the U series D2 take the same clutch center plate??
Does anyone know a good source for these fiber plates??
Thanks in advance,
Dogger

I'm not sure that you're describing the clutch correctly. The disk should only have teeth on the outside edge that engage teeth on the inner edge of the flywheel rim.

Are you sure you have removed all the dust and grease that sets up in the flywheel teeth?

ccjersey,
Thanks for your reply. With a lot of work, I got this thing clean as a hounds tooth. The teeth on the fiber disc match perfectly with the teeth on the flywheel. The trouble I am having is with the gearing on the 2 steel plates (Part #s 5B2520 and 5B2519) that sandwich and are driven by the fiber plate. When using the new fiber plate, the gearing on the steel plates mesh about 35%. When using the original fiber plate this same gearing meshes 100%, making me wonder if I had the wrong fiber plate, and if the J series D2 used the same plate as the U series D2. I sure would hate to damage this puppy by using the wrong plate.
Thanks for your interest,
Dogger

Dogger,
The clutch discs are different for the J and U series D2 and will not interchange, in the two pictures the U disc is on the left, The J disc measures at about .678" new and the J disc new is .385".
The metal clutch plates that the fiber discs go between are also different on the J and U,

Josh,
Thanks, you have answered my question. Do you know of any sources for the 5J fiber disc?
Dogger

I do not know of a source for the discs, Caterpillar has a new number, with a note to contact the dealer, how bad is your old disc? it sounds like it is about the proper thickness, if all the teeth are good and the cracks are only on the surface it might be ok to use, post a picture if you can.
Did you try General Gear 208 342 8911?
Josh

Josh,
My old disc is not all that bad, I just thought I world replace it while I had the tractor split. But this tractor lives a fairly sheltered life, so the old one may last a long time. If I do re-use the old disc, I think I will take a sander to it to remove some of the glaze. I will try to send some pix of the old disc later.
General Gear (Good people) has or can get the fiber disc for the U series D2 but has no source for the J series disc--I talked to them today.
Thanks again

hello ,if you know part number this mite help,bruce zo


www.steeringclutch.com/#flywheelclutch
www.steeringclutch.com/#flywheelclutch

Since you already own the one that's too thick, I wonder how you could turn it down to the correct thickness.

Possibly on a flywheel surfacing machine mounted in the flywheel from the tractor or on a lathe faceplate with a tool post grinder?

I've never seen one that thin in the TwinDisc and Rockford clutches, but there might be one if you contact an industrial clutch supplier with your dimensions.

4B3450 is the part number for the 5J clutch.

It seems to me that the clutch disk material wouldn't be so tough to cut with a regular bit in a lathe, but I've never tried it. Has anyone out there ever tried to cut this material? Is there some problem I haven't anticipated? It looks like some sort of bakelite type material, doesn't seem all that hard.