This is a really dumb question I know, but I am curious anyway. On my D2, with new steering clutches about a year old now (installed by the previous owner), they can be pushed forward perhaps 2 inches against a light spring pressure. Pulling back, I have them adjusted to about an inch or so before they start to disengage the disks, to give me a total of about 3" of total play at the lever handles, as per the manual. However, should I instead maintain about 3" of play from their natural position, ignoring the small forward movement possible? The other odd little thing I notice is that pulling one back pushes the other one forward a bit, but I attribute this just to wear in the linkages. Anyway, knowing that the free play decreases with wear, should I be providing more free play than I am? The clutches work fine with no slippage, and with full disengagement when pulled back.

If one lever moves when the other is pulled, your bevel gear shaft bearings are shot. To replace them you have to pull both final drives, steering clutches packs, and the bearing retention caps. With your bevel gear shaft floating around, the pinion gear is going to get ruined. The bearing adjustment isn't just zero play, it has an additional preload to account for all the forces trying to move the gears out of place.

Should be three inches from the neutral position. I also have the brake pedals adjusted so there is four or five inches of travel so the linkages move more and don't freeze or tighten up.

Rome, thanks for the info. It makes sense now, that the free play should be measured from the neutral position of the lever.

Stephen, now you've got me concerned. Thinking about it, it makes sense that there must be wear in the pinion bearings if pulling one lever pushes the other one out. I could imagine the entire assembly moving a bit when the lever is pulled, pushing the pinion to the other side a little. The movement isn't much - it is just slightly noticeable but the opposite lever does move slightly - I guess maybe a half inch or so forward. The machine is running and working beautifully, so I hate to think of tearing into it. It is only used for occasional light grading work around the farm. So I wonder how much is too much movement for this? Would there be a risk of the rear end seizing up, or could it keep going for years, with just increased wear?

I agree that the one stick moving forward when you pull the other is an ominous sign. You might want to take off a rear cover if you don’t have a winch or pto on the back and put a bar in there to push the bevel gear back and forth so you can see the actual movement and possibly get a look at the contact pattern of the pinion gear on it.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I don't have a winch or pto, so pulling the rear cover to take a peek shouldn't be too hard. Problem is, I may not like what I find. I put quite a lot of money and time into the machine already (a 5u). It has 24V electric start, glow plugs, new radiator core and decent tracks and uc. I was hoping to get some work out of it this summer, and put off any rear end work until next winter.

I guess I'm wondering if other people with D2's have similar play in the steering clutches, and how much is acceptable? Is this is something kind of common, but will need to be looked at after a while, or is any kind of play like that (indicated by one steering clutch pushing the other one back due to rear end wear) an indication of a disaster waiting to happen? I suppose the worst that could happen is the rear end might lock up an a really awkward place and I couldn't move the machine, which isn't something I would want.

I'll pull the cover and take a look at what is going on. It might be easier if I could eventually find another machine with a stuck (or no) engine and swap all my good stuff over to a rear end in better condition.

Might have to block up the rear or drain some oil though.

Just looked up the spec. The preload is .017" shims removed. The shaft shifting means that at least .017" of wear in the tapered roller bearings, not good. If you can imagine the pinion being fixed, and the bevel gear tooth contact pattern moving all over. I have seen a few pinion gears with broken & chipped teeth. It is easier to change the bearings now, than the bearings, and finding a main trans shaft & trans rebuild later

Hi Team,
after running the unit up onto the blocks as described above, have someone look into the BG opening whilst some one alternately pulls each steer clutch lever back to load the BG shaft sideways each way in turn and have the person below watch for BG shaft side ways movement.

Cheers,
Eddie B.