just wondering people's experiences with Cat Classic undercarriage pieces and how it compare with some of the other big aftermarket suppliers, Berco, ITR, TREK, etc....quality, durability, pricing...?

cat parts have a fitment guarantee and have cat warranty. i haven't had a issue. i think the main purpose was to remove those listings from the main catalogue thus reducing its size. and slowly those parts become unavailable. most manufacturers do it after so long older parts are no longer listed in the main catalogue

Check with your Cat dealer "Track Service" man, he can get you good discounts also.

I bought new Cat Classic bearings for my D2 5U waterpump, they had fewer balls than the original, so I decided to go back and buy the Cat genuine bearings figuring I didn't need to see a fan going flying off and hitting someone I liked.

A few years back, when I would look for parts on the Cat Parts website using the original part numbers, it would occasionally give me the Classic part number as well, if a Classic part was available, that hasn't happened the past couple of years.

How do I find out Classic part numbers now, like I'm about to do repair some undercarriage and track chains on my D2 and D4 and notice Cat has really jacked up the price of their nuts and bolts, and master pins, for example I just paid $37 this week for a genuine Cat master pin for my D4 7J, a part that only a few years ago was about $15, but I wouldn't be scared to use Classic pins and bushes if they were available..
Thanks
Mike

Hi Mike, I buy a lot of my bearings on eBay. Have had good luck there. I measure and research. There are standard and 'filling slot' with more balls
Herb

Hello Herb, thanks for chiming in, I agree fleabay can be a really good source for bearings if you are Stateside, though shipping with USPS to Australia has gotten very expensive, and slower in the past few years, so there needs to be a significant saving in price to make it worth going that route.

What I was wondering is do Cat have Classic Parts list that people can access online, or is there a catalog where they list only the Classic parts?
Thanks
Mike

www.westrac.com.au/parts/new-parts/cat-classic-parts

yes they did publish a classic parts catalogue. i found it online cant remember where.

i have found when buying bearings and seals it better to go to a local bearing shop with the numbers off the bearing or seal also taking the old part for comparison and they will match it. and yes it highly likely mike some idiot put the wrong part in the bag.