how to align the steering clutch before attaching the pressure plate.

[Charlie]

Hi all,
I might be replacing the steering clutches in a 450c track loader. Where would one find a pilot shaft to align everything before attaching the pressure plate.

Charlie.

[Jim B]

Charlie,

Not to doubt you ability to do this, but to help you understand things, you might want to get in touch with Lavoy and get the right technical manual (John Deere publication # TM1102) for the machine to study before you dive into this project. If it is really a 450C, it will have wet clutches (the steering clutch housing has oil in it). They are hydraulically applied so there is no pressure plate and throw out bearing. The discs pretty much self align, between the steering brake drum and the drive hub, as you assemble things. There is a clutch piston, seals, and a housing attached to the brake drum, holding the discs in, instead of a pressure plate found on dry clutch set ups.

[Lavoy]

Maybe I am confused, but there is nothing to align. All the discs sit on the hub, they can't be out of alignment. I would echo what Jim said, are you sure it is a C as in model, not C as in crawler?
lavoy

[Charlie]

Thanks for the reply.
I have the technical manual, tm 1102
With the parts manual
model # 450 C A
ser# 201788T
From the tag attached to the machine.
That's good news that I will not need to align anything. I am hoping an adjustment will make it steer better.
I watched a u tube video of a rebuild claiming it was a 450c, so that might have been a mistake on my part, thinking the person making the video knew what they were doing.
I should have come here first.

[Jim B]

When people say 450C it often gets questions as many straight 450s have been passed off as C series. C in some early model's serial numbers meant crawler as Lavoy posted, and people added that C to the 450, where it did not belong. That may have been the case with the video you watched. There are major differences in the two models, 450 and 450C, the steering clutches being a major one. The 450 had dry clutches (with pressure plates and throwout bearings) and brakes . The 450C has hydraulically operated wet clutches and brakes.

Your serial number is for a 1974 450C loader.

[Charlie]

Thanks for the info. So do I have the dry or wet clutch? I haven't looked inside.

[Jim B]

As in my last post: The 450C has hydraulically operated wet clutches and brakes. Your serial number is for a 1974 450C loader.

So by the serial number you provided, your crawler will have wet steering clutches and brakes.