259b3 undercarriage

i have a cat 259b3 vin yyz03283 the tracks are wearing more on the inside and the undercarriage seems to be misaligned front of tracks point out wards. was wondering if anyone has had this issue and if replacing the front axle bearings would help realign the undercarriage or if both sets need replacement. needs tracks and a few idlers waiting on tracks to get delivered before i take things apart just wanted to get all my bases covered on getting things right

Oh yes... Bought mine new and saw this within the first few hundred hours and the bottom gets greased at least once or twice a day.
The back bushing keeps everything aligned the front floats on the pins. Never understood this. Wanted to make bushings to align the front but the pin is rounded on the ends. Honestly the worst part of the machine.

put the new bearings in and the plate with 8 bolts is tight again but the end play is excessive almost a 1/2 inch. im thinking about putting o rings from excavator bucket pins on both sides of plate to tighten it up and keep grease in and dirt out.

i am also wondering now if the space is for alignment reasons with the use of shims not sure. its a shame the service manual is $800

nickels1313 said:

i am also wondering now if the space is for alignment reasons with the use of shims not sure. its a shame the service manual is $800

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You can get a brand-new one on CD for $500 here - https://www.servicemanualpro.com/?page=Products&searchbox=yyz03283

Here's a paper one for $600 ($200 less than RRP) - https://www.ebay.com/itm/CAT-Caterp...7B3-257B3-Loader-Service-Manual-/192871249314

I prefer to think of a manual as an investment that anyone can recoup by the need NOT having to make a single dealer service call (4 hours @ $150/hr) and even better than that when the machine is sold the manual could be sold separately for probably close to or the same as the price it was bought at.

i’m a firm believer in that also unfortunately the owner of this amazing machine is not. he is a really good friend of mine but doesn’t see how it saves any money to buy one. but throwing parts at something even if it doesn’t fix the problem is still some how progress but time and information to properly diagnose an issue is time wastedl

Just get him to total up all the invoices for parts that he's thrown at it (in vain I assume) so far. If it's more than the cost of a manual then, like the penguins in Madagascar "smile & wave boys, smile & wave".

There are supposed to be spacers on the front axles for the end play, 360-9052. They go between the inside of the track frame and torsion axle. They're about 1/2" thick. Are they missing? If they are, that could be the reason for the end play you're seeing.

put brand new spacers in with bearing the plates with the axle bore that bolt on are the same length the axles are different lengths one is longer by 5/32 the shorter side fits great small amount of play cat tech told me it needs some play so i milled out(at my shop) the one round cover to make the play the same as the tighter side also pushed the axle bearings in to the stops on the inside which made room for an o ring i added with hopes of keeping the grease in and dirt out. nothing was bent or broken i find it hard to believe that that axle shaft stretched that much. still trying to figure out how to get the undercarriages square with each other they are two inches farther apart in the front then in the rear if i line them up i can’t get all 8 bolts on the axle shaft mounting plates. need loader tomorrow so had to put it back together with it’s tracks toed out. i wish it was that easy nige if it was everyday would be full of rainbows and unicorn rides to the cat dealer for free parts. so for now just have to make miracles happen in an unheated shop with generator as power in southern wisconsin. everyone has to start some where thank you to all that have replied i’ll post pics if i ever get the tracks squared up

I was pondering a little more on the throny subject of service manuals and came up with this analogy..........

If you rented a house or an apartment you would expect to pay a refundable deposit that would be returned to you at the end of the rental provided that you had maintained the property in an acceptable condition (fair wear & tear excepted).
Consider the price of the manual a "refundable service information deposit" that you pay whenever you buy the book, and get returned to you when you sell it separately after disposing of the machine.
It must be well-known how much these documents cost, otherwise eBay sellers wouldn't adevertise them for the prices they do.........