APPLICATION AND INSTALLATION GUIDE

ALIGNMENT

G3600 • G3500
G3400 • G3300
3600 • 3500
3412E • 3400 • 3126B
C18 • C-16 • C-15 • C15
C13 • C-12 • C11 • C-10
C9 • C-9 • C7
Contents

Alignment.............................................................................1
General Alignment Considerations....................................... 2
Types of Misalignment .................................................. 2
Parallel/Bore Misalignment.......................................... 2
Angular/Face Misalignment ........................................ 2
Inaccurate Flanges ........................................................ 3
Alignment Tools ........................................................... 3
Laser Alignment Tools ............................................... 3
Dial Indicators .......................................................... 3
Accuracy of Dial Indicator Readings ............................ 4
Support Brackets ...................................................... 4
Principles of Alignment...................................................... 6
Cold Alignment............................................................. 6
Hot Alignment .............................................................. 6
Crankshaft Position ....................................................... 6
Flywheel Sag or Droop .................................................. 6
Crankshaft Endplay ....................................................... 7
Crankshaft Deflection.................................................... 7
Torque Reaction ........................................................... 8
Thermal Growth ........................................................... 8
Alignment Related Mounting Considerations........................11
Shimming ...................................................................11
Metal Shims ............................................................11
Poured Resin Chocks................................................11
Vibracon Adjustable Chocks ......................................12
Mounting Bolts ............................................................12
Mounting Bolt Torque ...............................................12
Procedure for Tightening Engine and Driven Equipment
Mounting Bolts ........................................................13
Flexible Couplings ............................................................14
General Requirements...................................................14
Caterpillar Couplings ....................................................15
Couplings By Other Manufacturers.................................15
Specific Alignment Considerations .....................................16
Alignment of Close-Coupled Driven Equipment ................16
Alignment of Remote Mounted Gear Driven Equipment.....17
Reference Material ...........................................................20
Foreword
This section of the Application and Installation Guide generally describes
wide-ranging requirements and options for the Alignment of Caterpillar®
engines listed on the cover of this section. Additional engine systems,
components and dynamics are addressed in other sections of this Application
and Installation Guide.
Engine-specific information and data is available from a variety of sources.
Refer to the Introduction section of this guide for additional references.
Systems and components described in this guide may not be available or
applicable for every engine.

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

Alignment
In order to obtain optimum service life from a Caterpillar engine and its
driven equipment, correct alignment between the units is required. Improper
alignment results in excessive vibration, short life of driven
equipment/compound bearing and coupling clutch parts, and frequent re-
alignment.
Good alignment practices include proper shimming, correct torque on hold-
down bolts, accurate laser or dial indicator usage, allowances for bearing
clearances, thermal growth, and accounting for other characteristics of the
engine. Special instructions, listed under Reference Material at the end of
this section, are available with specific alignment procedures for all
Caterpillar engine and driven equipment combinations.
Caterpillar marine propulsion engine alignment is covered in a separate
section of the Application and Installation Guide.

SECTION CONTENTS

General Alignment Flexible Couplings ...............14

Considerations..................... 2 • General Requirements
• Types of Misalignment • Caterpillar Couplings
• Inaccurate Flanges • Couplings By Other
• Alignment Tools Manufacturers
Principles of Alignment ......... 6 Specific Alignment
• Cold Alignment Considerations ...................16
• Hot Alignment • Alignment of Close-Coupled
Driven Equipment
• Crankshaft Position
• Alignment of Remote
• Flywheel Sag or Droop
Mounted Gear Driven
• Crankshaft End Play Equipment
• Crankshaft Deflection Reference Material ..............20
• Torque Reaction
• Thermal Growth
Alignment Related Mounting
Considerations....................11
• Shimming
• Mounting Bolts

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

General Alignment Considerations

Figure 3 illustrates that
Types of Misalignment misalignment can occur in more than
Parallel/Bore Misalignment one plane. For this reason, alignment
Parallel or bore misalignment readings must be taken at 90-degree
occurs when centerlines of driven intervals as the units are rotated.
equipment and engine are parallel
but not in the same plane. Refer to
Figure 1.

Figure 1

Angular/Face Misalignment
Angular or face misalignment
occurs when centerlines of driven
equipment and engines are not
parallel. Refer to Figure 2.

Angular/Face Misalignment

Figure 3

Figure 2

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

Inaccurate Flanges The face and bore runouts of

Inaccurate flanges cause apparent flywheel, clutch or coupling, driven
misalignment and make accurate members, and hubs must be
alignment impossible. checked when inconsistent
alignment results occur. Face or bore
Face runout refers to the distance
errors must be corrected. Bore-to-
the hub face is out of perpendicular
pilot diameter runout error should
to the shaft centerline. Refer to
not be more than 0.05 mm (0.002
Figure 4.
in) on the flywheel and 0.13 mm
Face Runout (0.005 in) on adapters bolted to the
flywheel. Flange face runout should
not be more than 0.05 mm (0.002
in).

Alignment Tools
Laser Alignment Tools
Note: The laser alignment tools
typically measure the actual offsets.
The dial indicators measure a total
indicator reading (TIR).
Figure 4 Follow all the instructions that are
provided by the manufacturer in
order to ensure that the parallel
Bore runout refers to the distance misalignment and the angular
the driving bore of a hub is out of misalignment are within the
parallel with the shaft centerline. specifications.
Refer to Figure 5. Typically, the laser alignment tools
compensate for any axial movement
of the rotor shaft for the generator
Bore Runout or the crankshaft. If the axial shaft
moves during the angular
measurements, consult the literature
on the laser alignment tool for
information.
Dial Indicators
A dial indicator measures very
small changes in distance. Alignment
of shafting requires measurement of
small changes in distance
dimensions. The indicator must be
Figure 5 rigidly located so the specified
alignment values can be measured.

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Accuracy of Dial Indicator Readings Support Brackets

There is a quick way to check the An indicator support bracket must
validity of dial indicator face rigidly support the indicator when
alignment readings. As Figure 6 fixed to one of the shafts and
shows, readings are taken at four rotated. The support bracket allows
locations designated as A, B, C and location of the dial indicator at the
D. When taking readings, the dial measurement point. Proper brackets
indicator should be returned to can be adjusted to work with
location A to be sure the indicator varying driveline configurations.
reading returns to zero. Values Refer to Figure 7 for an example of
shown in Figure 6 are for a unit not an indicator support bracket.
in alignment. Dial indicator brackets must not
The quick check is to remember bend due to the weight of the
that reading of B + D should equal indicator. Commercially available dial
C. This is valid where driving and indicator brackets may not give
driven shafts are rotated together adequate support when the indicator
while checking alignment. is rotated, causing false readings.
The quick check is useful for Magnetic base dial indicator
indicating improper procedures such supports are not recommended.
as: sagging indicator brackets, dial
indicator finger riding on flywheel
chamfer, or indicator not properly
positioned causing indicator to run
out of travel.

Figure 7

Figure 6 To check support bracket rigidity,

rotate the same configurations of
bracket and indicator through a
circle while indicating on the bracket
side of the coupling. A maximum

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

reading of less than 0.025 mm an alignment check. Use two 12.7

(0.001 in) is allowed. It may be mm (0.50 in) diameter threaded rods
necessary to temporarily bolt a rigid or bolts to assemble the adapter. It
reference arm on the bracket side of may be necessary to fabricate
the indicator coupling to read against different brackets when checking
when taking an alignment reading. clutch alignments.
Caterpillar recommends using the
bracket, Figure 7, when performing

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Principles of Alignment

Cold Alignment Crankshaft Position

Since there is no accurate or
practical method of measuring
alignment with an engine running at
operating temperature and under
load, all Caterpillar alignment
procedures must be performed with
the engine stopped and the engine
and driven equipment at ambient
temperature. This is called "cold
alignment." In order to achieve
correct operating alignment, certain
factors must be taken into
consideration in determining cold Figure 8
alignment specifications. Depending
on the application, some or all of the
following factors will affect the cold Generally, driven equipment will
alignment procedure. have ball or roller bearings that do
not change their rotational axis
Hot Alignment between static and running
In the past, a hot alignment check conditions.
may have been used to check the
accuracy of the cold alignment Flywheel Sag or Droop
procedure. However, factory tests With the engine not running, the
have shown that the results of the flywheel and coupling cause a small
hot alignment check are deflection of the crankshaft. This
inconsistent; therefore, this results in the checking surface (pilot
procedure is not recommended. bore or outside flywheel diameter)
rotating below centerline of the
Crankshaft Position crankshaft bearings. For this reason,
Alignment is made under static Caterpillar recommends alignment
conditions while the crankshaft lies checks be performed with the
at the bottom of its bearings. This is coupling in place. Refer to Figure 9.
not its position during operation.
Firing pressures, centrifugal forces,
and engine oil pressure all tend to lift
the crankshaft and cause the
flywheel to orbit around its true
center. Refer to Figure 8.

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

to the end of its endplay, toward the

Flywheel Sag or Droop front of the engine, and the driven
equipment shaft to the end of its
endplay toward the engine. Do not
use force against the crankshaft or
driven equipment shaft while taking
the indicator readings. After
installation and alignment of the
driven equipment, the crankshaft
endplay must not be less then before
the installation of the equipment.

Crankshaft Deflection
Caterpillar engines mounted on
bases not supplied by Caterpillar
require a crankshaft deflection test.
This test can be performed on all
Caterpillar engines equipped with
crankcase inspection doors to assure
the engine block is not unduly
stressed. Perform the test under cold
engine conditions before startup.
• Remove an inspection door
from the block to expose the
center crankshaft throw.
Figure 9
• Rotate the crankshaft in the
normal rotation direction.
When the cheeks of the
Crankshaft Endplay center throw are past the
In all applications, after installation connecting rods, install a
of the driven equipment the Starrett No. 696 distortion
crankshaft endplay must not be less dial indicator, or similar tool,
than it was before installation of the as shown in Figure 10. As a
equipment. Crankshaft endplay precaution, tie a string to the
should be checked during cold gauge and secure it outside
alignment and again after the engine the engine to facilitate
is at operating temperature. Endplay retrieval should the assembly
at operating temperature must not fall into the oil pan.
be less than endplay during cold • Zero the dial indicator's
alignment. rotating bezel.
Before taking indicator readings
during the alignment procedure,
always move the engine crankshaft

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

• Properly seat the indicator

rotating it on its own axis Crankshaft Deflection
until it will hold a zero
reading.
• Rotate the crankshaft in the
normal direction until the
indicator reading at the
bottom (plus or minus 45
degrees) is within a range of
plus 0.03 mm (0.001 in) to
minus 0.015 mm (0.0005 in). Figure 10
• Rotate the crankshaft back to
its original position. The
indicator must return to its Torque Reaction
original reading of zero to The tendency of the engine to
make a valid test. twist in the opposite direction of
• If the gauge does not return shaft rotation and the tendency of
to zero, the indicator shaft the driven equipment to turn in the
points were not properly direction of shaft rotation is torque
seated and the test procedure reaction. It naturally increases with
must be repeated. load and may cause a vibration. This
type of vibration will not be
• If the gauge reads more than noticeable at idle, but will be felt
stated above, then cylinder with load. This usually is caused by
block distortion has occurred a change in alignment due to
due to improper mounting. insufficient base strength allowing
• Loosen hold-down bolts excessive base deflection under
between engine rails and torque reaction load. This has the
mounting blocks. effect of introducing a side-to-side
• Re-measure all shims and centerline offset that disappears
adjust as necessary. when the engine is idled (unloaded)
or stopped.
• Repeat distortion check
procedure. Thermal Growth
As engine and driven equipment
reach operating temperatures,
expansion or thermal growth will
occur. This growth occurs in all
directions.
Vertical growth occurs between
the component mounting feet and
their respective centerlines of
rotation. This thermal growth

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

depends on the type of metals used, members. The equipment must be

the temperature rise that occurs, positioned so the horizontal growth
and the vertical distance from the moves into the coupling operating
center of rotation to the mounting zone, not away from it. One method
feet. Refer to Figure 11. is to position the engine crankshaft
Crankshaft horizontal growth all the way forward (towards the
occurs at the opposite end of the front of base). Position the
engine from the thrust bearing. This generator shaft back (towards the
growth has to be planned for when rear of the base) against thrust
driven equipment is connected to bearing. For generators without
that end of the engine. The growth thrust bearings, the generator must
is slight if the driven equipment is be positioned in the magnetic center.
bolted to the engine block, since the Adjust generator to half (50%) of
block and crankshaft grow at the total end-play of the generator
approximately the same rate. Refer and engine. Failure to do so results
to Figure 12. in excessive crankshaft thrust
bearing loading and/or coupling
Horizontal compensation consists
failure. Sufficient clearance has been
of using a coupling allowing
allowed if it is determined that the
sufficient relative movement
crankshaft still has end clearance.
between driving and driven

Vertical Thermal Growth

Figure 11

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Horizontal Thermal Growth

Figure 12

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

Alignment Related Mounting Considerations

shims, do not use partial shims
Shimming trimmed to fit.
Shims can be used to obtain
After alignment, ensure each
correct alignment between the
mounting surface is carrying its
engine and the driven unit.
portion of the load by checking for
Depending on the application, shims
soft foot. Maximum allowable soft
are required under the engine, under
foot is 0.0762 mm (0.003 in).
the driven unit, or under the engine
and driven unit. The most commonly Failure to do this can result not
used shim materials are metal or only in misalignment, but also in
poured resin chocks. Under no springing of the substructure, high
circumstances should lead be used stress in welds or base metal, and
as a shim material. Lead is easily high twisting forces in the engine or
deformed under weight and vibration generator.
and has poor support characteristics. Poured Resin Chocks
Metal Shims Pourable, epoxy based, resin
After the engine and driven chocking offers an alternative to the
equipment have been aligned, install use of metal shims for alignment
brass or some other type of non- purposes. After pouring, this
rusting metal shims between the compound cures at normal
mounting feet or mounting pads of temperatures to become an
the engine or driven unit and the extremely tough and durable solid,
base or other mounting surface. providing the following advantages
over metal shims.
Important: When metal shims are
used between the mounting pads or • The time consuming and
feet and the base or mounting costly process of selective
surface, the mounting surfaces must machining and hand fitting of
be flat, free of burrs, and parallel to solid steel shims is avoided.
the bottom surface of the mounting • The surface condition or
pads or feet. flatness of mating foundation
Shim packs under all equipment and support planes is less
should be 0.76 mm (0.030 in) critical, eliminating further
minimum and 1.5 mm (0.060 in) machining operations in many
maximum thickness to prevent later cases.
corrections requiring removing shims • The plastic chocking material
when there are too few or no shims offers some degree of noise
remaining. Excessive thickness of damping between the engine
shims may compress with use. or driven equipment and the
Shims should be of non-rusting foundation.
material. Handle shims carefully. Use
only complete width and length

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

• Zero shrinkage of the poured • The poured resin chock curing

shim material, when mixed time is eliminated, making the
and applied properly, allows entire mounting and alignment
the most precise retention of procedure much quicker.
position and alignment when • The Vibracon adjustable
the mounting procedure has chocks are reusable.
been properly completed and
the retaining bolts secured. Vibracon Adjustable Chock

Poured Resin Chock

Figure 15

Mounting Bolts
The diameter of the clearance-type
bolts used to hold the engine rails or
feet to the base must be 1.6 mm
(0.06 in) less than the diameter of
the holes in the engine rails. This
clearance is to allow the engine
Figure 14 mounting rails or feet to grow
without confinement. Refer to the
section on thermal growth.
Vibracon Adjustable Chocks
Mounting Bolt Torque
Vibracon elements are self-leveling,
A bolt is properly torqued when it
height-adjustable machinery
is stretched a calculated amount.
mounting chocks that can be used in
The proper stretch clamps the driven
place of metal shims and poured
device to the base securely. The
resin chocks. These chocks have
clamp is then maintained during
similar advantages to the poured
movement caused by vibration. An
resin chocks along with several
under-torqued bolt cannot maintain
additional advantages.
clamping force while vibrations are
present. It will gradually work loose

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

and allow misalignment to occur. Procedure for Tightening Engine and

Refer to Figure 16. Driven Equipment Mounting Bolts
Figure 17 shows the procedure
used to verify that proper shimming
of engine or driven equipment has
been accomplished. This information
is on a decal that is available to be
added to packages. When the proper
number of shims has been
established, add or remove shims
evenly when making alignment
corrections.

Figure 16

Bolts of the size used on Caterpillar

oil field bases require very high
torque values. As an example, a
25.4 mm (1 in) bolt has a torque of
875 ± 100 N•m (640 ± 80 ft lb). A
torque wrench, extension and torque
multiplier are required to obtain this
high value. Do not use special bolt
lubricant; the effective bolt clamping
force can be excessive. Refer to the
TIA for proper mounting bolt torque
values for your engine.
Caterpillar bolts are made of Grade
8 steel; one of the strongest
available. Six raised or depressed
lines on the nut or bolt head identify
the bolts.
Figure 17 shows the recommended
torque for various Caterpillar bolts;
however, these values may be too
high for standard commercially
available hardware.
Figure 17

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Flexible Couplings
should perform a torsional vibration
General Requirements analysis. If requested, Caterpillar can
A flexible coupling is a device used perform this analysis.
to transmit power from one shaft to
another while accommodating some Serviceability
shaft misalignment. Some typical Ease of installation and service is a
flexible couplings are: significant factor when selecting a
coupling. If required, spacer pieces
• Couplings with rubber or can be used to permit removal and
elastomer elements. installation of the coupling without
• Couplings with flexible steel disturbing the engine-to-driven
plates or discs. equipment alignment.
• Couplings with spring type Coupling Selection
elements. In any installation, the coupling
• Gear type couplings. should be the design weak link or
first part to fail. When failure occurs,
• Roller chain type couplings.
the chance of damage to the engine
Flexible couplings can be used to and driven equipment is minimized.
connect an engine to a driven unit, Safety measures must be considered
two engines together, or several to prevent major damage should
driven units together. coupling failure occur. The use of a
Four (4) distinct characteristics standard, commercially available
must be considered in the selection coupling offers the benefit of parts
of a coupling. availability and reduced downtime in
Misalignment Capability case of failure. When selecting a
The coupling must be capable of coupling, always follow the coupling
compensating for some manufacturer's recommendation
misalignment between two regarding the best coupling for a
connected shafts. It is not the intent specific application.
to correct for shaft misalignment,
but only to compensate for small
amounts of shaft misalignment
normally present due to temperature
fluctuations and operating loads.
Stiffness
The coupling must be of proper
torsional stiffness to prevent critical
orders of torsional vibration from
occurring within the operating speed
range. To ensure coupling
compatibility, qualified personnel

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

Caterpillar Couplings
The three types of flexible
couplings supplied by Caterpillar are:
• Flexible steel plate couplings
are used in single-bearing
generator applications.
• Spider and ring with rubber
blocks are used in close-
coupled marine transmission
applications.
• Viscous-damped couplings are
used with remote-mounted
driven equipment and two Figure 18
bearing generators. These
couplings use an internal gear Couplings By Other
design with a rubber element Manufacturers
between the gears. Silicone Typical flexible couplings provided
grease aids in dampening by other manufacturers use
characteristics. Clearances elements made of rubber or
involved in internal gear elastomer, and their stiffness can
design allow accurate vary considerably. Therefore, it may
alignment measurement to be be necessary to remove the flexible
made without removing the elements from the coupling in order
rubber element. Refer to to get valid indicator readings for the
Figure 18. face and bore misalignment.

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Specific Alignment Considerations

As mentioned in the Alignment flywheel housing when it is not
section introduction, Caterpillar parallel to engine.
provides Special Instructions with
specific alignment procedures for all
Caterpillar engine and driven
equipment combinations. These
procedures are listed at the end of
this section under Reference Material
and should be used for the actual
alignment procedure, but the
following offers some specific
considerations relating to some of
the more common applications.

Alignment of Close-Coupled
Driven Equipment Figure 19
Close-coupled components, such
as single-bearing generators,
transmissions, compounds, etc., rely To avoid this, make sure there is a
on bolting together of two piloted minimum 0.13 mm (0.005 in) gap
housings to determine alignment. for the full 360° when making this
When two piloted housings are parallelism check.
joined together in a parallel manner, A dial indicator mounted between
they are in alignment. However, flywheel and generator rotor is
outside stresses can be introduced sometimes used to check alignment.
by poor mounting practices and However, after the generator
allow the flywheel housing to flex. housing is piloted into and bolted to
This can contribute to high vibration. the flywheel housing, alignment is
To check for outside stresses, not checked by the dial indicator
loosen the mounting bolts between method.
the driven equipment and engine When the dial indicator method
flywheel housing. There should be produces results in conflict with the
no contact between flywheel parallelism check of the two
housing and driven equipment housings, see Figure 21, such
housing at this time to assure that conflict indicates the rear bearing of
neither housing is being stressed. the driven equipment is not centered
Clearance between the two in relation to the engine, and is
separated faces should be parallel subject to generator manufacturer's
within 0.13 mm (0.005 in). Refer to accepted tolerances, flywheel
Figure 19. Oil field generators are housing nominal runout, and
extra heavy and may distort the flywheel droop.

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

Do not shim generator mounting Before bolting coupling plates onto

feet after the generator housing is the flywheel, always rotate engine
bolted to the flywheel housing. Such to the same position. For example,
practices stress both the generator cylinder number 1 TDC. Tighten half
housing and flywheel housing and the bolts while the flywheel is in this
can cause vibrations. position. Then rotate as necessary to
It is not necessary to make this tighten other bolts. This procedure
check on smaller Caterpillar assures that any sag in the
generator sets where the engine crankshaft is always at the same
does not have rear mounting feet position when the plates are
but relies on the generator set fastened to the flywheel.
support. However, this check is
Alignment of Remote Mounted
necessary on smaller Caterpillar
engines where the driven equipment Gear Driven Equipment
is also rigidly connected to another Perform final alignment after all
piece of equipment. A common major equipment has been installed
example of this would be a on the base. Engines and driven
mechanical drive where the clutch equipment should be filled with oil
mechanism is bolted to the and water as required and ready to
compound. Poor mounting practices operate.
with this arrangement can cause Remote mounted gear drive units
excessive stresses in the flywheel must be supported by the same base
housing. or rails as the engine as shown in
Single bearing generators are Figure 20. These units are not
recommended to have a pilot shaft fastened to the engine except
extension and loose fitting flex through a drive shaft and flexible
plates, or no pilot shaft extension coupling. To install these units, the
with piloted plates. This aids in gear drive must first be aligned with
maintaining proper alignment. the equipment that it is driving. Then
the engine must be aligned with the
If vibration is noted at assembly of gear drive unit.
a generator having coupling plates
piloted into the flywheel, Alignment between the gear drive
repositioning the coupling plates ¼- unit and its driven equipment is
of-a-turn with respect to the original usually line-to-line alignment. The
location can often correct the centerline of the gear drive output
vibration. Start the unit and observe shaft is in line with the centerline of
the change in vibration. A second or the input shaft of the driven
third relocation may be necessary to equipment. Depending upon the
find the position of lowest vibration. application, it may be necessary to
Locate plates at point of lowest use a flexible coupling between the
vibration. This procedure allows gear drive unit and the driven
manufacturing tolerances to attempt equipment.
to cancel each other.

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Alignment Considerations

Figure 20

The allowable misalignment alignment. With this vertical "offset"

between the output shaft of the gear in the cold condition, the crankshaft
drive unit and the input shaft of the and gear drive input shaft will be
driven equipment must be within the incorrect alignment at operating
coupling manufacturer's tolerances. temperature. Because of this
Use shims as necessary between "offset" alignment, the coupling
the mounting pads of the gear drive between the engine and gear drive
unit and the base to put the gear unit must be a flexible coupling.
drive unit in alignment with the After the engine is in correct
driven equipment. There must be alignment with the gear drive unit,
solid contact between the mounting install shims as necessary between
pads and the base at all locations the engine rails and base to maintain
without the anchor bolts installed. If this alignment. There must be solid
all mounting pads are not solidly contact between the rails and base
supported, distortion of the gear at all mounting locations before
drive unit may result when the installation of the anchor bolts. If
anchor bolts are tightened. there is not solid contact, the engine
Alignment between the gear drive cylinder block can be stressed when
unit and the engine is always an the anchor bolts are tightened. Use a
“offset” alignment. The centerline of fitted bolt at the right rear corner
the engine crankshaft is positioned between the rail and the base to
below the centerline of the gear direct horizontal thermal growth of
drive input shaft. This compensates the engine away from the coupling.
for the thermal growth of the Use clearance bolts at all other
engine, flywheel sag and main locations.
bearing clearance during cold

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Application and Installation Guide Alignment

When clutches are used that Clutches are to be disengaged

contain air bladders, pay careful when alignment is checked. Refer to
attention to air pressure; the Figure 21. Rotate clutch slowly
allowable amount of misalignment through 360° (6 radius) and check
goes down as air pressure increases. total indicator reading at 90° (1.5
Alignment limits must not exceed radius) intervals. Shim the engine as
limits established for a Caterpillar required to achieve correct
viscous dampened coupling or for alignment. Refer to Figure 3 for
the clutch, whichever is smaller. misalignment examples.
The dial indicator reading will
Alignment Check include an error due to runout of
clutch or flywheel parts. Where
excessive runout is suspected,
check and correct as required.
Drive Shafts
Some drives, such as U-joint
couplings, have different operating
angle limits for different speeds.
As a general rule, the angle should
be the same on each end of the
shaft as shown in Figure 22. The
yokes must be properly aligned and
sliding spline connections should
move freely. If there is no angle at
all, bearings will be subject to brinell
Figure 21 damage due to lack of movement.

Universal joint shaft drive

Figure 22

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Alignment Application and Installation Guide

Reference Material
The following information is
provided as an additional reference
to subjects discussed in this guide.
SEHS7073 (3500)
Special Instruction - Alignment of
Two Bearing Generators
SEHS7259
Special Instruction - Alignment of
Single Bearing Generators
SEHS7654
Special Instruction - Alignment -
General Instructions
REHS0177
Special Instruction - Alignment of
Close Coupled Two Bearing
Generators
REHS0204
Special Instruction - Procedures for
the Installation and Initial Start-Up
of Gas Engine Chiller Drivelines
REHS0423 (3600)
Special Instruction - Alignment of
Two Bearing Generators
REHS0445
Special Instruction -Alignment
Procedures for G3500 Tandem
Generator Sets
REHS0475
Special Instruction - The
Installation and the Alignment of
the Two Bearing Locomotive
Generators

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