Shims

Shim Fitment and Compatibility

A shim is a precision spacer used to achieve a measured result rather than to fill a gap. Common replacements include the shims replacing OEM 6533856, 6674343, 6682515, 6690089, 6674191, 6669121, 6669123, 6684829, and 6655210, the shim for loaders replacing OEM 6701159, and the shims for excavators replacing OEM 7004485 and 7193164.

Shims are usually fitted as a stack, and the stack is what matters. The correct fit is not a particular part number on its own but the combination of thicknesses that brings an assembly to its specified clearance or preload. This is why a shim carries a part number at all: the thickness is the specification.

Types of Replacement Shims

Clearance shims set end float and side play in linkages, pins, and mounted components. Too little and a joint binds; too much and it knocks and wears at an angle.

Preload shims set the load carried by a bearing or a mated pair before the machine is even running. This is the one to be careful with, because both errors are damaging in different ways: too much preload runs a bearing hot and shortens its life dramatically, while too little leaves play that pounds the races.

Alignment shims position an assembly relative to its mounting so that shafts, sprockets, or faces line up.

When you disassemble something with a shim pack, keep the pack, keep it in order, and note where it came from. Rebuilding without measuring, or reassembling with whatever shims stayed on the bench, is how an assembly comes back together tight or loose with no obvious sign until it fails. If the pack is lost or the components have been replaced, measure and build the stack to the specification rather than guessing.

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