A glimmer of hope

[Frank S]

Back in the day while working on Cat equipment it was pretty easy to tell which system a particular machine was built under by simply checking the serial number if it was an older machine made domestically it was imperial everything made off shore it could have been a mix if it contained domestic components later machines became more metrically .leaning until virtually everything became metric. However it was not uncommon to find fasteners clearly marked in metric grades but with US imperial threads and diameters replacement bolts usually wound up being Imperial grade 8 since the only way to buy them from cat was by serial number of the machine. Now all late model cat equipment is full on metric but there are still and probably always will be many propitiatory fasteners seals o rings and other parts which will never be true to either system but a combination of both just so you have to buy your replacements from cat