DODGE038120Narrow Slot Take-Up Frame Assembly — 5 in Travel, Pair of Frames Only (No Bearing Included)

Product Description

What this part is

A Dodge narrow-slot take-up frame assembly, model NS-425×5, supplied as a pair. A take-up frame is the fabricated steel channel that bolts to the conveyor or machine frame and provides the machined ways and the adjusting screw along which a take-up bearing cartridge slides. Turning the take-up screw walks the cartridge, and with it the shaft, along the frame so a belt or chain can be tensioned or slackened for maintenance.

Decoding the designation

NS is the frame family: Narrow Slot. That is the important field, because a narrow-slot frame accepts narrow-slot take-up cartridges only — a wide-slot cartridge (Dodge WSTU) will not fit the slot, and a top-angle take-up (TP, TPHU) is a different mounting arrangement again. 425 is the frame size code, which sets the slot width, base width and bolt hole pattern. x5 is the take-up travel: 5 inches of adjustment. Dodge item number 038120 is the same assembly under Dodge’s numeric ordering scheme, and it is also written NS425X5, NS-425-X-5 and NS 425 x 5.

Scope — what is in the box

Two take-up frames with their take-up screws and hardware. No bearing is included. There is no take-up cartridge, no bearing insert, no seal, no shaft and no mounting bolts for the machine frame. That is normal for this part number — Dodge sells frames and take-up bearing units as separate items so a plant can match bore size and insert type to the duty. To put this pair into service you also need two narrow-slot take-up bearing units in the bore size of your shaft.

Published specifications

Family: Dodge NS narrow slot take-up frameFrame size code: 425Take-up travel: 5 inConstruction: fabricated steel frame with machined ways and take-up screwSupplied as: 2 frames (matched pair, one per side of the shaft)Bearing type accepted: narrow-slot take-up bearing unitsDodge item number: 038120

What these specs mean in practice

Take-up travel is the specification that decides whether the frame is any use to you. Five inches of adjustment is a general-purpose amount: enough to take up belt stretch and to slacken a chain far enough to break and rejoin it, but not enough for a long centre-to-centre belt conveyor that needs continuous gravity take-up. The other number that matters is the slot width, which is fixed by the 425 frame size and must match the take-up cartridge family — get that wrong and the cartridge either will not enter or will rattle in the ways. Frames are always used in pairs and must be bolted parallel and at the same height; a pair that is out of parallel cocks the roll and shows up as belt mistracking rather than as a bearing complaint.

Fitting notes

Bolt both frames to the machine so the ways are parallel and coplanar, then check the shaft is square to the belt line before tensioning. Clean and lightly oil the ways — a cartridge that has to be levered along its frame will not track square and will chew the ways. Wind both take-up screws by the same number of turns so tension is applied evenly; counting turns is more reliable than eye-balling the gap. Leave the screws with some travel in reserve at first commissioning so there is adjustment left for belt stretch later.

Interchange guidance

Also written 038120, NS425X5, NS-425-X-5, NS 425 x 5 and NS-425X5-TUFR (the take-up-frame suffix Dodge and some distributors add). Related frames in the same family carry the same NS prefix with a different size and travel code, for example NS-400×6 and NS-400×12 — those are different frame sizes and different travels, not substitutes. Dodge, SealMaster and Link-Belt are all Regal Rexnord brands and Dodge mounted bearing products now trade as Dodge Industrial under RBC Bearings, so this assembly is legitimately searched under Baldor Dodge and Dodge Industrial as well.