Correct I no this because I performed an oiling mod to pressurize oil the camshaft side of the thrust plate. The gear drives are hard on that plate. As Ryan Johnson said to me, milodon has the roller bearing on the wrong side. The cam doesn't thrust in that direction.
But I am pretty sure that the cam gear when bolted on, traps the position of the cam between the thrust plate, so if that plate were thinner, you would have more end play. No spec that I know of.
I do not even think that tensioner plate is thinner. Just looks that way in the pic.
