From NOC:
Hello again Bruce - It's as I feared. You;ve got after market SS friction plates or Dominator friction plates which are thicker than the SS ones. So there isn't room for the missing steel plate. RGM sell an extended chain wheel for such eventualities. Good luck, Howard
What is he afraid of?
Friction currently has 12 interfaces on Bruce's clutch is where any drag originates. The ability of those interfaces to move/clear each other is controlling to "free up or drag".
Basket is a driven clutch plate along with the other clutch plates which must also move to "free up" from the clutch center plus the other friction plates.or you have drag.
I agree that undersized rollers would possibly cause additional microscopic movement and reduced support, cyclic tipping, of the basket at each rotation. This cyclic tipping could cause friction by touching.
I don't see the thickness of the plates particularly contributing to extra drag, the number of interfaces remain the same unless the number of plates changes.
