at home final drive rebuild?

[KER]

A friend had his final drive bearing go yesterday and blew the seal on his '01 1100RT. If I recall last time the dealer changed a bearing its cost $400+, is this something that can be done at home wthout the BMW tools? I understand the shim and backlash setup but is there a way to do it at home and save some cash for someone who doesnt have the money to pay the dealership to do it?

[Paul Mihalka]

One intermediate solution may be to remove the rear drive from the bike and send it out to a good independent shop. Anton in Charlottesville VA comes to mind. He is a specialist in rear drives. http://largiader.com/shop/

Note: no business relation but I respect his work...

[dirtrider]

Morning KER

 

Yes, it can easily be done at home with minimal tools (well somewhat easily anyhow). The secret is not in exotic tools but in the guy doing the work knowing how to get the bearing preload, what controls it, and how to adjust it without using BMW special tools.

 

As long as it is the crown bearing and not the pinion bearing then no problem at all using home shop tools.

 

A few ways to do that is:

 

(1)_One is to use a little thicker bearing shim (or extra shim) to initially assemble then using feeler gauges between the cover and case to determine how proud of the case the cover sits. Then simple math will get the proper preload. The cover will kind of floats around so this method needs at least 3 stacks of known thickness feeler stock that can be varied in even heights.

 

(2)_Another (and the way I usually do it) is to assemble with no shim or just a thin shim, then use a dial indicator on the exposed wheel flange to measure the side movement of the bearing/spool while prying the spool up and down . You will need to heat the case cover with a heat gun to allow the spool/bearing to slide both ways so you can obtain total side play without sticking or dragging. Then simple math will get you the correct shim thickness.

 

(3)_Another way I have used in the past is to set the drive and cover up level on a granite bed plate (or flat piece of glass) then use height gauges and thickness blocks to get the bearing bore depth as well as the cover bearing bore depth. I like this way the best but it does take some extra measuring tools and a little more understanding on what needs to be measured and figured to obtain proper bearing preload.

 

1- above is probably the easiest way to do it yourself if you only have basic tools and set up knowledge.

 

2- is probably the best if you have a dial indicator and want it a little more precise.

 

3- will be every bit as good or even better than the factory tool if done correctly AND with a complete understanding of what needs to be accomplished.

 

[Steve W.]

Here's a nice video of a rebuild. Starts out showing horses but soon gets to the work. Came from the LT (light truck) site. The LT's seem to eat FDs.

Cheers

Steve

[AdirondackJack]

Steve-

Don't know why, but no can see the vid. Any suggestions?

[Steve W.]

Steve-

Don't know why, but no can see the vid. Any suggestions?

 

Try "right click" on link and "open in new window". I have Windows Media Player as my default. It opens right up and shows the video. May not work with other players?

Cheers

Steve

[dan cata]

Steve-

Don't know why, but no can see the vid. Any suggestions?

 

Try "right click" on link and "open in new window". I have Windows Media Player as my default. It opens right up and shows the video. May not work with other players?

Cheers

Steve

 

Or right click, save link as

 

Dan.