Final drive bearing

  • Thread starter Thread starter Muddy
  • Start date Start date
Had two go on me:eek: .
First was noticed on 6k service with excessive play in the rear wheel and replaced under warranty.

Second one I noticed an oil leak from the oil seal. On closer inspection I saw it was caused by play in the rear wheel again. It was close to the 18k service so had both done the same time. BUT because the bike was 14 months(Pre 24 month warranty) old I had to pay for it.:mad:
I told the dealer my feelings about it and the fact that it must be a design fault for it to happen twice. They rang BMW UK and they said as a "good will gesture" they would foot the bill.
The dealer also told me the first replacement must have been fitted wrong for it to fail so quickly...strange as it was them who fitted it.

Fingers crossed , its OK now on 36k. I check it every week, as stranded I don't want to be!

:beerjug:
 
Re: unusual!

bmwlee said:
Final drive bearing failures are very rare on the gs. It's very odd that you are having problems.
Click to expand...
You've not been around very log then matey.
The same bearing fits most of BMW's range. On seeing the bearings that have failed the problem seems to be with the retaining ring that hold the balls in place.The rivets on the ring seem to break leading to all the balls falling to the bottom of the race. Since the bearings are manufactured by FAG i think it might be a manufacturing problem by them rather than BMW
 
Hers's Jon's example from yesterday, just the cage broken up, just a matter of time before the balls get "crowded" in one place and it all goes wobbley --





Here's another bearing where the rider had just carried on driving till the whole wheel had collapsed - the bearing fell apart as the bevel was taken apart - but nothing else was damaged .

you can see the score marks on the bearing surfaces






The K series has the same set-up and bearings, but it rarely happens on a K .


The bearing number if you want to get it cheaper at a bearing stockist is = 61917 C.3.
 
SKF web site gives these details for the final drive bearing.

I was wondering if the 11000 rpm was a bit low. does anybody know the rpm speed of the drive flange in top gear at 80mph.
 

Attachments

Approx 873.6 RPM, asuming a rolling radius of the tyre is 75" (TKC80 quick measure its dark out side)and that a mile is covered in 655.2 revolutions.

I could of course be wrong, as its a bit late for maths

Pete A
 
Steptoe

Neil

You mentioned that the bearing needs to be shimmed. Are there special shims required ?. Can these be bought from BMW or a bearing specialist ?. I assume they go between the bearing's outer race and the drive casing ?

Thanks

Ferg
 
final drive bearing

Hi All
just been back to dealers today to get a rumbling bearing changed under a supposed guarantee. this bearing has lasted 5k miles ,as you can imagine I was none to happy when I was told bmw will not pay for a second repair on a warranty claim,so if I cannot get anything sorted after I call dealers and bmw is another rebuild a viable option or do I bite the bullet and fit a second hand unit?:mad:
Hovis
 
Steptoe said:
.. don't forget the bearing needs shimming...
Click to expand...
Please share your shimming experiences with us. Do you often need to change the original shims? Do you think that a too-high preload is what causes most early failures? I had a bearing go bad (rumble) at 41000 mi. I replaced it and now, at 53000, it has a very slight roughness again. Was it the shimming?
 
Arbreacames said:
Please share your shimming experiences with us. Do you often need to change the original shims? Do you think that a too-high preload is what causes most early failures? I had a bearing go bad (rumble) at 41000 mi. I replaced it and now, at 53000, it has a very slight roughness again. Was it the shimming?
Click to expand...

I am in the process of changing this bearing myself.
There is a procedure in the manual that describes (using BWMs special tools) how to set the bearing preload to 0.05-0.10 mm (20-39 thou).
The manual is a 50Mb PDF file that can be downloaded from various sites.
Normally bearings are pretty acurately machined and so you can just re-use the factory shims,but if you are have short life failures it may be worth the re-shimming.
Question.Do you have much backlash in your crown wheel pinions?.
 
No backlash at all. I assume therefore that the FD had too much preload from the factory.
 
final drive bearing

Hi Colban
could you post a link to a web site that a manual could be downloaded from.
Thanks Hovis:thumb
 
Colban said:
....set the bearing preload to 0.05-0.10 mm (20-39 thou).....
Click to expand...

I think you'll find that 0.05mm is about 2 thou and 0.1mm is about 4 thou. You will most certainly shorten the life of the bearing by setting the preload to 39thou..... :(
 
I think the best warning is that the oil goes dark and silvery.

I noticed this about 2000 miles before I became aware that the bearing cage had broken up and pushed the seal out of place.

( call me lightning if you like )

I got my bearing and seal from Melvyn at Revolution bearings and seals near Radlet for £18.
Also bought a spare final drive off E bay.
 
littleredrooster said:
I think you'll find that 0.05mm is about 2 thou and 0.1mm is about 4 thou. You will most certainly shorten the life of the bearing by setting the preload to 39thou..... :(
Click to expand...

Oops,:blast .The old brain isn't used to working in Imperial these days.:o
 
Have had my bike (1999 r1150gs) since it had 2500 miles on the clock, the bevel box oil is changed every year and the bearing still got grumbly and was replaced by a bmw mechanic at 23200. The replacement went big style 700 miles later in Austria wiping out the seal and leaving me stuck.
I am blaming the second one on a faulty bearing and trying to see if BM will stump up my Austrian bill !
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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