Gearbox Gaiter Replacement (and rear disk while we are at it!)

adm1 · Oct 8, 2019

Pukmeister said:
When I last dropped my swingarm the taper roller bearings were starting to corrode - worth a check and replace or regrease. Laser tools sells a dedicated slotted socket with inner hex bit to preload and tighten the bearings for about £12.

If fitting a new rear disk its also worth checking the disk mounting hub flange is the newer steel one as per the recall campaign and not the older alloy one that is prone to cracking/failure.

Funnily enough - I just repacked the swingarm bearings a moment ago! The bearings looked fine but got new grease just because.

On the preload tool, Haynes says to set the torque on the Allen bolt at some number, then mark it with paint, then tighten the big hex nut and check to see that the Allen bolt hasn't moved. I'll probably try that method first - but am prepared to be incredibly frustrated. If so, I'll end up buying the tool.....but hopefully I won't ever need to take the swingarm. off again while I own this bike....

Thanks for the heads up on the disk flange. Will check it after I remove the old disk tomorrow. Have just been reading http://www.motorcycleinfo.co.uk/indexe65d.html?fa=contentGeneric.nkyqiukevryeuzut&pageId=360814 which seems to be the same issue...

adm1 · Oct 8, 2019

Mr Bean said:
Staburags NBU 30 PTM - about £20 for 50g.

Bloody expensive grease! Thanks for that, but I think I shall just use something a bit more mundane.....and of course rubber friendly!

NicD · Oct 8, 2019

everything looks in pretty good condition to be honest

no point greasing exterior of UJs as grease will just get flung off. there is no grease nipple on bmw shaft ujs so only moly grease on splines. small amount as again will get flung out

the starbaugs is what bmw use to assemble eg clutch splines, although 1200gs comes with no lube on driveshaft splines which is silly

otherwise do regrease bearings and pivots. use whatever grease appropropriate for that application - thin smear moly shock bolts, dab of antiseize where appropriate, decent quality grease on bearing fittings etc

and bmw red threadlock = medium strength so blue loctite equiv

there was a recall on flange on my 08 bike. should be in service booklet if was done, and if been bear a dealer in last 5 years will have been done

adm1 · Oct 8, 2019

NicD said:
everything looks in pretty good condition to be honest

no point greasing exterior of UJs as grease will just get flung off. there is no grease nipple on bmw shaft ujs so only moly grease on splines. small amount as again will get flung out

the starbaugs is what bmw use to assemble eg clutch splines, although 1200gs comes with no lube on driveshaft splines which is silly

otherwise do regrease bearings and pivots. use whatever grease appropropriate for that application - thin smear moly shock bolts, dab of antiseize where appropriate, decent quality grease on bearing fittings etc

and bmw red threadlock = medium strength so blue loctite equiv

there was a recall on flange on my 08 bike. should be in service booklet if was done, and if been bear a dealer in last 5 years will have been done

Thanks for that, Nic.

Last dealer service was 29/10/14 - so 5 years ago. My bike was produced in February 2011 and none of the dealer service records I have mention a flange replacement. So I don't know if they were shipping with the revised flange by 2011 or not. Anyway.....I'll give the FD a good clean tomorrow, take the brake disc off and have a good look at the flange for cracks.

Mr Bean · Oct 9, 2019

NicD said:
the starbaugs is what bmw use to assemble eg clutch splines, although 1200gs comes with no lube on driveshaft splines

On my 2007 bike Staburags (off-white sealing grease) was used to seal the drive gaiter to the swing arm, it's thick, sticky and waterproof.

Same is used on my LC.

The grease used on the driveshaft splines was Optimoly paste by Castrol.

Bin Ridin · Oct 9, 2019

Re Disc Carrier, I am pretty sure the chamfer / bevel on the boss means it is the new type. See snip from your second photo in first post.
The new type were fitted to the 2011 bike I have but an old type got fitted when the FD was replaced (in Riyadh). Since then, the old type had to be replaced by new type (in Dublin, FOC). Had cracks in my 2005 bike and replaced the carrier myself, not an easy job with the kit I had.

Old type with crack shown for ref....

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

Well, that was bloody hard work getting the disc off the flange!

Those T40 bolts really, really didn't want to budge and I definitely didn't want to strip them and then have to deal with that. They are also kind of tricky to get to and you can't really get a full size socket at them straight on.

In the end, judicious application of LOTS of heat, WD40 and my little Bosch Li-Ion impact driver did the trick.

Now to clean it all up...

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

I cleaned up the final drive unit, and it definitely appears to be the later model flange - if the chamfers on the arms are what to go by.

I had a good old look at it and can't see any cracks at all. So hopefully all is good there.

Also had a good look at the final drive pinion shaft and that is in good nick with no damage and no free play. So we'll call that good as well.

One thing I do have a concern with however is the left hand slide "needle sleeve" (part number 3311768460). There appears to be a soft fibre washer on top of this which is chipped up - see pic below. However realOEM doesn't show a separate part. It just shows the needle sleeve itself and no fibre washer.

So does anyone know if the sleeve comes with the fibre washer bonded to it?

The bearing itself seems fine and will get repacked with new grease. I can't believe the fibre washer is a critical part, so presumably it's good just to put back together as-is? I don't really want to have to put a new sleeve in if I can help it, but I will if necessary....

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

Bin Ridin said:
Re Disc Carrier, I am pretty sure the chamfer / bevel on the boss means it is the new type. See snip from your second photo in first post.
The new type were fitted to the 2011 bike I have but an old type got fitted when the FD was replaced (in Riyadh). Since then, the old type had to be replaced by new type (in Dublin, FOC). Had cracks in my 2005 bike and replaced the carrier myself, not an easy job with the kit I had.

Old type with crack shown for ref....

Thanks for that. I didn't want to be replacing that flange as it would be a pig of a job, but there are no cracks that I can see and if as you it's the new type, all should be well....

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

A little bit more progress....

I greased the gearbox splines, reinstalled the drive shaft and tapped it over the circlip to secure it. I did give it a thin smear of grease all over just because. Then I greased the ends of the new gaiter with silicone grease, clipped it to the swingarm and slid the swingarm back up over the driveshaft. I also gave the back end of the bike a good dose of ACF-50 while I was in there.

I greased the pivot pins and slid them in to hold the swingarm in place. Then surprisingly enough I easily slipped the gearbox end of the boot in place. I thought that would be a real pig to do because of the limited space, but it was actually very easy.

Anyway....with the new gaiter happily in place, I torqued up the pivot pins to spec as per the Haynes manual:

Right hand side - 9nm per bolt

(And yes - I did use new stainless fasteners. I figured that at 9nm, there's very little load on these so they should be absolutely fine.)

Left hand side - torqued the pivot pin to 20nm, then backed it off and torqued it again to 7nm. Then I put a bit of Tippex to mark the six o'clock position of the pin and torqued the locknut to 145nm. Happily, the pin hadn't moved at all while I torqued the locknut. So that should all be good.

The swingarm moves freely up and down and I can't detect any side to side play at all.

I still need to install the cable tie to secure the gearbox end of the gaiter.

But basically, that's the main point of this thread completed. Gaiter replacement done!

Now I just need to wait for the other bits to arrive (rebuilt shock and new brake disc and pads) and I can finish up putting it back together. Happy days - and at least I will know the drivetrain, rear suspension and brakes have had a thorough going over.

Bin Ridin · Oct 9, 2019

Nice one, as you say reassuring to know all well. In my opinion, the old gaiter looked as if it had been attacked by something, cleaning solution left on it maybe, but it should not have perished like that.

NicD · Oct 9, 2019

it all looks in great condition tbh

NicD · Oct 9, 2019

re the felt gasket, is that shown on the swingarm parts diagram on realoem? Might be with pivot pin parts

Slipperyeel · Oct 9, 2019

Great job

Ref the stainless bolts. In this instance, strength wasn't in question. It's a corrosion issue (though strength can be an issue with stainless - rotor disc bolts for example). Not sure what material those 4 bolts go into. Is it steel or alloy? If the latter I would recommend either re-fitting the original or re-fit but with something like Duralac or similar.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

NicD said:
re the felt gasket, is that shown on the swingarm parts diagram on realoem? Might be with pivot pin parts

Ah...you know what.... I think it is!

Looking at the swingarm/FD pivot drawing, there's the pivot pin itself, then three other parts - "gasket ring", "o-ring" and "spacer ring". None of those came out when I pulled the pivot pin. So maybe one of them is the fibre washer and the other two are hidden behind it. I'll have a closer look later but I don't really want to pull the felt washer in case it fully disintegrates!

Should I / shouldn't I ? Hmmm....it's probably not a part that anyone has in stock immediately....

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

Slipperyeel said:
Great job

Ref the stainless bolts. In this instance, strength wasn't in question. It's a corrosion issue (though strength can be an issue with stainless - rotor disc bolts for example). Not sure what material those 4 bolts go into. Is it steel or alloy? Of the latter I would recommend either re-fitting the original or re-fit but with something like Duralac or similar.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Agreed - and I wouldn't use stainless for rotor bolts either.

In this case, they go into the steel of the frame itself. Torquing them pulls the pivot pin into the swingarm and side loads it.

I could of course just buy some new zinc passivated bolts like the OEM ones....

Slipperyeel · Oct 9, 2019

adm1 said:
Agreed - and I wouldn't use stainless for rotor bolts either.

In this case, they go into the steel of the frame itself. Torquing them pulls the pivot pin into the swingarm and side loads it.

I could of course just buy some new zinc passivated bolts like the OEM ones....

If it's into steel it'll be fine

. Leaving it looking good

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mikeyboy · Oct 9, 2019

The fibre washer is called shim on the bmw parts system

mikeyboy · Oct 9, 2019

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/pa...313_&mg=33&sg=35&diagId=33_1226&q=33117684996
Think that’s it,will check pt no tomorrow

adm1 · Oct 9, 2019

mikeyboy said:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/pa...313_&mg=33&sg=35&diagId=33_1226&q=33117684996
Think that’s it,will check pt no tomorrow

I think that is probably it as well. Pics of that part number on the web show a much lighter coloured material, but of course if it has not yet been crushed and soaked with oil it will look completely different to the part in my photo.

If that is the part, then apparently there will be two other parts underneath it and on top of the "needle sleeve" - "o-ring" 07119904693 and "spacer ring" 33177672817. It doesn't look like there could be in the photo, but I won't know until I pull the crumbling one out and have a proper look.

Gearbox Gaiter Replacement (and rear disk while we are at it!)

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