HEXHEAD Tech - R1200RT Final Drive Bearing Replacement - 2007 Model (05 thru?09)

[Jankoman]

The articles, posts and comments in this tech section are posted by individual members and reflect their personal thoughts and experiences with repairing, maintaining, and generally working on motorcycles. This information may require specific knowledge and skills, may or may not be correct or current to model.

The authors of information found here and the BMW MOA take no responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of any information (including procedures, techniques, parts numbers, torque values, tool usage, etc.), or further for any damage of any kind or injuries incurred or caused by anyone following the instructions or information found here.

It is the duty of the individual to either assume the liability himself for responsibly using the information found here, or to take the bike or accessory to a Dealer or other qualified professional service.

AUTHOR'S DISCLAIMER: The author takes no responsibility for any damage or injuries incurred by anyone following the instructions given in this DIY. You should assume the author is a babbling idiot, and he knows nothing of which he speaks. If in doubt of anything - or putting a wrench in your hands could result in the end of civilization as we know it - please - take the bike to your dealer.

Lastly, please ensure you dispose of your used chemicals, oils and fuels in an environmentally responsible manner. Most Auto Parts stores and service stations will accept used oil and lubricants, tires and batteries, please check for your local availability.

This article, text and photos are Copyright of the individual authors and the BMW MOA, any copying or redistributing is permitted only by prior written authorization.

PLEASE PRINT AND READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE BEGINNING! Make sure you understand what is being said, and what the concept is. If it's confusing, or I haven't explained something well, feel free to send me a personal message. I'll try to clear it up, and it may help make this DIY posting better!

[Jankoman]

GOAL: To replace the large crown bearing that has been known to fail. This bearing is being replaced with one that has better engineering specifications then the original bearing.

This is probably a level 8 on a 0-10 scale of wrenching ability, and failing to do this job correctly could be dangerous and costly. If there is any lack of confidence on the part of the owner, they should refer the job to their local friendly dealer or a skilled independent mechanic with experience and the tools needed for rebuilding rear-drives.

SPECIFICS:

• Final Drive (FD) shown is from a 2007 R1200RT (this procedure should cover model years ÔÇÖ05-ÔÇÖ09)
• New bearing is NSK 6013VVC3 (aftermarket)
• New SHAFT SEAL, BMW part number 33 11 7 679 864
• (recommended) New O-RING, BMW part number 33 11 7 695 218

RECOMMENDED TOOLS & HARDWARE:

• 8 inch Gear Puller
• Internal and External HD Snap Ring Pliers
• T40, T45, & T55 Torx
• 22mm or 15/16 six-point socket
• Two breaker bars (1 for T55 & 1 for 6-pt socket)
• Heat source; Benzo-matic, heat gun, etc.
• *BMW tools (or equivalent) 33 2 505, 506, 507
• *Metal plate (see write up)
• *Threaded rod: 5/8ÔÇØ by 12ÔÇØ
• *M10 ÔÇô 1.25x75 Bolts, QTY=5

*These items I have boxed and ready for your use. Please contact me if interested.

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[Jankoman]

NOTE: Please ensure you dispose of your used chemicals, oils and fuels in an environmentally responsible manner. This procedure will generate approximately 210 milliliters of waste gear oil.

PREP WORK:

• Remove muffler
• Remove rear wheel
• Remove rear brake caliper
• Remove speed sensor and cable from the rear-drive
• Drain Final Drive oil
• Remove Final Drive Assy(FD)

Once FD oil is drained, remove the ISA Screw and Pivot Pin to completely remove FD from bike. On bikes with newer final drive ('08-'09), where the oil drain is located on the bottom of the FD, you will have to remove the Tension Strut nut, washer and bolt before you remove the ISA Screw and Pivot Pin to completely remove the FD from bike. For bikes with "older" FD like mine ('05-'07), part of the drain process is removing the Tension Strut nut, washer and bolt so that the FD can swing down allowing the oil to drain.

Removing the ISA Screw and Pivot Pin proved to be more difficult than I had planned. Make sure you have a good T55 Torx bit and either a 22MM or 15/16 six-point short socket. I had two ?¢ÔÇØ drive breaker bars for each. Once I got the screw out, the threads on mine were covered with thread-locker! The removal was slow and laborious, but eventually I prevailed. I did not attempt to use heat because the threads of the screw and pin were located inside the swing arm, making it difficult to apply heat where it was needed.

• Breaker bar #1 - Torx 55 on ISA Screw, resting on ground from inside of swingarm;
• Breaker bar #2 - 15/16" on Pivot Pin nut, applying force to loosen from outside of swingarm.

I used the BMW RepROM for reference throughout this process (33 10 050 & 33 12 560).

[Jankoman]

WHEEL FLANGE REMOVAL
Here is the FD mounted to a 4x4 with lag screws and washers serving as spacers: Primitive, but it works!

Before proceeding - remove the large snap ring that is on the hub shaft where the flange mounts. Use of the correct expanding snap-ring pliers is strongly recommended.

The goal is to remove the wheel flange. (I removed the flange with the brake rotor still attached. There isn't a lot of need to remove the rotor except that some heating of the flange is done, and removal of the rotor helps access the flange for heating, on both removal, and reinstallation.)

I did not have a T40 Torx bit long enough to remove the brake rotor. I had ordered one but found that it really doesn't need to come off unless you already have the long Torx bit. I ordered a Impact T40. The rotor can be removed once the flange is pulled off the wheel axle. (I didn't remove the rotor until I was re-installing the flange near the end of this entire process.)

Note the tool I had made to pull the flange off the wheel axle (rd circle). It's the same as BMW's tool number 33 2 506. It's sitting on top of the wheel axle. It has a small indentation for the head of the gear puller.

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[Jankoman]

Making and mounting a "puller plate"

Below is another ÔÇ£toolÔÇØ I needed to make:

It was made from 3/8ÔÇØ metal plate. While not pretty, it worked great.

I bought five ÔÇ£lugÔÇØ bolts at Lowes (M10-1.25x75). The hole in the center of the plalte is .750ÔÇØ. It allows the puller to pass through the plate and exert force on the axle with the tool shown in the post above.

Making this tool: I drilled the center hole and the five holes for the lug bolts to pass through. I laid out an 8ÔÇØ diameter circle on the metal plate. Center punched the middle hole and cut the plate into a circle. I laid the circle on the wheel/rim and marked the five lug holes using a Sharpie marker through the lug holes. I eyeballed the center hole in the plate so it lined up with the dimple in the tool on the axle. Lug holes are ?¢ÔÇØ which allows the Lowes lug bolts to pass through.

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[Jankoman]

Pulling the flange

The photo below shows the assembly of the two "special tools" and the large gear puller.

The special axle tool (506) is placed on top of the axle. The puller plate is then bolted to flange using the Lowes "lug bots" with 5/8ÔÇØ nuts used as spacers. (You can use just about anything as a spacer.)

The 8ÔÇØ gear puller is mounted on top, grabbing the puller plate at three points. The gear puller's threaded shaft goes through the puller plate and aligns with the special tool (506)on top of the axle. Tightening the puller will exert a pulling force between the axle flange and the wheel axle.

I heated the flange with a Benzo-matic torch: It took about 12 minutes to get to a temperature where the flange began to move. Once it started moving, it came right off. I did not have to lubricate the splines and lubricating is NOT recommended. (If I'd had the proper T40 bit, I would have removed the brake rotor prior to this step simply for easier access.)

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[Jankoman]

Disassembling the rear drive:

Here is the rear drive housing after the wheel flange is removed.

At this point I removed the ten T40 bolts holding the bearing housing to the FD housing.

It took a little careful prying, to split the two halves apart. I laid the shims and bolts out so that everything would go back together the same way.

Keep an eye out for the large o-ring on the bearing housing. I think if I were to do this again, I would order a replacement o-ring when ordering bearing and oil seal. (O-RING, BMW part number 33 11 7 695 218)


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[Jankoman]

Removing the wheel axle from the bearing:

At this point, the wheel axle needs to be pressed out of the bearing.

I was a little reluctant to apply pressure to the bearing housing using the three-jaw gear puller. So I sprayed some penetrating oil where the wheel axle passes through the inner race of the bearing and let it sit for 24 hours. I choose meaty parts of the bearing housing to attach the jaws to, and the special axle tool on top of the axle.

I then applied pressure, and tapped the gear puller screw and it eventually popped. (Sorry, no picture.)

It startled me, I thought something broke but it was the wheel axle starting to move. A press would be a better way to go, but I did not have one available. Needless to say, the wheel axle came out of bearing without any damage to the housing.

A picture of the wheel axle after being pressed out of inner race.

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[Jankoman]

A picture of the old bearing in the bearing housing.

Note the internal snap ring (lock ring) holding the bearing in place.

[Jankoman]

FINAL DRIVE BEARING REMOVAL

The first step is to remove the axle oil seal. I removed the oil seal with a screwdriver without any major problems. Try to keep from marring the housing surface that the seal sits in. The seal was damaged upon removal but I had ordered a new when I ordered the bearing.

Next was to remove the internal lock ring. I managed without snap ring pliers, but I know that HD Snap Ring Pliers with 3mm tips would save a lot of time. ItÔÇÖs a heavy duty lock ring. (BMW calls it a lock ring, I know them as snap rings.)

Once I got the lock ring removed, I set up the gear puller again with the 33 2 506 tool and a couple of pieces of metal, and then the metal plate I had made underneath, and pressed the entire bearing out of the bearing housing. I heated the housing per the RepROM instructions.

I could only press the bearing out about half way before I had to remove the metal plate and then place the housing in a vise to finish the press out. But, by that time, the bearing was moving so when I had to move the puller jaws to the housing to apply pressure, not much pressure was required.

Out popped the bearing and I was glad to see it come out. It was clearly bad/going bad.


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[Jankoman]

OLD BEARING vs. NEW BEARING

There are no dimensional differences between the old defective BMW bearing and the new high quality NSK bearing.

I used calipers to measure OD, ID and thickness.


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[Jankoman]

NEW BEARING AND NEW OIL SEAL
Now itÔÇÖs time to reassemble.

I heated the housing per RepROM to 200F using a toaster oven. The bearing spent a lot of time in a freezer (one hour is probably adequate, overnight is better.) Heating the housing makes the hole expand, and cooling the bearing makes the OD contract.

I had another tool made (BMW 33 2 507, washer) to press the new bearing into housing. The tool was made so that no pressure was applied to the inner race during this process.

Fortunately, I did NOT need to press the bearing in! There was a total of .004ÔÇØ difference between the hot housing bore and the OD of the cold bearing which equated to .002ÔÇØ clearance all the way around. The bearing dropped in with a ÔÇ£klunkÔÇØ. (I had made sure both surfaces were clean.)

Within one minute, the .002ÔÇØ was gone and the bearing was tight and square in the housing!

I re-installed the snap ring and then used the 507 tool to set the new seal using the gear puller as a press (picture). Using gear oil, I lubed the seal and the housing bore to help facilitate the seal mating process.

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[Jankoman]

Installing the new seal:

A close-up of the 507 tool on top of the seal during the mating process. This could also be done easily if you have a hydraulic press. In either case - the 507 tool will prevent damaging the seal. It is important that the seal is lubricated for installation, and pressed square into the recess in the rear-drive cover.

Make certain the seal is installed in the correct direction! The "open" side of the seal should face up.

DSC_0148 with numbers.jpg

[Jankoman]

PRESSING WHEEL AXLE INTO NEW BEARING

Once the bearing and seal were in place in the bearing housing, I had a third tool made (BMW 33 2 505, sleeve) to now press the wheel axle into the inner race of the bearing.

The reason for making this tool instead of simply pressing the axle in against the cover was to prevent exerting ANY force on the ball bearings in the sealed bearing during the axle installation. No force was exerted on the ball bearings within the sealed bearing unit. Tool 505 was made so that all the force of the press was distributed on the inner race only. (Washer 507 is on top of 505 as shown.)

I used a 5/8ÔÇØ HD construction bolt in place of threaded rod. Either could be used, but the bolt will be stronger. The bolt had enough thread to allow me to completely press the wheel axle through the inner race to seat it. A nut (not shown) was on the other end of the bolt.

Note the thrust bearing: Per the RepROM, this was required to be able to turn the crown wheel during installation so that the oil seal would not be damaged during installation. However, it was not needed! Because the tool I had made (sleeve 505) was exerting all the force on the inner race, I was able to turn the crown wheel as the wheel axle was being pressed into the inner race. I assume then that the BMW sleeve places the force on the outer race of the bearing, thus the thrust bearing would allow the turning of the crown wheel during the pressing process.

On the crown wheel side of the wheel axle (right side in picture), I used the 8ÔÇØ round metal plate I had made. It already had a .750ÔÇØ hole in it for the 5/8ÔÇØ bolt to pass. I made sure the oil seal and the surface it contacted were well lubricated with gear oil before I pressed wheel axle into the bearing inner race.


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[Jankoman]

PRESSING THE AXLE (Continued):

Prior to pressing the wheel axle into the bearing, I took several measurements of the length of the spline side of the wheel axle with my 6ÔÇØ calipers.

I then measured the thickness of the bearing outer shell.

I subtracted the thickness of the bearing from the length of shaft so by measuring the exposed part of the splined shaft I'd know when the shaft and bearing were fully mated.

The press was very smooth and by calculating what my measurement should be, I knew when the axle had seated fully against the inner race of the bearing.

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