Swing arm bearing and Shock linkage Lube

[mikevujcich]

Lube the splines...

At a little over 8k miles I thought it time to lube the splines on the 3R. I'm one of the few who went through a final drive and drive shaft on the older models and have tried since then to do this with every rear tire change or, at least, every other, so every 4 -8,000 miles. Although there was...

www.r3owners.net

Sorry, now back to the swing arm....

I was told by an official triumph mechanic to do the splines every 15,000 K or face failure of the shaft at about 80,000 K. Tripped me out this was not in the manual.
I notice your studs came out with the castle nuts, I have 2 the same. Did you just reinstall as is, ( I did one the first time around ) , or replace the studs and nuts as the manual says ?.
And if reused what torque did you apply, the 100 N in the manual ?
With no info to go to at the time I went with 70 N like the rear wheel nuts and had no problems.
I could not get the nut off the stud btw.
Back to the swing arm which is on hold till I can get the T3880101 frame adjustment wrench.

 

[Journeyman]

I was told by an official triumph mechanic to do the splines every 15,000 K or face failure of the shaft at about 80,000 K. Tripped me out this was not in the manual.
I notice your studs came out with the castle nuts, I have 2 the same. Did you just reinstall as is, ( I did one the first time around ) , or replace the studs and nuts as the manual says ?.
And if reused what torque did you apply, the 100 N in the manual ?
With no info to go to at the time I went with 70 N like the rear wheel nuts and had no problems.
I could not get the nut off the stud btw.
Back to the swing arm which is on hold till I can get the T3880101 frame adjustment wrench.

It's been a while, but I applied some loctite (blue, I think) and probably would have torqued to the recommended setting. I've removed the FD several times since and the studs have remained in place. Always lots of dirt in the FD and the first time the shaft was pretty dry. I predict we'll be reading about lots of failures in the coming years from owners who have neglected this essential service.

Keep us posted on the swing arm. "inquiring minds want to know... "

 

[sunny]

I was told by an official triumph mechanic to do the splines every 15,000 K or face failure of the shaft at about 80,000 K. Tripped me out this was not in the manual.
I notice your studs came out with the castle nuts, I have 2 the same. Did you just reinstall as is, ( I did one the first time around ) , or replace the studs and nuts as the manual says ?.
And if reused what torque did you apply, the 100 N in the manual ?
With no info to go to at the time I went with 70 N like the rear wheel nuts and had no problems.
I could not get the nut off the stud btw.
Back to the swing arm which is on hold till I can get the T3880101 frame adjustment wrench.

why would splines / shaft needs to be lubed every 15000K,

are there other cars which have same schedule for lubing splines? I dont think so

other BMW motorcycles with shaft doesnt have such schedule as well,

@Journeyman Did you lube both sides of shaft when you lubed your splines or just the rear side, if just the rear side then how to do the other side going towards engine?

 

[sunny]

I was told by an official triumph mechanic to do the splines every 15,000 K or face failure of the shaft at about 80,000 K. Tripped me out this was not in the manual.
I notice your studs came out with the castle nuts, I have 2 the same. Did you just reinstall as is, ( I did one the first time around ) , or replace the studs and nuts as the manual says ?.
And if reused what torque did you apply, the 100 N in the manual ?
With no info to go to at the time I went with 70 N like the rear wheel nuts and had no problems.
I could not get the nut off the stud btw.
Back to the swing arm which is on hold till I can get the T3880101 frame adjustment wrench.

can you clarify the tool number you mentioned, you are saying "T3880101 frame adjustment wrench." while the everywhere else its named as "Triumph Cylinder Liner Extractor 74mm T3880101"

 

[Einar]

why would splines / shaft needs to be lubed every 15000K,

are there other cars which have same schedule for lubing splines? I dont think so

other BMW motorcycles with shaft doesnt have such schedule as well,

BMW does, in fact, recommend inspection and lubrication every 20,000 km (12,000 miles) on the R1300GS.

 

[Journeyman]

why would splines / shaft needs to be lubed every 15000K,

are there other cars which have same schedule for lubing splines? I dont think so

other BMW motorcycles with shaft doesnt have such schedule as well,

I think Mechanics will tell a lot of things which brings in more business, its their basic nature to scare the vehicle owners. ( reminds me of mechanics at quick oil changing shops for cars, they are best at doing such things when you go in for quick oil change, you end up repairing a lot more than whats needed)

@Journeyman Did you lube both sides of shaft when you lubed your splines or just the rear side, if just the rear side then how to do the other side going towards engine?

Just the rear. This question has come up before and the answer was that the engine side rarely wears out, but the FD side certainly does and has for me. I replaced the drive shaft on my Roadster, which involved removing the swing arm- so, see, it is "somewhat" thread related ;-). Sorry, again, to the OP for this going off topic...

I don't know about 15k as the magic number (9,321 miles for us Yanks), but I tend to do mine every other rear tire change, which is 4,000 miles- so, ~8,000 miles. I think every third would be OK. But, you definitely need to do it. The Rockets apply a heck of a lot more force there than almost all other bikes and when that lube dries out (which it will) you are going to wear that drive shaft out prematurely. As I've mentioned, I've replace a drive shaft and two final drives on my '11 Roadster. Wait for the mileages to kick up on the 2.5s and we'll be reading here about both going out- just wait....

 

[sunny]

BMW does, in fact, recommend inspection and lubrication every 20,000 km (12,000 miles) on the R1300GS.

Thanks, I was not aware of that, I have changed my comment, appreciate your response.

 

[sunny]

Just the rear. This question has come up before and the answer was that the engine side rarely wears out, but the FD side certainly does and has for me. I replaced the drive shaft on my Roadster, which involved removing the swing arm- so, see, it is "somewhat" thread related ;-). Sorry, again, to the OP for this going off topic...

I don't know about 15k as the magic number (9,321 miles for us Yanks), but I tend to do mine every other rear tire change, which is 4,000 miles- so, ~8,000 miles. I think every third would be OK. But, you definitely need to do it. The Rockets apply a heck of a lot more force there than almost all other bikes and when that lube dries out (which it will) you are going to wear that drive shaft out prematurely. As I've mentioned, I've replace a drive shaft and two final drives on my '11 Roadster. Wait for the mileages to kick up on the 2.5s and we'll be reading here about both going out- just wait....

my only worry to lube spline that many times / frequency is that we are tightening at 100 NM and its all aluminum/alloy of it, it will wear out the threads on this by removing and tightening that many times, no?

 

[Journeyman]

my only worry to lube spline that many times / frequency is that we are tightening at 100 NM and its all aluminum/alloy of it, it will wear out the threads on this by removing and tightening that many times, no?

You're just tightening the castle nuts at torque to the studs. Once they're set in place the pressure is mostly pulling the final drive tight to the swing arm- not driving the studs deeper. The factory lube (any) dries out and then it's like running a chain and sprocket without lube- no bueno.

Maybe we should move this conversation over to the thread on Lubing the Splines

Lube the splines...

At a little over 8k miles I thought it time to lube the splines on the 3R. I'm one of the few who went through a final drive and drive shaft on the older models and have tried since then to do this with every rear tire change or, at least, every other, so every 4 -8,000 miles. Although there was...

www.r3owners.net

 

[TURBO200R4]

my two cents
change the final drive fluid
grease the splines at the f.d.
on the late models (unlike the older models)when that spline gets worn out it will cause the rear of the drive shaft to run out of center and vibrate.
i think that the spring moves the drive shaft to its forward position and holds it there and that is why there is less wear at the front.