Final Drive Condition

[Piet]

When changing the rear tyre I noticed the drive was very dry and promised myself that as soon as I got back I needed to check the drive and get it lubricated.  I had previously seen pictures posted by Yorkie and Alans1100 that showed that they had found substantial wear in their final drive units.

The splines on the rear wheel were very dry as can be seen in this image.



Looking at the splines directly though, the wear was not bad with plenty of meat left.  It was only the edge that was showing some wear.



Then looking at the matching hub of the final drive it was also in exactly the same state, covered in a rust coloured layer of crud.



Not impressed ... A good clean got it sorted and packed with Moly60 and a bit of grease.  To do the cleaning I removed the drive unit from the drive shaft and got a bit of a surprise.
Water had gained entrance and was now sitting in the bottom of the shaft tube.  The water level very clearly defined.



I think this ingress of water was fairly recent.  I had just previously ridden to Brisbane and it was a wet trip.  Torrential in parts up around Cooroy - Pamona.  In this next photo the upper two thirds of the cast retainer are just starting to show some rust.  Seeing this, I was so glad I had made the effort to service the final drive.
It all cleaned up a treat.  I used a little non-hardening Permatex gasket goo to seal the drive shaft to final drive joint in the hope that wet weather will no longer be an issue for the final drive.

[alans1100]

That's what mine looked like after supposedly being greased by dealers on every tyre change but I got to mine to late and couldn't save it. Since the final drive repair I found the moly paste still in place when I did my next tyre change.

I also used moly on the tail shaft splines when refitting the drive unit.......it seems to be the norm for some in the UK when they do their own tyre changes. They take the drive unit off, regrease and realign every tyre change.

[Yorkie]

This is the reason we can not allow shops to do tyre changes, we have to remove and replace the rear ourselves to ensure it is done properly, they won't let you look over their shoulder.

[Abe]

I do the same as Yorkie, it's a good time to give everything the once over.

How are the cushion rubbers ???

[pault]

once the case hardening is gone the spline will wear completely, bit hard to say when. been there. done that

[Piet]

The cush rubbers were perfect.  I was glad of that.
I also hope that the new grease & Moly 60 provide the protection that the splines need.  The idea of compromised case hardening and now a downhill slide in wear on the splines, in not one I am thrilled with.