Bevel Box Drain Plug

FYI:

for those of you who service your own R3 a word of advise...you may want to add a new bevel box (differential) drain plug to your parts bin at home. I managed to "snap" the bolt head off of mine while changing the approximate 5 oz of differential oil and using a 1/4" drive ratchet no longer than my fingers. When I say the bolt twisted easy...I mean exactly that...EASY!

It would appear that this drain plug is made to break as opposed to being over-torqued and damaging the threads of the bevel box. Interestingly enough..the diameter of the bolt under the bolt head appeared to be a "shell" partially filled with what looked like a black carbon filler.

When I installed the bolt before filling the differential, I snugged up the bolt and it felt like it "slipped" a little. At first I though I had pulled threads. I took it out, no problem there, threads looked good, reinstalled it and snap....bolt is history.

Like every part that I have required to do general maintenance...the local dealer has nothing in stock including this plug or even brake pads. So...in a couple of weeks I will have my part (parts, I order an extra plug) all the way from Atlanta. Boy am I glad I still have my Valk to ride. This crap of waiting for two weeks or paying premium freight costs is wearing me a little thin.

Do yourselves a favor...see if your dealer stocks this drain plug or have a second bike to ride while you wait for parts.......SB.

The bolt has a magnet in it to catch shavings. Very important to adhere to the recommended 15 nm torque.

This thread may help you get it out.

http://www.r3owners.net/general-tech-talk/2505-drain-plug-final-drive-unit.html

That thing is very touchy. I have drained mine twice and both times I got that same twisting feeling. Next time I'm going to replace it. It has a magnet in it so it has been drilled, and that must weaken it. There is so little lube in that final drive I change it every spring just to ease my mind.

If you took that down to an auto parts store or a good hardware store you could probably come up with a replacement that you could use until the "official" Triumph one comes in.

Changed my diff oil three times now no problems what so ever, as Brian said stick with the torque setting and you will not have any trouble. Please post part number and cost as this has happened more than once before.

I did check my final drive oil level yesterday, because when I was washing the bike I noticed evidence of oil seepage (whether a one time thing or not, don't know, just black around the drain plug from dirt adhering)... the level was fine, I squirted a small amount in although most came right back out... anyway, I put a box end to the drain plug thinking it might be loose. It certainly was, I didn't turn it more than maybe a quarter to half because frankly it felt like a stripped bolt to me. The owner's manual doesn't list a torque on that plug (60Nm on the filler plug only), so I came here to search and find the 15Nm spec. Before I put a torque wrench on it, just subjectively speaking, does 15Nm feel really pretty LOOSE? Maybe I should just leave it be and see if it dirties up again. I will get a spare plug on order tho'. Why the heck doesn't the owner's manual list torques! With a 4.5 hour drive to the nearest Triumph dealer, give me a break.

The thread is a standard metric. When I snapped mine I used an Allen screw with a small o ring behind it until the replacement came in. 15 nm is 11 ft lbs.

The key words here are Torque Wrench. Putting a box wrench on it and 'snugging' it up is going to bring disaster. You can't estimate 15Nm without a torque wrench, don't even try.

I need to start carrying torque wrenches on my website.....and drain plugs.

I snapped my drain plug years ago but just left it in. I pump out the old oil.

I did finally buy a new drain plug last week from bikebandit.

Ugarte said:

I snapped my drain plug years ago but just left it in. I pump out the old oil.

I did finally buy a new drain plug last week from bikebandit.

Click to expand...

KLR's don't have bevel boxes.

Ok,
So what oil (type, weight, ect) do we use when we change the rear end oil?
I've done this with all my vehicles, but hadn't even thought about it with the R3 for some reason till I saw this thread.
I got about 15,000 on it now, so I figure its probablly past time to do it.
Is this a correct assumption?
thanks guys,
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