Final Drive...do it now!

[dbutton12]

I bought my 08 R3touring in aug of last year with only 4500miles on it. The rear tire was REALLY squared off and about illegal. The bike came with a new Metz tire but I wanted to go to a larger tire (wider). Anyway,,,,no takers on the tire, so I mounted it and will proceed to demolish it in short order.
Now, the rest of the story....I had some spare time in the shop last week and was looking at the "bevel box" AKA final drive and said to myself, "well it's so easy to get at now, might as well do it"........and goooood that it did. I had to take a block of wood and hammer to separate the box from the control arm. The rust was unbelieveable....I think the dealer prep guy just put a smear of grease on the trannny side and then slid the assy together,,,there was NO sign of lube on the box coupler side. I'm assuming that this service is supposed to be done when they uncrate and assemble the bikes after shipping........but that leaves a LOT of room for error. FYI that pan in the last pic is the rust that came out of the final drive end,,,,I had just as much cleanup on the tranny side. I know some of you have said,,,,do it every time you take the rear tire off,,,,,and I'm a believer now!!!!
PS...this bike only has 7k on it now...barely broke in

 

[Pedro]

IF you where to tell the Dealer they would say ,yea it looks like that.In the early days Triumph did not tell the Techs to lube this part at service time. Looks like you got to it just in time ,much longer and you would have lost the splines as well and it sure is not Cheep. A must do for sure.

 

[pete.triumph]

done mine a few weeks ago wasn't quite that bad but not far off it i'v done 20k km and was tossing up if should do it or not boy i'm glade i did it

 

[gra53]

Must be a bit of the luck of the draw. Put a pic of mine on the "white rocket" thread, no shortage of grease and all spot on.

 

[69birdflu]

Wow Like you, after reading all of the posts on greasing the bevel when changing the rear tire, I went at it yesterday.
Luckily, I had better results, no rust inside. Only rust I found was on one top bolt of the bevel box to the swing arm.

After reading the ignition problem posts, I installed an HID headlight. Does anyone have advise, if a bypass for the headlights or the eastern beaver bypass is needed? Now when I start the bike the headlight shuts off. I know a lot less current is running through the relay now. Any thoughts

 

[tdragger]

After looking at your pictures, it looks like the splines were lubed properly. The brown stuff that you are seeing is not rust but rather the dry lubricant called molybdenum disulfide.

Triumph uses a high-percent molybdenum disulfide lubricant. This type of lubricant is a DRY lubricant that is usually mixed in a gel type carrier. Moly lube is a dry, brown (sometimes grey) powder before it is mixed with a gel carrier.

from Wiki -
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is used as a solid lubricant and a high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) antiwear agent. It forms strong films on metallic surfaces and is a common additive to HPHT greases — in the event of a catastrophic grease failure, a thin layer of molybdenum prevents contact of the lubricated parts.

 

[gra53]

After looking at your pictures, it looks like the splines were lubed properly. The brown stuff that you are seeing is not rust but rather the dry lubricant called molybdenum disulfide.

Triumph uses a high-percent molybdenum disulfide lubricant. This type of lubricant is a DRY lubricant that is usually mixed in a gel type carrier. Moly lube is a dry, brown (sometimes grey) powder before it is mixed with a gel carrier.

from Wiki -
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is used as a solid lubricant and a high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) antiwear agent. It forms strong films on metallic surfaces and is a common additive to HPHT greases — in the event of a catastrophic grease failure, a thin layer of molybdenum prevents contact of the lubricated parts.

Won't let me download the pic again, but the grease in my 2010 roadster was blue and didn't look like moly grease.

 

[KingOfFleece]

I use the Honda moly paste. Works a treat.

 

[dbutton12]

never saw red/brown moly>>>>

After looking at your pictures, it looks like the splines were lubed properly. The brown stuff that you are seeing is not rust but rather the dry lubricant called molybdenum disulfide.

Triumph uses a high-percent molybdenum disulfide lubricant. This type of lubricant is a DRY lubricant that is usually mixed in a gel type carrier. Moly lube is a dry, brown (sometimes grey) powder before it is mixed with a gel carrier.

from Wiki -
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is used as a solid lubricant and a high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) antiwear agent. It forms strong films on metallic surfaces and is a common additive to HPHT greases — in the event of a catastrophic grease failure, a thin layer of molybdenum prevents contact of the lubricated parts.

I dunno, never saw moly that had to come off with a wire brush and never saw any moly lube that color...an Ive been around a few years. The lube I have used for years on any splined coupler is pure black and is moly/graphite mixture. It originally was compounded for use on 4x4 truck front prop splines. This lube also has anti-corrosion additives in it....which I don't think triumph thought of

 

[barbagris]

It does, from the pictures, look more like old moly than rust. But pictures are not the same as first hand.

Proper dry suspension grade moly powder is bloody hard to get off once it's been pushed into metal grain. It is also hydrophilic so attracts moisture. So looks rusty-ish fast. I always use GREY moly suspension grade powder - it will work itself UNDER your skin. It's a sod to get off.

Why the hell they don't use an oil bath with molyslip in suspension - god knows.

I was told that oneshot CV joint grease (with moly) as in 4WD diffs has FAR LESS moly in - under half.