BMW K1200LT Final Drive Rebuild

How to rebuild a K1200LT final drive.
NOTE: That Aluminum Temperature Expansion will happen to 12.3 (steel is 7.3) the shim has to take up the space and preload the taper bearing. Do Not Fail to leave out the shim. It must have a shim.. even as low as .005 mm( 5 thousands). Do your home work. This job is not for the beginner and you really should have some know how and machine knowledge before really doing this job.
The video make it look very easy but I will say its not. Best of luck should you do this job.
Rated (1 easy) to (10 hard) this job is a = 11
Want it dont right the first time! Then Call Bruno and get it done fast and right.. I was told that Bruno does it right 99.9% of the time and it never fails again.
Bruno's Machine & Repair
HWY 554 # 47
RR1 Iron Bridge, Ontario
P0R1H0 Canada
phone / fax [phone]
WEB: www.brunos.us
Video note: It looks as if the shim was over the preload once again. The drive will fail down the road. On the other note. I did my drive at about $275. with all the stuff I had to get and a few tools I didnt have. Should have sent it to Bruno.. Next time I will when it fails....

[@abet5502]

Excellent DIY video. As a person with a BA in Vocational Education, I found your video exceptional. Thank you.

[@captdenny238]

Great video! Not as difficult as many riders would expect. Well done!!

[@vicentecabestany4000]

Great job, very nice old school, buddy, I loved watching.

[@lanksterprice]

Did this job back in 2013 and put about 26,000 mile and I'm now getting slop when I checked it. The tire moves and you can feel the click as I call it (slop movement from left to right, checked at the mid point of the tire... Left hand mid tire to right hand mid tire) Feels like Shim was to small or something has moved inside the drive now. play is about a few thousands now (.001 to .003) Will put on lift and drain and rip down to recheck its still good.. Im getting a bit of fish tail at times it feel like.

[@jonganzer7478]

Thank you for taking time to put this together and help out a lot of riders! Would engine degreaser be a better alternative to brake cleaner/carb cleaner to degrease the part? Also, the spacing of the crown gear bearing creates the critical gap between the helical pinion gear and crown. Without the spacers, they would push themselves apart until there was far too little contact area. Thanks to your video, I was able to replace the bearings and seals in my R1100RT final drive, which I would have definitely struggled with without this knowledge. This saved me HUNDREDS of dollars. Hats off to you! :oD

[@kbikerider8474]

Very nicely done video. Thank You.

[@michaelc3416]

Nice re edit of a good instructional vid. However, the original maker of this video (CharlieVT on bmwlt forum) has posted about some changes to the procedure that should be considered. The post can be found by searching bmwlt forum for "P.T.'s FD forensics and rebuild video notes".

[@RxMich]

"CLUE: When you put the shim in and you notice that its harder to turn, then here is the clue you have to much shim.... My old shim was 0.80mm and my new one is 0.13mm what changed... maybe they didnt look at what size they put in.. " Or maybe the original crown bearing was manufactured with a different race thickness. For grins, it would have been interesting to test the clearance before disassembly using your same method to see if there was 3 to 4 thousandths clearance. Granted, it could have worn in but still would have been interesting to know if it was tight. The important thing though was to measure it as the bearings are manufactured today understanding that the wrong thickness will make a short-lived repair. :o)

[@00K1200LT]

@ Randy Cotten Ty for your info that should help others.. @ CharlieVT The video needed some help in the edit department as there was 30 plus minutes of uncut junk... Thats about it. My notes where from my own rebuild.

[@papaduck1000]

A great video, thank you so much for this.

[@00K1200LT]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rocket625]

nice video looks like i can do this, but will need to build up some toolage

[@itsJohnnyDill]

Great, informative video. Just wondering- How did you determine that you put too much preload in? Anything that indicated this? Just wondering, as I have my final drive apart and am replacing the crown wheel bearing on my '99 R1100GS @ 54,000 miles. I wish to use this technique to determine shim thickness.

[@mrace4u2c]

Do you have the part number for the crown hub seal

[@brianrushmore3382]

How did you "phase" the drive shaft or is this a myth, but I love the video good enough for a weekend mechanic like me

[@kirkkw]

I am confused by the calculations. If your gap is .33 and you need .05 shouldn't the shim thickness be determined by taking the free-play .33 less the desired free-play .05 = .28 shim thickness? Free-play of .33 less the shim thickness of .28 leaves the desired free-play of .05.

[@davidtharp7921]

used to owned a 2002 R1150rs , this was the best boxer I have ever owned I took care of it like it was my baby, one day a car. Hite me from behind and totaled it now I'm looking into the BMW K1300s what have you heard about is it. Is there anything I should know is it a good BMW is the clutch ABS ok, is it hard to set the valves. I did all the work on RS myself, and keep up the good work I put 77k on it before she was murdered, I like watching your videos

[@chrisanderson9157]

Great vid but I need to replace the pinion gear bearings.

[@lanksterprice]

Sounds like your jumping in to a fund job... take your time and check the forms as I know there are others that have done this job and there is a bit of updated information out there... Best of luck

[@00K1200LT]

CLUE: When you put the shim in and you notice that its harder to turn, then here is the clue you have to much shim.... My old shim was 0.80mm and my new one is 0.13mm what changed... maybe they didnt look at what size they put in..

[@armymanproductions9248]

How did you determine the preload was too much?

[@OnkelM]

Hello from Germany the home of the BMWs! If you are interested in a workshop how to repair the final drive unit of an older BMW bike - for instance the R 60/6 or R 90/6, we invite you for a visit: @ Not to forget: Respect for your excellent work.

[@00K1200LT]

Sounds great!

[@garrydixon6123]

Hi, I'm currently rebuilding my final drive and when i measure the shim clearance using the same method as you it is 0.4mm, but i can move the inner crown wheel an additional 0.2mm due to lateral play in the bearing. What shim size would you recommend? Do you take this freeplay into account?

[@JamesRoe70]

Yes! You must take all of it plus when its hot (Aluminum Temperature Expansion is 12.3) So you need a bit more to keep pushing as the (steel is 7.3) and will take longer to expand.

[@garrydixon6123]

Thanks for the reply. What shim size would you recommend?

[@00K1200LT]

Garry Dixon it sounds like its should be 0.11mm - my number hits at 0.004330709 and thats almost 5 .. so thats just about right.

[@4DavidJohn]

Ty, Nice video, I would recommend a bearing heater instead of the oven...check McMaster-Carr for that, After 30 years I retired from the heavy Machine Service field about 5 years ago, I use kerosene to clean parts also, I like that it leaves a light coating of oil and does not dry out the part and prevents rust.... I do recommend using a lint free towel like Kim Wipes, l keep all bath towels and red rags away from bearing assemblies, they're usually made with a polyester material that doesn't break down in bearings and can ruin a new set of bearings. Kim Wipes are lint free and will not cause a problem, the bearing assemblies I use to repair and rebuild machinery were very expensive, $6k to $18k+ for the bearing components, spacers, labyrinths etc. for lathes and mills. So it was crucial that all components were clean, lint free and no finger prints. Many of the bearings had a spec for how much grease you would need to use, so a syringe was needed marked in CC"s and greased them up accordingly, do wear gloves, the real good grease may contain barium for heat resistance...albeit these are oil bathed but still the principles applies...

[@00K1200LT]

When "warming" the bearing it takes very little heat for it to expand on fit to the shaft from what I recall. Why spend more money on something Im only going to use once... The little heat thats needed is nothing from the heat when installed and running. Heating a little on one part and cooling of the other is lets it slide very fast.. I think I had about 10 or so seconds before it cooled tight. Most heaters are more then the cost of the bearing... So I would say NO! Use your oven to warm it up... that all your need and it cost nothing. But thank you for your input. Point of doing this job it to cut cost... Some have cut the cost of this $900 job way down. I did mine for under $350.

[@GarthGoldberg]

It's a bad design. A ball bearing is not designed to run with an axial pre-load. On top of that, you have one bearing carrying all the dynamic load of the rear axle and the drive torque. The old twin-shock BMW's did not have these problems.

[@JamesRoe70]

Most of the problem is in the pre-load. I vote we go back to the old shocks and forgo this problem all together.