2013 RT Driveshaft Failure

[Realshelby]

The reason you want some movement in the needle bearings in a universal joint assembly is that without movement the bearing WILL wear a spot in the mating surface and WILL NOT move the lubrication around. The position the needle to cap and needle to cross bearing surface sits at will wear a "divot" of sorts in these surfaces ( needle bearing is harder than the opposing surfaces ). Smooth operation quickly goes downhill when the needle does have to move beyond this parked area once the "divots" take shape.

When the universal joint has an angle to it while operating the needles are moving back and forth. This spreads load/wear and pushes the grease around so that it can be spread and do its job.

Constant velocity joints are less susceptible to this, but have other issues and are not too happy in most driveshafts as the rotational speeds are higher than they like.

 

[ncpbmw1953]

THIS is not good!!!

i have a 13RT that has 87000 miles on her...i changed the driveshaft at 71000 miles during a major service before an extended adventure..the GB end was slightly rusty....

i rebuilt the original driveshaft with new universals...pretty easy actually...

hope you get this sorted out...

wyman

Good for you, that is my plan. What a POS design that allows for something that can result in a lockup, but I understand rarely does, at according to NHTSA's overview of LT FD failures. I think if I get to 70K miles I will replace the entire shaft and u-joint assembly for $1,156 and be done with it. I hope the u-joints are the main weak spots.

 

[Omega Man]

Not for nothing- a belt or chain going bad can cause a rear wheel lock-up.
OM

 

[wyman.winn]

Not for nothing- a belt or chain going bad can cause a rear wheel lock-up.
OM

never ridden a belt drive motorbike, BUT i have thrown a couple of chains (not on the street though!!!)

 

[ncpbmw1953]

never ridden a belt drive motorbike...

I have and loved it--makes so much sense as long as you have a transverse crankshaft. Clean, quiet, efficient, no maintenance. They have vulnerabilities, but mainly only for off-road use. Of the 2 stories I read of the belt on F800ST/GT when they failed it was a case of sheering off teeth and losing drive, that was the extent of it. That you can inspect the entire mechanism because it's exposed is a major plus. It seems the boxer motor is real solid and will go a long ways. This being said the elephant in this design has been the drive shaft: heavy, contained such that when something blows shrapnel/chards can get into the bevel gear or other housing parts and that is not something you want to design into any 2-wheeled vehicle. Apparently it's not an engineering impossibility to solve this, at least from what I read about Honda and Yamaha's implementations. Now if BMW simply said: you need to replace the shaft and/or u-joints at X number of miles, OK then at least you know what to expect. If I still have the bike I will replace parts preemptively as it's a way too critical component to ignore and wait for a failure. I would time this before a major trip only because it's a simple matter to at least rotate the wheel and rock it while on the center stand to pick up indicators that something is starting to go, at least that is my fantasy--does anyone know how valid this test is?

How's the fire down there Wyman?

 

[wyman.winn]

How's the fire down there Wyman?

we seem to be out or the woods fire wise....at least for the moment...

too many fires in too many days....they can't all be nature made, if you get my drift...

we don't get rains until february, so it's gonna be a loooooong fire season...

 

[ncpbmw1953]

we seem to be out or the woods fire wise....at least for the moment...
so it's gonna be a loooooong fire season...

Oh yeah, us too! Rains when they come start in late Oct slowly and build up from there in non-drought years. I'm north of Sacramento in Paradise where we lost 75 homes in 2008 to a fire that could way worse had the wind moved north into the main town.

 

[wyman.winn]

Oh yeah, us too! Rains when they come start in late Oct slowly and build up from there in non-drought years. I'm north of Sacramento in Paradise where we lost 75 homes in 2008 to a fire that could way worse had the wind moved north into the main town.

Yeah, heard about the fires you had up there...funn, my Dad, Walt Winn, was a city counsel member in Paradise years ago....small world...

 

[beemergirl]

Good for you, that is my plan. What a POS design that allows for something that can result in a lockup, but I understand rarely does, at according to NHTSA's overview of LT FD failures. I think if I get to 70K miles I will replace the entire shaft and u-joint assembly for $1,156 and be done with it. I hope the u-joints are the main weak spots.

This is what I plan to do in the future as well. Besides the 10 days the dealer took to do the repair, it happened on day 7 of the IBR and a three week riding vacation. This is really something I can't afford to have happen again.

 

[Omega Man]

FWIW, I have found on many occasions the a u-joint will wear out in its area of most consistent operation.....and really "feel" quite good when felt in another quadrant of operation arc.
I have found motor vehicle shock absorbers will do the same thing.
OM

 

[ncpbmw1953]

Besides the 10 days the dealer took to do the repair, it happened on day 7 of the IBR and a three week riding vacation. This is really something I can't afford to have happen again.

Damn it Nancy! Yes, the inconvenience alone will be worth it to me let alone a locked rear wheel. When I went back and read the details from the NHTSA report on LT models there were no accidents so perhaps that's almost non-existant. I figure once again you replace tires for pushing $500 every 9K miles or what have you, so to get some level of assurance on this every 60-70K miles seems worth it to me in spades. This being said, is it correct to say u-joints are indeed the most common failure related to a drive line failures? It seems they could be, but I really don't know.

 

[patiodadio]

FTR, i do lube the FD spline every 12000 miles and GB spline every 24k....and i change all the fluids every 6k...oil/filter, GB and FD...

Are we supposed to lube the gearbox spline ? It just hadn't occurred to me before I read your post......makes sense.

 

[wyman.winn]

Are we supposed to lube the gearbox spline ? It just hadn't occurred to me before I read your post......makes sense.

there is no maintenance schedule for lubing the splines on the 2010-2013 RTs that i can find...i figure it can't hurt....

 

[deilenberger]

there is no maintenance schedule for lubing the splines on the 2010-2013 RTs that i can find...i figure it can't hurt....

It can't hurt - but it's a lot of work for what appears to be no gain. Have you ever heard of a spline failure on a cam/hex? The only one I can recall (was it you?) was a clutch spline failure - ONE - that appeared attributable to defective parts since after it was repaired no further problems were encountered. Is there a rash of spline failures that somehow weren't talked about here (I can't imagine that.. but..)

 

[wyman.winn]

It can't hurt - but it's a lot of work for what appears to be no gain. Have you ever heard of a spline failure on a cam/hex? The only one I can recall (was it you?) was a clutch spline failure - ONE - that appeared attributable to defective parts since after it was repaired no further problems were encountered. Is there a rash of spline failures that somehow weren't talked about here (I can't imagine that.. but..)

i agree with little or no gain, but it is relatively easy to do...

no, not heard of a GB output spline or FD spline failure, never hope to...

yes, it was my 13RT at about 21000 miles that the GB input shaft splines AND the clutch friction disc splines took a crap...perfect ever since...

and no, i have heard of no "rash of spline failures"....just a piece of mind for me to have a look-see once a year-ish...

 

[ragtoplvr]

Ted Porters Beemer shop sells after market rebuild-able driveshafts and the rebuild kits.

Link

http://www.beemershop.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=EI-EMERALD

(scroll down)

Much less expensive

Rod

 

[beemergirl]

Ted Porters Beemer shop sells after market rebuild-able driveshafts and the rebuild kits.

Link

http://www.beemershop.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=EI-EMERALD

(scroll down)

Much less expensive

Rod

Thanks for that link Rob. Interesting.

 

[wyman.winn]

http://www.beemershop.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=TRA06394A

 

[Dann]

Mine just gave up at the end of june on my 07 RT at 140,000km.

I was just leaving for a 6 days/4500km ride with my buddy when it "exploded" while on the highway at 120kph about 80km from home.
Lucky for me I wasn't that far and was able to get it towed back home.
I ordered the parts and fixed it myself. (Paid full price for the driveshaft but found the swing arm for a fraction of the price on eBay)
I ordered the OEM one. I didn't know you could get one from Beemer shop for much cheaper.
The longest part of the repair, was the wait for the parts themselves. I also needed a few socket sizes that were not included in my kits. (12mm hex, T-55 Torx, 24 & 26mm sockets)
I had to wait an extra week because I had to place a second order for the zip-tie that holds the front rubber boot. I did not order it with the other parts since I already had tons of those...
Unfortunately,this one has a combination of size and length that is impossible to find anywhere (it even has a part number)

Mine broke at the rear.

Apparently this could be caused by water getting through the rubber boots and causing the U-joint to rust and seize.

 

[daboo]

I can't believe that BMW owners accept that something like this is acceptable. Sorry, but I'm used to Honda technology that doesn't fail at all.

And apparently, the failures are common enough that spare parts kits are sourced by places like Ted Porter's Beemer Shop???

Chris