Bolting up drive shaft

[Rob]

Is that cush-drive spring supposed to be that soft?

[Zombie Master]

Is that cush-drive spring supposed to be that soft?

Works well.

[Rob]

I just checked my BMW R65 Repair Manual.
Of course, the one section we need, Propeller Shaft, is missing.

I had to lower my price on my Craigslist ad.

[ME 109]

Use the brake, get the bolt up high and get the angle of the wrench high as needed.
Ah, I think your torque wrench requirements are limiting your access and movement range, yeah?

[Zombie Master]

Use the brake, get the bolt up high and get the angle of the wrench high as needed.
Ah, I think your torque wrench requirements are limiting your access and movement range, yeah?

I'm going back to the shop and I try a high angle approach.

[Zombie Master]

I got them tight. I put the trans in 1st gear, locked on the rear brake and set the extended torque wrench at a high angle to give maximum travel. I cross tightened the bolts in three increments and I could feel it, though with the long extension, it was hard to tell how much torque was applied. I double check all the bolts and they did click. Rubber boot is on. Now on to centering the swing arm. Thanx for your input

[Rob]

It is said that you can check for any backing out, after your break-in kilos, by squeezing each one through the boot to check for obvious loosners.

[Airbear]

Neil, well done getting the bolts tightened to your satisfaction. I just say "Click!" out loud when they are tight enough.

When centering the swing-arm and preloading the bearings I find it useful to detach the rear shocks (support the final drive on something). This allows me to feel the smoothness of bearing movement and ensure there is no lateral play and just a bit of preload.

[Zombie Master]

Neil, well done getting the bolts tightened to your satisfaction. I just say "Click!" out loud when they are tight enough.

When centering the swing-arm and preloading the bearings I find it useful to detach the rear shocks (support the final drive on something). This allows me to feel the smoothness of bearing movement and ensure there is no lateral play and just a bit of preload.

So when I started this job your suggestion was that I remove the rear wheel. When I tried to remove the drive shaft bolts, I then had no way to stop the shaft from turning so I had to re-install the wheel in order to remove those bolts. I will be removing the wheel again in order to service the wheel bearings and wheel spline. I measured with thickness gauges the original swing arm to frame gaps on each side of the bike. Isn't that going to get me back to where I want the swing arm to be? BTW I felt the movement of the swing arm bearing, and they seem smooth. I've cleaned out the grease and will re-grease the bearings after I have set the preload. Am I missing something?

[Airbear]

Nah, you'll be right. If the bearings felt smooth and you've cleaned and greased them all will be ok.

I just like to feel the swing-arm movement without the shocks in place when I am assembling after pulling the gearbox. It is particularly satisfying to go further and remove the final drive. You can really feel the effect as you adjust the preload and get the locking nut torqued - similar to setting preload on the steering head. Fitting the shocks is almost the last part of the job for me. I undo the driveshaft bolts as the very first step and tighten them when everything else is assembled.

O, you'll repack the bearings before fitting the pivots, won't you? I have a greasing adapter for the swing-arm bearings - great for refreshing the grease at service time - but would not miss the chance to clean and repack when the arm is off the bike.