Draining and filling the final drive ...

    Im not going to go into detail on how to lift the SS and make it safe to get under... That all goes without saying...


    When you look under the rear of the SS you will see the final drive..It will have 2 plugs that can be removed with an allen wrench..
    One is the drain on the bottom side and the other is the fill hole.
    The drain plug has a magnet on it. Inspect it for large metal parts. Hopefully it will just be a slightly sludgy metal coating on the magnet.
    Clean it off and once its drained put it back in a tighten it to 10 - 14 lb ft. That is (foot pounds)
    The fill hole is also the FULL level of the final drive.. You will fill it till it runs back out that same hole....


    It takes .78 QT of fluid technically. Just make sure its full to the bottom of the fill hole.. If you can rotate the drive shaft and you can see that its full.


    Watch the video, it will show you how to absolutely tell if your full.


    Here are the picture of the items mentioned above...













    Im guessing 6 7 or 8mm. But could be 5mm. :) :cool:

    Here is another tip....... make sure you can get the fill plug out before you drain the oil. Should you strip the fill plug and cant get it out and you have drained the oil..... you are screwed.

    :BLUESS:
    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
    ~Mark Twain~

    Just changed out my angle drive oil today..........Thanks for the pics and short video they were a great help my only problem was getting the bolts back in the battery holder had a few choice words for them........ After I filled mine it seemed like there was a lot of oil left in the jug so I rechecked and added more and even after that I did the move the back wheel test several times and it now looks exactly like your video............Thanks again hoping for a quieter ride now........Next job is brush the belts teeth.........lol

    If you look at the picture that Rab posted, he is using 75W140. Use whatever you feel like you need. OR use what the manual says.

    :BLUESS:
    Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
    ~Mark Twain~

    Over all, by the "sounds" of differing descriptions, our final drive has never been as loud as some others here to begin with? Even so, with over 15,000 miles on the Grasshopper we have so far installed Mobil 1, Royal Purple, and currently have Lucas, 75W-140 in the angle drive and have recognized very little, if any, change in the sound. What does appear to make the greatest difference has been simply putting more miles on and by experimenting with the adjustment of the drive belt to find its sweet spot and tension while keeping it clean. .............


    Bill

    Quote from Bigdog

    Is the gear lube 90 Weight?

    NO.....its 75-140. You can find it at Walmart in either conventional or synthetic....both rated GL-5 which the manual calls for. I'm running the conventional now, but will change again later with synthetic.

    18 SLR Lemon/Gray
    Vanderhall Venice (traded for SLR Apr '18)
    '16.6 SLR LE (traded for Vanderhall Oct '17)
    '11 & '14 Can Am RT's
    60 Years of 2 Wheeling

    I believe that the angle drive is getting a lot of blame when it is actually the belt? Recently the rear drive started to get nosier than usual and when investigated I found that the drive belt had tightened from it's set .7 inch to nearly .5 inch. After readjusting the belt, (this time I adjusted it to 1.0 inch), it has quieted back down to "normal."


    Bill

    Quote from wjfyfe

    I believe that the angle drive is getting a lot of blame when it is actually the belt? Recently the rear drive started to get nosier than usual and when investigated I found that the drive belt had tightened from it's set .7 inch to nearly .5 inch. After readjusting the belt, (this time I adjusted it to 1.0 inch), it has quieted back down to "normal."


    Bill

    which brings up the question of how can a belt get tighter? Usually a belt/chain stretches.

    Quote from Bigdog

    which brings up the question of how can a belt get tighter? Usually a belt/chain stretches.

    Our little bigdog is growing up! :thumbsup:


    Anyways also join in the confusion as to how a belt gets tighter, we all know they get tight during use but then loosen up when they cool down, have never heard of one that gets tight and stay tight with use.

    Is not that I am mean, I just don't sugarcoat what I say.

    Well, when I set it at .7 inches and then have it check at .5 inches, what would you call it? The only thing that makes sense for me is that I had originally set it during winter temps? Though the main point is still that the tightness of the belt does relate to how noisy it can be!


    Bill