Drive Belt And Pulley Hub Issues

[TBIRDALPO]

Hello, I have a 2014 Thunderbird LT with over 52,200 miles on it. I have put over half of that on it this year. I have owned it since August of 2014, it had 6 miles on it. In this time I have had the rear drive hub fail twice. Once at 14,000 and again at 51,100 miles. Both times the needle bearing failed. The first time, there was no chirp, the second time, it chirped up a 'storm'. Really embarrassing. I have a theory as to what is happening: the needle bearing in the drive hub is inadequate for the stress that it is under. The chirp, is caused by the needle bearing starting to fail allowing the pulley to wiggle. The failing needle bearing also allows the belt to be drawn up against the outer lip of the pulley. If your belt is chirping and the belt is up against the outer lip, grab the pulley and try to wiggle it. If it wiggles, chances are the needle bearing is failing. If you can, measure the drive belt. My belt was down to about 27mm when it got replaced. The belt should be about 32mm. Look for black dust on the pulley and belt guards, easier on the LT than the Storm. When the bearing is really bad, the drive belt will be loose and pushing on the belt will cause the pulley to wiggle. One of the ways I figured out what was happening on mine. In the Triumph Service Manual, it is mandatory to replace the drive hub at 24,000 on VIN#454618 and lower. Does not say why. Interesting. The Service Manual tells you to check for wear and smooth operation. The only way to check for wear is to remove the rear wheel from the bike, remove the drive hub from the wheel, and the disassemble the drive hub. You need a shop press to do this. I know, that is how I disassembled the second hub that failed. A new hub from Triumph is about $45.00. It is cheaper to buy a complete assembly, ready to drop in, than is to buy the pieces to rebuild one. Triumph has authorized dealers to spray chirping belts with silicone to quiet them down. I put some silicone grease on mine and the chirp went away. This is like covering up the check engine light with electrical tape, the root problem is still there. After getting my bike repaired, I have a really great dealer that does a fantastic job for me, the belt is not touching either side of the pulley and no chirp. I inspect it before every ride to see if it has shifted. I believe the hub falls into a grey area in the transportation world where it is a design issue, but not enough of a design issue to warrant a recall. Recalls are safety related, like fuel leaks and airbags. Until there are crashes directly related to failed hubs, there will not be a recall. Hopefully there will not be any crashes directly related to the hub failing. Think GM and ignition switches. The way I see it there are four ways to deal with the hub issue. The first would be to check the pulley and belt before every ride and replace if bad. The second would be to replace the hub every time the rear wheel is removed, like getting a new rear tire or rear brake pads. The third would be to sell the bike and be done with it, kind of extreme. The fourth would be to try to improve the hub. I am working on a possible fix. Would love to hear back from anybody else who has had the same hub failure.

 

[Qship]

Have you looked on Triumph Forum: Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums - Powered by vBulletin and Thunderbird 1600 World Forums
I thought I saw on one of those forums where people were replacing needle roller bearings with ball bearings.

Oh, and good informative post about your problems and fixes. Thanks for sharing.
I have not had any bearing issues with mine(fingers crossed)yet. Have to get a new rear tire next spring, so will have a really good look around in there when it's apart. I have just over 27000 kms on mine so far