Suzuki Volusia Forum banner

DJ Drive Revisited

9K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  Corey 
#1 · (Edited)
There are a number of good stickies on this topic, but I thought I'd do a recap, with a few of my own observations, some tool sizes, and whatelse. This is my '09 Boulevard.
The drive I got from Corey. I'd call it 100% plug and play.
It came with the drive, modified driveshaft, new spring, circlip, modified spacer and seal.
Everything was packed very well with little possibility for damage.

Note: Everything is packed dry, the splines must be lubed and the drive filled gear oil. Hypoid seems to be the popular suggestion.
It is not necessary to drain the existing drive if you don't want to, the lube will stay in it.

Items needed:
10mm, 14mm, 17mm, wrenches and or sockets.
Crescent can't hurt either.
Moly paste.
Blue loctite.
8mm allen wrench









First, let's get that fake swing arm off.
You'll need the 8mm allen for this bolt. (It is not needed for the new drive)
Don't worry, nothing is going to leak out of this hole.






Next, these two bolts come out with a 10mm.




With the plastic frame cover removed, these two are next; also 10mm.





At this point, the swing arm will lift right off.




Now on to the right side. The brake arm needs to be freed. I marked the position of the nut just to give me reference of where to set it before adjusting brakes after reassembly.






Remove the nut, and slide the rod out of the arm. Be careful not to lose the barrel gizmo that the rod rides in.






Next, this bolt needs to be removed from the torque arm.

It will require a 14mm wrench and socket.



Important note: On my bike the bolt did not come out of the torque arm due to what I can only think is a safety feature.
There is a flange on the bolt. DO NOT TRY TO DRIVE THE BOLT OUT FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE!!!



I found it necessary to remove the bolt on the opposite end of the torque arm to get it all away from the drive.
Note: When replacing the torque arm, it fits inbetween two brackets attached to the frame.
The local Harley dealer missed this little detail when they replaced my rear tire.











Next, remove cotter pin from this nut, if yours has one. Mine instead used a locknut.



Using a crescent wrench and a 17 mm socket, I removed the axle nut, and pushed the axle through.
Note: Adjust your height so that the the weight is neither on the tire, nor on the axle, and it should slide right out.
Please curb your temptation to drive it out so you don't booger your axle threads.
Also there will be a spacer on the right side of the brake drum.
Don't lose that either, it needs to go back on with the new drive.



With the axle out, your tire might just fall down. If it doesn't, push the tire towards the right side of the bike until it falls away from the drive.



Now remove the 3 nuts holding the drive in place using a 14mm wrench or socket.




Keep an eye out for these washers, don't leave them behind. You will need them again for the new install.



Now pull the drive backwards and out of the bike.





You will need to elongate the holes where the new drive will go for it to fit.
As others have said, you could drill them out larger, but then you'll need bushings if you ever decide to put your old drive back in for resale.
I decided to elongate and used a course round file in my screwgun.



I also suggest using the new gasket as a template for the holes.
Go slow, and check often.

Now it's time to turn attention to the new drive. Remember, you'll have to add lube to the splines.
I forgot a few pics here.
Sorry.


DO NOT DO THIS!!!!!
This was my only major mistake.
The grease warmed up, spun out, and covered the left side of the tire in grease.
I had to take it all apart and clean everything.
Just use a slight amount of grease to prevent corrosion.



Make sure to put some in here.
Then place the new spring into the drive, followed by the shaft, and then the new C-clip.
Make sure the clip goes into the groove inside the drive.



Clean off any excess, and slide the new seal onto the shaft.



Now gently press, then tap the seal into place.





Lube the end of the shaft too.



I'm not sure if it's needed, but I found remnants of silicone when I removed the drive from the housing, so I decided to blue RTV it when I put the new one on.



Now for the very best part.
Using a flashlight, look down into the shaft housing, and try to align the u-joint nice and straight using a broom handle, piece of pipe or whathaveyou.

Slide the new unit into place, remove, replace remove, replace, try again. Have a beer. Try again. Have a cigarette, try again, and again, until it finally goes into place.
If after two hours of trying, wipe the tears from your eyes, and let your wife try.
That's what I did, and she got it inside 5 minutes.
Don't forget those 3 washers.

The rest of everything goes right back together just the way it came apart.
Don't forget to put the new bushing into the axle hole in inside of the drive.



Some final notes:
Everyone says that Suzuki doesn't do a good job, or any job at all greasing their splines.

This is what my driveshaft looked like when it came out, followed by what my drive gear looked like as well.





Color me not impressed.

You can also tell that I had some leakage on my old drive. It must have just started because I never noticed it before.

I think I could probably do this whole thing in an hour now that I've done it, excepting for the driveshaft stabbing thing.
But I like to take my time, and go really slowly, taking many pauses to just sit and inspect my work, looking for stupid things I didn't catch.

Make sure after all is back together, that your rear tire moves freely before you start the bike up and put it in gear.
And don't forget to fill your drive with gear oil! Fill it til it's full, and starts to come out the hole.
It's really hard to believe that the fake swing arm is just that, and really provides nothing in the way of structural integrity, but that's all fine and good, because it won't go back on anyway without a lot of modding.

If you have any question whether you got the right drive from someone other than Cory, here are my two side by side.





The top one is my original drive.

Any questions? Let me know, I'll answer quite quickly, I believe. :smile2:
 
See less See more
36
#4 ·
Excellent write up! Had I seen this when I considered my drive conversion, I might have taken the job on myself. Instead, I wimped out and had the guys at the NE Wrench Party assist. Capt. Cruiser has done so many that we can do 2-3 in one afternoon. Your challenge with getting the shaft lined up is typical. I think some people use the plastic pipe trick.

Thanks again for the good write up and pictures. I think it should be added to the site stickies.
 
#5 ·
Thank You for taking the time to document the drive swap R&R, J.
I also feel that it should be added to the sticky list, hence, there it is.
 
#8 ·
I need to add this, and have to edit the OP.



DON"T DO THIS!!!!!!

Gears like grease, right?????
No. Not this one. Grease it very lightly to prevent corrosion, but don't heap it on like I did.
The grease warmed up, spun out, and completely covered the left side of my tire.
I repeat.
Do.
Not.
Do.
This.
 
#9 ·
Great step by step, thanks for your effort, Can anyone provide the part number for the C90 bearing plate (metal gasket) that is used as a pattern and replaces the C50 gasket? Thanks. I've looked for it before and saw it but didn't write it down.
 
#12 ·
#16 ·
ok, it is late and I am getting impatient trying to find the information. how can I get ahold of "cory" to get one of these 100% drop in setups? My 232-mile round trip every day for work just annihilated my c50 final drive after 2.5 weeks.
Thank you in advance for response.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top