Steering Rack swap?

[nando]

Or this:

https://www.quaife.co.uk/quaife-products/motorsport-steering-racks/

[The Dark Side of Will]

bump.

Having another look at this while goofing around with my N52 parts - I think it may be feasible to swap the guts from another rack into the ix rack, with modifications.

the E46 xi rack is wider, but the diameter is really close (16mm vs 17mm), and all the centerlines seem to match up. The E46 input shaft is 3/4" shorter though. I think there's about a 50% chance of those parts working, but there would need to be modifications.

I guess another question is, would the internals of an E36 rack possibly work (flipped over), as I'd bet the width is closer to the E30 ix than the E46 is. Or any other ZF rack with similar dimensions..

What made me think about this again was the E46 rack has a lot of issues with fitment, and it would be waaay simpler to do using the original rack housing. You could use ix tie rods, PS hoses, steering joint, etc.

In the end one of the two bolts that holds the input shaft housing together was rusted to nothing, so I couldn't get it all apart to see - but it's worth investigating further IMO. The thing I notice the most about the E30 when jumping in for a spin is how ridiculously slow the steering is, it drives me crazy.

Anyone have a cheap E36 rack I could borrow? Or take measurements off one? (rack length/diameter, input shaft length).

What about a RWD E30 rack? iS? M3?

Or this:
https://www.quaife.co.uk/quaife-prod...teering-racks/

If Quaife would make a drop in rack for a less than exorbitant price, that would be awesome.

[nando]

All E30 racks are way too slow. The 325is has the same rack as the rest - the E30 M3 isn't much better.

Yeah, I'm going to contact them. That would be way easier. Maybe we could get 5 to 10 people on board?

[driftxsequence]

I'd be tentative, depending on the cost and difficulty of swapping. I imagine you need to replace all the seals while in there..Already dropped the subframe before so I have no qualms with getting it out of the car but I've never pulled a rack apart.

[nando]

Yeah, pretty sure you can get seal kits for it. I don't have mine completely apart yet, but it seems pretty straight forward.

[nando]

I sent them an email, we'll see what they say.

I'd expect there to be some minimum quantity for a new design, although it looks basically the same as any other rack & pinion design (thankfully). And of course, getting 5-10 E30 guys to actually pony up for anything isn't easy, but the prices on their site don't look too bad at all really.

[fresh_TD]

I would be in. I have 2 IX's on the stable

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[stonea]

I would definitely be down for one, possibly even two depending on the price. Who knows, I might get another ix some day...

[driftxsequence]

The next question is, what kind of ratio is stock, and what is something to aim for? I enjoy the rack in my e46 ZHP quite a lot.

[nando]

I measured it and it's really damn slow (mm/revs), I don't remember off the top of my head but I will check again.

the E46 330xi rack I picked up was like 3x faster, lol.

Eh E46 ZHP would be a nice ratio to target, also the RWD E9x have really nice steering feel too. I don't really notice that the seats in my E30 are crap, or that the shifter is like a bucket of noodles, or that it's way slower in a straight line - but I really notice how the steering is bus-like when coming from my 330i.

The ix rack will still be limited in travel because it's so narrow, but at least if we can fit it in the same space we can use stock ix end links.

I sent them an email this morning but they're in the UK, so I don't expect to hear back until tomorrow at the earliest. However we've been talking about this for years now, what's a few more days or weeks.. :p

[nando]

Got a response:

Yes, they can do it - standard batches are 10, 20, or 30. So we need at least 10 people that want one, probably with a deposit, (maybe we start a kickstarter or something?).

one catch: they only do manual racks. I think they can do it for us but we'd have to convert to manual. Maybe not a big deal if it's designed that way (as long as it still works in our housing). the ix steering sucked without PS from what I remember, but that was also on stupid wide tires and with just the belt off the pump.

I'll need to disassemble my extra rack and mail them the rack and pinion (at least it will be light, lol) and then they will give me a quote. They seem to cost around $250 USD, which isn't bad at all, but every rack is different so it could be more, it could be less.

I suppose we can ask them for a specific ratio, so if anyone has data on the E46 ZHP rack or the E90 rack (which both have great feel/fast rates), that would be great - I think mm/rev is preferred over turns lock to lock, since a rack with less travel will appear to be faster than one with more travel, even if they have the same actual ratio. Maybe they can make suggestions too.

I'm waiting on a response regarding manual vs powered racks. Glad that they responded right away, this seems finally attainable. :)

[stonea]

Converting to manual would be a deal breaker for me. I live in the city and I ran without power steering on my ix for a while and its not something I would ever do again. I went from daily driving it to letting it sit in my parking spot for 3 months until I fixed it.

[nando]

well, I guess it depends IMO - is it the same as running a power rack with the belt off? Because I agree, that sucked. Maybe if it's made without PS in mind it won't be that bad?

But yeah, I'm not sure what difference it would make, or why you couldn't still use PS. None of the rack/pinions looked any different to me, but I must be missing something.

[nando]

So in the end yes, they will make them - without power assist (I'm still not understanding why you couldn't have it powered, but I'm going to take apart my rack to see how it works).

I'll need to send my spare rack to them so they can make the new pinion etc. fit in the original housing, when I'll get a quote. At that point I'll see how much interest there is.

[Kershaw]

The ix steering sucks on 195 wide tires without power steering. Definitely a deal killer.