steering rack swap on an Ix

[yoni]

Hey guys,

anyone know if the e36 steering rack swap is doable on an IX ?

Or any steering rack swap at that -

Any one have any information on what's involved ?

THANKS

[nando]

can you weld or use a CNC mill?

If the answer to one or both of those questions is no.. then, no.

[supernaughtIX]

welding tabs onto a rack would be VERY difficult. Too much localized heat could seriously deform the rack housing. But I imagine it could be done with the right skill.
Best bet would be to have some brackets made. And share the design with everyone. ;)

[yoni]

I'll look into that -

I will need a new steering rack come summer, and there are no cheap ix racks.. so, we'll see what happens.

On another note, supernaught, I might need that rear diff, too... PM sent


Anyone else on steering rack swaps for the ix ?

[supernaughtIX]

Yoni, how do you know your rack is bad? leaky? hard to turn?
There has been talk of this recently on e30tech and I think that if you are handy, it may be easy to repair a rack if there are blown seals or backlash. I've done some searching on it and I will have a rack pulled by next week i hope. I will take it apart and see how bad it is. Maybe I'll take some photos.

[yoni]

It is leaky .. too leaky to specifiy exactly where from - plus the snow and slush and what not is starting to cover our streets, which will make it more difficult to tell -

I'll need to have a good look; if a 'rebuild kit' (seals and gaskets) will suffice, I'll be a happy camper.


Either way, almost everything leaks on this car - tranny, diffs, tcase, etc...
Once the snow is out of the way, this car will be taken off the road, and have all seals and gaskets refreshed... can't fucking wait.