How To Guide - E36 Steering Rack Swap

[Boostesi]

You should put a note on step 16, If you have an airbag car, stop here and notch out the hole in your fire wall an inch to the right (from inside your car), and do not modify your steering shaft, as it will slide right on, and having not done my research first i ground out the rivets and took out the flex coupler to find out i needed to put it all back together again just as i took it out. lol

[agile30]

Did the swap in about 5 hours including changing brakes, the passenger strut mount, and installing the urethane coupler..... holy shit it feels awesome.

[gkurey]

Does anyone know much about adjustment of the large bolt on the bottom of the rack (22mm) and the bolt under the cover (2 bolts)? I have some slop in the center of my rack as well as the steering feels too light. I run an s52 with an plain jane e36 rack so all e36 steering but using the e30 lines. Aside from rack adjustments, I'm wondering what could cause the light feeling...generally my steering feels over assisted.

Also, it has come to my attention that the e36 return hose has some sort of restrictor in it. I didn't use the e36 line as it has that crazy cooling loop in it and it doesn't fit. Maybe my woes are related to a non-restricted return line? Let me know what you all think...if anything!

Thanks guys...great thread BTW. Props OP!

Edit: Forgot to mention that I have a current alignment on good tires and all of that is in spec.

[MattBimmer]

FINISHED!!!! After making this probably the longest swap ever, i finally finished today. Everything seems great and will be getting aligned Monday. One thing I can attest to is the friend to help your ass out. It would come in handy quite alot. That being said major Kudos to Jeffnhiscars for the advice to get this thing going again. Thanks again Jeff!

[jeffnhiscars]

Hey Jeff Thanks again for the call I removed the top spline and gave the knuckle some slack the bottom knuckle STILL didn't want to move hardly at all. I DID lube and lube and lube and tap and tap till eventually it had moved maybe 2 to 3 mm. I need another 6 to get to the groove where I can slide the bolt through and lock it down. I don't think the spline was lubed at all when I went to put this on at 1st so I am thinking its just metal on metal seizure and just needs more lube and love with some tapping. If I totally screwed it up, which I will know Saturday I will start looking for a new knuckle lol.

That makes sense. If its jammed up though try to wedge the clamp open further or else you may want too remove it and start over before you damage the rack.

Hang in there :up:

[MattBimmer]

Hey Jeff Thanks again for the call I removed the top spline and gave the knuckle some slack the bottom knuckle STILL didn't want to move hardly at all. I DID lube and lube and lube and tap and tap till eventually it had moved maybe 2 to 3 mm. I need another 6 to get to the groove where I can slide the bolt through and lock it down. I don't think the spline was lubed at all when I went to put this on at 1st so I am thinking its just metal on metal seizure and just needs more lube and love with some tapping. If I totally screwed it up, which I will know Saturday I will start looking for a new knuckle lol.

[jeffnhiscars]

He has the upper clamp locked down & the lower one is on part way & stuck so I thinks its kinked rather than bad splines & there's just not enough wiggle room to deal with fussy splines in such a tight space. This should not take any more force than a gentle tap on a socket extension as a drift.

I always do the lower spline 1st since it has one spot where you can get the bolt through & he's not there yet.

I suggest removing the upper clamp bolt & the rack mount bolt on the drivers side. Then loosen the passenger side bolt (dont remove it) so the rack becomes a lever that pivots around the passenger side mounting bolt. Make sure both clamps are wedged open & that the splines have Neverseize or equivalent. That should allow the lower clamp to go "home", slide the bolt thru to keep it there, then you can pivot the rack with one hand while you work the upper clamp in to place with the other. Replace the driver side rack mount bolt finger tight, then position the upper clamp so the u joints have a slight angle to them & lock it down.

Tighten everything, check for binding joints, bleed the rack yada yada

[davem]

Guys I need some serious help. Today I put on the tie rods, the banjo bolts EVERYTHING except I have yet to fully get the knuckle to the groove. I pulled and wiggled and did everything to get it to slide down more.... and it just is not going. I don't know if its a lack of strength I only weigh 130. Or I am just screwed. I haven't even ran the car in weeks due to this but I cranked it to check for leaks at the banjo bolts. NONE. But while I was in the car I turned the wheel a little left and riight to get fluid going through the pump and the rack. But then just to see how the ratio felt I was going to go to lock and it seemed like it kept spinning. It felt like more than 1.6 turns from center. I freaked and turned back to center turned the car off and locked it. But then I looked and nothing seemed wrong. Knuckle was stiill straight wheeels back straight. Its like it slipped but it didn't slip on the splines.
Does anyone have a spare knuckle assembly for Airbag they will sell me?
Or do they have a clue what happened?

okay there's a lot of information in your post but if you only weigh 130 i could see you having trouble sliding the knuckle back onto the rack (i'm a bit bigger but it was still physically a pita, especially since you are probably lying on your back - try using a tool or something to push and take advantage of leverage. another possibility is that the splines on the knuckle or the rack are slightly damaged. if the splines are fucked the two pieces will not want to come together. I pulled a knuckle of a car at a junk yard and the splines were messed up and the knuckle didnt want to go onto the car - cleaned up the splines with a metal file and it went on much easier.

[jeffnhiscars]

Can you post a pic of the whole knuckle w wheels straight ahead then maybe another after turning the wheel say 1\4 turn.

The bolt has to be completely removed from the bottom knuckle in order to get it on the rack splines. Once the bolt hole is in line with the groove THEN you slide the bolt in.

Guys I need some serious help. Today I put on the tie rods, the banjo bolts EVERYTHING except I have yet to fully get the knuckle to the groove. I pulled and wiggled and did everything to get it to slide down more.... and it just is not going. I don't know if its a lack of strength I only weigh 130. Or I am just screwed. I haven't even ran the car in weeks due to this but I cranked it to check for leaks at the banjo bolts. NONE. But while I was in the car I turned the wheel a little left and riight to get fluid going through the pump and the rack. But then just to see how the ratio felt I was going to go to lock and it seemed like it kept spinning. It felt like more than 1.6 turns from center. I freaked and turned back to center turned the car off and locked it. But then I looked and nothing seemed wrong. Knuckle was stiill straight wheeels back straight. Its like it slipped but it didn't slip on the splines.
Does anyone have a spare knuckle assembly for Airbag they will sell me?
Or do they have a clue what happened?

[MattBimmer]

Guys I need some serious help. Today I put on the tie rods, the banjo bolts EVERYTHING except I have yet to fully get the knuckle to the groove. I pulled and wiggled and did everything to get it to slide down more.... and it just is not going. I don't know if its a lack of strength I only weigh 130. Or I am just screwed. I haven't even ran the car in weeks due to this but I cranked it to check for leaks at the banjo bolts. NONE. But while I was in the car I turned the wheel a little left and riight to get fluid going through the pump and the rack. But then just to see how the ratio felt I was going to go to lock and it seemed like it kept spinning. It felt like more than 1.6 turns from center. I freaked and turned back to center turned the car off and locked it. But then I looked and nothing seemed wrong. Knuckle was stiill straight wheeels back straight. Its like it slipped but it didn't slip on the splines.
Does anyone have a spare knuckle assembly for Airbag they will sell me?
Or do they have a clue what happened?

[AlphaE]

the bump steer comes from the rack center line being to high or to low compared to where the rod ends connect to the steering knuckle in relation to the ground. transaltion= put 3 washers on top and 3 on bottom on the mounts. That way the center line of the rack is where it was when the e30 rack was in. Make sense?? worked great on my car w hr sports. no bump steer at all.

so if you lower your car you may be ok running one big spacer under the rack. cuz your rack is now lower than where it was oem, thus below the tie rod ends and maybe causing bump steer.

[ScHpAnKy]

I'm also getting this, but haven't done a proper alignment yet - although, my iX with 4x4 and no alignment doesn't jerk the steering around like this thing is doing.

Like, seriously, wtf?

Also, what are you guys with this problem running for tie rods? I'm using the E36 ones.

I found the issue to the steering wandering after the rack swap, my knuckle's splines had a few stripped teeth causing it to spin on the input shaft from the upper steering column. New one in, and cranked the fuck down - front end is TIGHT now :)

[Sean]

Not sure how you can install them wrong. I used e30 rods with e30 boots. Oh well, e36 boots are on the way.

It's been probably 4 years - but the boots are getting pulled apart - no idea why.

[davem]

What do you guys do for steering boots? I had e30 ones on my car, brand new, and they are both ripped now. From looking at them now, it seems like, at full lock, they get over-extended? I'm going to try e36 ones and see if they work...looks like they might....?

e30 ones will work on an e36 rack but the boots should match the tie rods you use (e36 boots for e36 tierods) maybe you installed them wrong?

[Sean]

What do you guys do for steering boots? I had e30 ones on my car, brand new, and they are both ripped now. From looking at them now, it seems like, at full lock, they get over-extended? I'm going to try e36 ones and see if they work...looks like they might....?