steering column and tightening the 'nut'?

[cro320]

I had a chance to read here that sometimes shakey steering can be caused by loose nut on steering column above pedals?
I tried to find that nut but I can't see it. Any directions?
it's a 320i manual, euro, non airbag

[E30SPDFRK]

It's the nut behind the wheel you have to tighten

[Rocla]

I had a chance to read here that sometimes shakey steering can be caused by loose nut on steering column above pedals?
I tried to find that nut but I can't see it. Any directions?
it's a 320i manual, euro, non airbag

Well that loose nut over pedals is a common symptom on e34 5-series car. They have completely different column and "worm gear"(<-my english, what's it realy called?) steering box instead of rack, so this nut is not your problem.

[cro320]

damn...why my steering shakes over bumps and bad roads?

every opinion is welcome

[E30_fiend]

Well that loose nut over pedals is a common symptom on e34 5-series car. They have completely different column and "worm gear"(<-my english, what's it realy called?) steering box instead of rack, so this nut is not your problem.

thats not entirely true. The airbag cars often have the big nut before the firewall come loose. Highly uncommon in early cars but the later cars have this problem from time to time.

OP, the nut you are looking for is a 32mm sliding nut. It goes over the steering shaft and threads onto the lower part of the steering column right before the column goes through the firewall.


It is usually a bitch to get off so dont be afraid to use a lot of penetrant to break it loose.

Good luck








Taylor

[Rocla]

thats not entirely true. The airbag cars often have the big nut before the firewall come loose.

Stand corrected. In my country airbag e30's are quite rare, so I have no experience.

[jlevie]

damn...why my steering shakes over bumps and bad roads?

every opinion is welcome

That condition is caused by worn suspension components. You probably need new control arms & bushings, tie rods, shocks/struts, and upper strut mounts. The car may also have worn front wheel bearings. The subframe bushings and rear trailing arm bushings also probably need to be replaced, but they aren't the cause of the steering wheel shake.

[cro320]

That condition is caused by worn suspension components. You probably need new control arms & bushings, tie rods, shocks/struts, and upper strut mounts. The car may also have worn front wheel bearings. The subframe bushings and rear trailing arm bushings also probably need to be replaced, but they aren't the cause of the steering wheel shake.

Everything except upper strut mounts has been replaced last month, whole suspension, CA bushes are OEM E36 M3 3.2 ones

I can't believe that worn upper struts can cause this wheel knocks over bad roads? And I checked them, looks fine

[rcfanatic]

Anybody have a picture of the nut? I believe this may be my problem as well

Edit: Also, in another thread someone said to tighten the nut by holding it still and turning the steering wheel clockwise. Can anyone verify this? What is the purpose of this nut? I couldn't find anything about it in the Bentley manual

[rcfanatic]

Looked on real oem, and the largest nut in the schematics appears to be 22mm. However, I found a pic of the steering column from another thread, but still don't see this elusive 32mm nut. Can someone circle it?

[rcfanatic]

Well, found another pic that seems to show it pretty clearly. I guess the previous still had a piece of housing over it. So hold nut and turn steering wheel clockwise? Seems like tightening this would transfer more vibration to the steering wheel.

[DREWHALL]

If it's loose there is going to be play in the column. Which, in turn, could creat more shaking of the wheel.

[harv]

What about the universal joint steering knuckle under the hood? Mine has a little play in the u joint and even tho the suspension doesn't have anything bad you can hear it when going over bumpy roads, especially dirt roads.

If you loosen that big nut on the column, will the steering shaft be able to retract to remove the under hood steering knuckle?

John

[a3ternus]

LOL I know its ancient but I d really like to know about this,too!
N.

[twistednut]

Two pairs of vice grips and a small bar clamp. What you are trying to do is put a little pressure on the steering knuckle joint to eliminate the slack in the steering column.