Steering Guibo FAIL!!>!>>!>!! VIDEO!!

[immajackuup]

please let us know about before/after steering feel.

as of right now my steering shimmy, feel very loose on freeway, turning left or right while moving doesn't fully turn, and when taking a hard turn I can feel the wheels turn the opposite direction.

Actually, I finally did this job on my wife's stock '89 325i this past weekend using the IE coupler above. Prior to the replacement, the original coupler appeared to be in decent shape with no obvious signs of cracking or deterioration. Even after I removed it from the car it looked ok. However, when looking down on the coupler from the engine bay, you could see the coupler flex when the steering wheel was turned :(. This explained why the steering wheel would turn a few degrees before the tires would respond. After the replacement, there is zero flex in the coupler so the tires turn in unison with the steering wheel :-). There was no noticeable increase in vibration in the steering wheel either (keep in mind this was done on a stock suspension). Overall, I'm very happy with the product and the positive difference in steering feel and would recommend this upgrade to anyone needing to change their stock coupler.

Replacement tips (sorry no photos):

1)Although I did the job without removing the steering rack completely, in hind sight, it most likely is easier to just remove it. Either way, rack bolts have to be removed in order to move the rack down and towards the front of the car.
2)You'll need a big ass flat head screwdriver to wedge into the coupling slots. These couplings were a pain in the ass to pull them off while under the car.
3)I used a pair of dikes to cut away the old rubber coupler. This separates the whole assembly into 2 pieces.
4)I sawed off the rivets that held the coupler in place as close to the universal joint as possible. Once sawed off I used a 2 jaw puller to push what remained of the rivet out.
5)When putting the assembly back on the car, I found it easier to slide the couplings on the splined shafts one end at a time. Once each end was on, I then attached the new coupler between the 2 ends and tightened the nuts and bolts using a little lock-tite.

Hope this helps.

thx for the tips.

[Marauder42]

Actually, I finally did this job on my wife's stock '89 325i this past weekend using the IE coupler above. Prior to the replacement, the original coupler appeared to be in decent shape with no obvious signs of cracking or deterioration. Even after I removed it from the car it looked ok. However, when looking down on the coupler from the engine bay, you could see the coupler flex when the steering wheel was turned :(. This explained why the steering wheel would turn a few degrees before the tires would respond. After the replacement, there is zero flex in the coupler so the tires turn in unison with the steering wheel :-). There was no noticeable increase in vibration in the steering wheel either (keep in mind this was done on a stock suspension). Overall, I'm very happy with the product and the positive difference in steering feel and would recommend this upgrade to anyone needing to change their stock coupler.

Replacement tips (sorry no photos):

1)Although I did the job without removing the steering rack completely, in hind sight, it most likely is easier to just remove it. Either way, rack bolts have to be removed in order to move the rack down and towards the front of the car.
2)You'll need a big ass flat head screwdriver to wedge into the coupling slots. These couplings were a pain in the ass to pull them off while under the car.
3)I used a pair of dikes to cut away the old rubber coupler. This separates the whole assembly into 2 pieces.
4)I sawed off the rivets that held the coupler in place as close to the universal joint as possible. Once sawed off I used a 2 jaw puller to push what remained of the rivet out.
5)When putting the assembly back on the car, I found it easier to slide the couplings on the splined shafts one end at a time. Once each end was on, I then attached the new coupler between the 2 ends and tightened the nuts and bolts using a little lock-tite.

Hope this helps.

[Jaxx_]

Can't wait to put this in tomorrow.

please let us know about before/after steering feel.

[immajackuup]

The new E30 sized urethane mount is found here......

http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E30-clutch-driveline/e30strcplr.html

Can't wait to put this in tomorrow.

[90pioneer]

I'll bump this too, would like the last posters question answered...

[Marauder42]

Bumping it one more time. Anyone?

[Marauder42]

That is basically what i have now except that i have a late airbag car so the joint is a little different. I am going to try to get it installed this weekend, so i will report how it goes...

Bumping an old thread cause I need to do this on 2 cars. 1 is an airbag car and the other is not. Will this coupler work for both cars? How different does the steering feel with this setup as suppose to stock?

[MonkeyMan]

[quote=rbartongrimley;2786325]

quote]

is it required to remove this entire section of the steering assembly to change out the bushing? doesn't look too difficult - just 1 bolt on either end?

[SkiFree]

SimplyDope - I have heard that E36 steering rack swaps can be tight and that the thinner one is the way to go, however I've not seen it in person.

[nmlss2006]

Uh, what about collapsing in case of an accident?

[Mossman]

mine's been going strong for 2 years, 20k + miles with guibo totally deleted and halves just bolted together. Length came out fine, did use lock nuts and cranked em down cuz I don't want them coming loose. No noticeable wear to ujoints in last 20k, and they probably have the full 170k of the car on them. I think the rubber is there purely for vibration dampening and stuff like that, ujoints should be able to take care of any angle difference I'd imagine. Have been doing it fine on my car at least. If you smash something so hard that it kills a ujoint from the impact you have bigger problems.
Steering feedback is quite direct and hitting expansion joints and such sends a sharp jolt, but I also have eyeball arms which contribute to that.

[SimplyDope]

Which of the above would work on an e36 318i rack? Lots of center play and lack of feel in my rack, and I think I'd like to try something along the lines of this before pulling the power steering.

[nando]

I don't know if you can get it seperately, but I saw one for an E46, that was both thicker and stiffer than the E30 and looked to be the same size. The stock E30 peice is really soft.

that IE peice looks nice, not terribly expensive either!

[der affe]

That is basically what i have now except that i have a late airbag car so the joint is a little different. I am going to try to get it installed this weekend, so i will report how it goes.

In reguards to the vorschlag set up, making a double D shaft is easy, i do that a lot on american cars doing a rack conversion. Are the splines on the upper and lower joimts the same?

I could make them a lot cheaper, but honestly i would be concerned about the liabilities of selling them to the public because i am just a regular joe VS a company.

[rbartongrimley]

What did you have to do to make it work?
Just add spacers to the bolts?

I have an old style one i need to get around to installing.

If I remember correctly, I put it together like this and then decided it had WAY to many weak points. I had loctited everything and it felt stiff, but I can just tell it will break in due time. Haven't figured out what other type of system to use instead.

I really like the idea that vorschlag has with the joints and the single rod. Definitely a lot less places for error. It is just so darn expensive!