Getting better feeling steering, and eliminating the clunk noise in the joints!

[nickmp0wer]

I have seen a lot of people, me being one of them, complain that their steering column u-joints are worn. I have found the joints to not be the actual problem, at least in my case. My problem was actually in the shaft the goes through the steering guibo (the rubber dampner between the u-joints). This shaft goes through the guibo into a bushing. Its made to prevent side to side movment. In my case. The bushing was worn, so when it giggled the joint or steering column shaft it made a clunk noise, which like a lot of people I assumed to be the joints. The problem can be solved completely by removing the guibo, and for non-airbag cars, putting a spacer in-between. You can buy a specially made one for $100, or just make your own out of washers or some tubing. If you are going to convert to a e36 rack you might not even need one. For airbag cars, or at least cars originally equipped with an airbag, a spacer isn’t needed. The steering shaft can simply be extended out by loosening the nut on it down by the pedals.

There is a shaft that goes through the guibo. If you don’t have an airbag car you can just leave it like it is and make a spacer the same size as the guibo. You wont be able to measure the height of the guibo to get the spacer size your need. You should measure the total length of the u-joint linkage before you cut the guibo out, then space it out to be the same length after its removed.

It’s a little different for airbag cars. You can just bolt them together and adjust the length of the column as mentioned earlier. Something needs to be done with the guibo shaft in this case. As you can see in picture below I cut mine completely off. While this works, I relized that there is a better, or should I say safer way to do it. After the guibo is removed, you can put the top section back on the shaft (where there is a little flat spot in the splines is where the open crack of the top section should be) See how much of the steering shaft is sticking out, then cut that much of it off. Watch out for the fuel lines and stuff. Then take the other side of the joint and drill some of the bushing out. This will let you still have steering control if one of the bolts being used to hold it toegother falls out or something. While this is in no way nessary and that will probably never happen, you don’t want to loose all control of the steering at any time. To bolt them together I used bolts that were slightly larger then the holes, because I couldn’t find any that fit them well. I drilled out the holes a tad, and it went together great.

This should not only eliminate some clunk, but it will also make the steering feel better as well. Do all of this at your own risk

[madjurgen]

so have you driven with this yet? theres gotta be reason why there was a rubber guibo in there, my guess was to reduce nvh? this sounds like a good fix but i want to see how it affects driveabliity.

[e30sd]

Note: Don Fields from Mr M-Car points out that the modifications to the steering coupler shown above, namely the solid Guibo and the bolts used to lengthen the coupler, both reduce the ability of the steering column to telescopically collapse in an accident. I drive with a roll bar and a 6-point harness, and I make a conscious decision to accept this change to the steering column. Make sure you think about it too, should you decide to follow suit.

that's plenty cool, if you're wearing harnesses while driving on the street.

[nickmp0wer]

the guibo does nothing for crash protection. see that end i cut off? that wont magicly break or bend in an accident. The airbag cars have the shaft that moves in, and the non have the collapsable area in the joint. The guibo isnt made to do anything but lessen vibrations. How many cars have you seen with them?

doing something like this will greatly reduce the saftey. not the solid guibo but the bolts in place of the pins that are supposed to release in a crash

[e30sd]

i'm no materials engineer, but i would think that rubber would absorb more energy than solid metal. the energy from impact that would have been absorbed by the guibo is now being sent elsewhere, namely, your face.

but what do i know.

[nickmp0wer]

it wont, there is a shaft that goes through the guibo that prevents it from going in or side to side (when the bushing isnt worn). Like i said, for the non airbag cars there are pins that seperate the lower joint from the top, and for the airbag there is the lower column shaft that would move in and become shorter in a crash, unless the steering rack is comming through the cabin, there would be no way for the upper column or wheel to move that far

[nando]

I don't really understand which peice is the bushing that wears out. my car does this too (it's driven me crazy for ages) and I'd love to fix it. I'd rather just replace the worn parts though.

[nickmp0wer]

the bushing is inside the end of one of the joints. #11

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...80&hg=32&fg=30

but i dont see why you wouldnt just take out the guibo, especailly since you have an airbag car and can just bolt the 2 sections together

[nando]

the bushing is inside the end of one of the joints. #11

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...80&hg=32&fg=30

but i dont see why you wouldnt just take out the guibo, especailly since you have an airbag car and can just bolt the 2 sections together

because I don't do things the ghetto way. if I can't fix it right I won't do it at all. besides it made it to 175k, if I rebuild my steering linkage it will last me as long as I have the car. ;)

in any case it looks like my steering column is completely different.. I don't have a bushing anything like that. hopefully it's not the u-joint ($270!)

[Jand3rson]

This seems to me to be a really bad idea. There are some parts on the car that use rubber for a reason, and aren't meant to be replaced with stiffer materials, especially solid ones like metal.

[nickmp0wer]

seriously, how many other makes have steering guibos?

[DEV0 E30]

This seems to me to be a really bad idea. There are some parts on the car that use rubber for a reason, and aren't meant to be replaced with stiffer materials, especially solid ones like metal.

It isn't recommended for street, but a few companies sell solid ones for "track use" as you probably know.

[nickmp0wer]

do you relize that if you search google for steering guibo there is nothing but bmw sites? I guess its dangerous to drive any other make becasue they dont have guibos

[1991 318is]

Impact?

That guibo isn't going to absorb much in the longitudinal direction. I agree it's purpose is to absorb rotational vibration which lessens steering feedback. The steering wheel doesn't come back and hit you in a wreck. The big lesson from those crash test dummy movies is that the bumper stops and the rest of the car (and you) keep going. The column doesn't collapse until you hit it! Question-in this picture:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...80&hg=32&fg=30
How tight should that big nut on part #1 be. Is this the collapsible column joint(it's an air bag model)? If so it is a safety item. Mine was loose and causing play. I tightened it up snug. Is there a torque setting?

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[Jordan]

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