Steering alignment way out of whack

[1990m3]

got two sets of E30 tie rods and both are the same length. Center the steering rack, install tie rods, install tie rods to strut mounts, adjust tie rods until you have about 0-1/8" toe out.

What did I do wrong that with the tie rods adjusted in all the way I have like 1" of toe out on each side. I looked at it for a while and I can't figure it out, everthing looks good. Something is obviously way wrong, where should I start looking? I'm taking off the tie rods tomorrow to try this whole thing again, but I don't get it.

It's a e30 m3 steering rack in a '91 318is. All the linkage is fine and works well, airbag e30 m3 rack so it bolted right into the airbag 318is steering column. It's going to M3 struts and all the tie rods are the same for all e30's. Any ideas?

thanks

Dave

[DarkWing6]

Are you aligning this yourself at home, or is this using an alignment rack?

I am confused as to what you are asking.

[1990m3]

sorry, I'm just bolting it all together and trying to eyeball the aligment just to test drive the car. It will be professionally aligned once I'm ready to drive it.

It seems like the overall length of the steering rack + tie rods is too long on each side. I have way way too much toe out, like 1"+ on both sides of the car. I'm not sure what went wrong here

[DarkWing6]

Is the rack and tie rods the only thing you changed? Was the alignment good before the rack and tie rod instal?

[1990m3]

no, I changed everything under the car including the subframes, struts, sways, brakes, trailing arms, steering rack, etc. Even dropped in an S50 while I was at it :)

Everything works well and looks good, but the steering is the only issue right now. I'll take some pics tomorrow and post them when I get up to work on the car

[DarkWing6]

I'm gonna say this is not a problem of the tierods or the steering rack.

[Jordan]

The racks are different widths FYI.

Hence your issue.

e30 M3 tierods are also a different length *i think*

[1990m3]

for my application realoem.com lists the same part numbers for both tie rods. Tie rods out of any year e30 m3 are same part number as tie rods off a 91 318is.

If the rack is a different width from the 318is stock rack why should it matter? It's connecetede to m3 struts and using the proper tie rods. It's an m3 rack too.

[Jordan]

I don't know what to tell you.

Something obviously has a different dimention.

Here is something I can tell you from first hand experience.

When I swapped my e30 M3 strut assemblies on the car I didn't plan on doing an alignment immediately after. I figured the dimentions were the same.

WRONG.

The location of the tierod pickup was WAY different, and with the 325i tierods turned all the way in I was just barely able to get it into spec on the alignment rack.

[1990m3]

I figured out the problem. The inner tie rod body is longer than it should be. I jacked up the m3 this morning and made some comparisons and found out that the inner tie rod is almost 3/4" longer than the stock OE BMW tie rod on both M3's I have sitting in the same garage. So I cut down the threaded body of the inner tie rod about 3/4" cleaned it up and was able to reinstall the tie rods with no issues at all. Now the toe will work out properly and everything is square. Screwy issue, but the moral is to buy OE BMW parts whenever possible.

The tie rods I bought were from the same reputable suppliers I buy most of my other parts from. True I didn't buy OE BMW parts because I thought I could save some money. Instead i spent an entire day troubleshooting the out of spec tie rods I got.

Check this thread for comparison pics

http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=156490#post156490

Dave

[Jordan]

Good to know. Thanks for sharing the findings.