Steering Coupler Guibo: rubber vs. urethane

[turbo55]

My steering is vague, I've already done the tie rods so I'm thinking of doing the steering coupler guibo. The question is, should I go stock rubber or urethane, like this one from IE: http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E30-...ercoupler.html
This is a daily driver, I've read some people think it would be too much NVH, but then other people that say it's not bad and gives nice crisp steering. Has anyone here went from stock to urethane for a daily? I'm looking to see if there are any first hand experiences.
Thanks!

[ELVA164]

My steering is vague, I've already done the tie rods so I'm thinking of doing the steering coupler guibo. The question is, should I go stock rubber or urethane, like this one from IE: http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E30-...ercoupler.html
This is a daily driver, I've read some people think it would be too much NVH, but then other people that say it's not bad and gives nice crisp steering. Has anyone here went from stock to urethane for a daily? I'm looking to see if there are any first hand experiences.
Thanks!

Just go rubber. On a daily driver, the added crispness of new urethane over new rubber isn't large or important enough to add any vibration in my opinion. The vague feeling of your steering may also have to do with the very slow rack if you still have the stock E30 unit in there. If so, look into an E36 rack conversion.

[SAS Parts]

Bettter way to improve your's feeling's is use polyurethane like this:

http://silverx2005.nazwa.pl/images/IMG129.jpg

It improove caster, and give more stability in driving straight, and improove steering wheel self centering. And of course improove camber/caster gain - give better traction in corner's.

If You will have stiffness like original bushing You should buy polyurethane with 65Sha, 90Sha is for race use only.

[mrcheezle19]

Was curious about this too. I'll stick to rubber.

[turbo55]

Yeah I do have the stock E30 rack, and have thought about an E36 conversion, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Even if I do get the E36 rack, I'll still need a new steering coupler, so I don't think it would hurt to do it now, seems pretty simple. I guess I probably will just go rubber, thanks.

SAS Parts - I actually already did do the M3 control arm bushing upgrade (also got new control arms, so I know my vague steering isn't due to ball joint or control arm bushing slop), except I just went with the stock M3 CABs - big enough difference already.

[SkiFree]

I have used the urethane coupler one on my daily driven 2002 (which would be much more susceptible to NVH) and it's been great. Using a larger wheel/thinner tire makes a MUCH bigger difference in NVH that the little coupler. The hardness difference isn't much. Around 70A to around 90A.

[digger]

i use a solid metal spline with no guibo, it just makes it awesome. you dont need to worry about NVH, if you find you do have NVH it means something else is wrong as i have no added NVH with a rack thats only a few years old

[turbo55]

Thanks for all the info. That doesn't sound too bad, maybe I will get IE one after all!

[e30_world]

I run the IE one with a z3 rack and treehouse lolly pops���� it's awesome. However my steering is jacked right now, but that's most likely the inner tie rods I've yet to do.

[noahsense]

Can you describe the vagueness? Wandering at speed? Slow steering?

I wouldn't describe a stock e30 setup as vague. Issues like this are usually due to regular wear-and-tear. Replace worn control arm bushings, old tires, upper strut mount for good measure. Use quality stock parts to get a good baseline for how an e30s suppose to drive and then go from there. You'll probably find that a stock e30 in good repair drivers like a champ.

[turbo55]

Can you describe the vagueness? Wandering at speed? Slow steering?

I wouldn't describe a stock e30 setup as vague. Issues like this are usually due to regular wear-and-tear. Replace worn control arm bushings, old tires, upper strut mount for good measure. Use quality stock parts to get a good baseline for how an e30s suppose to drive and then go from there. You'll probably find that a stock e30 in good repair drivers like a champ.

It feels a bit disconnected, there is a few degrees of play. I've already replaced the outer tie rods [Moog], the control arms (with ball joints)[Lemforder], and control arm bushings [Lemforder], which helped a lot. All that's left is the steering flex disc guibo, the shock mounts, the inner tie rods (seemed ok when I was doing the outers), and the rack itself I suppose, although I don't think the rack teeth themselves typically wear that much. The tires have plenty of tread left, but are a bit aged. I'm hesitant to do anything with the inners or the rack (which leaks a bit btw) since I eventually want to go to an E36 rack. I'll probably be ordering the flex disc this week, still not 100% sure which way I'll go.

[noahsense]

Steering Coupler Guibo: rubber vs. urethane

Get in there with a bright light -you'll be able to see if the rubber is starting to crack. I replaced mine with an OE when I installed an e46 rack.

Old tires will definitely create vagueness- even with decent tread life. I just replaced my tires and that improved tracking a bit.