Over torqued momo hub... good times...

[Mthrizzle95]

A couple months ago I installed my Nardi wheel in my e30 and took the hub off to re center it properly, quickly reinstalled it (not checking my torque wrench ) and over torqued it. This caused the extra steering column ring (which I was using as a spacer, as recommended) to warp the washer to the splines on the upper steering spindle.

So after about an hour of pulling, prying and cursing the damn thing try to get it off. I swiss cheesed it with my drill and finally got it off. Here's an after pic of the drilling of the hub....






the washer


The upper steering spindle stripped to shit.



Now here is the issue at hand. The upper spindle is trashed and I need to figure out how far I'm going to need to go to solve this issue. Can someone suggest the best way to fix this ? My thoughts are..

A. Just go ahead and find a pre-airbag column (which could be pricey and a lot of work I've never performed)

B. Buy all the parts necessary to replace everything from the upper spindle up? (If its possible to do so in that manor)

If anybody has any advice to share it would be greatly appreciated ! TIA !

[DSP74]

There may be other ways to solve your problems but I think I'd lean towards a used column. Shouldn't be that bad of a swap

[Mthrizzle95]

Here is a realoem diagram of the spindle assembly for reference...



http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...48&hg=32&fg=30

[Mthrizzle95]

There may be other ways to solve your problems but I think I'd lean towards a used column. Shouldn't be that bad of a swap

That's what I have been thinking not to mention it would eliminate the spacer needed to fit my Nardi wheel. But on the other hand It would suck to find out there was a relatively easy solution.

[DSP74]

That diagram doesn't however show how hard it would be to get at/get out that part.

I've had the dash apart enough I can't see that being a big problem to remove the entire thing.....Only thing I haven't been into enough to remove this part is the engine bay side..... Dash side should be EASY.

[Mthrizzle95]

True, now that I think about it I would probably need to have the column apart anyway to replace it. Non-airbag column is looking more and more appealing especially with the Zionsville 13.9:1 steering kit available.

[BeirBrennerE30]

let me know how this goes... i an quazi looking at doing an airbag to non airbag column swap myself

[gearheadE30]

FYI the rack swap is easier witht he airbag column.

You might actually be able to clean those threads up with a female tap of the right size. Unfortunately, I don't know what size that would be, and the threads would probabyl be a little bit weaker, but I can't imagine you needed that much torque on your wheel nut...

[Mthrizzle95]

let me know how this goes... i an quazi looking at doing an airbag to non airbag column swap myself

Will do. I'll take some pics of the process and post up if I run into any issues.

FYI the rack swap is easier witht he airbag column.

Yeah I had read that people were swapping columns for that sole purpose. Definitely a perk in this situation.

You might actually be able to clean those threads up with a female tap of the right size. Unfortunately, I don't know what size that would be, and the threads would probabyl be a little bit weaker, but I can't imagine you needed that much torque on your wheel nut...

Its a bit hard to tell by the picture, but deeper down the threading is pretty much gone and doesn't seem repairable. At this point I'm pretty set on swapping the column, not only to solve the spacing issue steering but for the available steering upgrades as well.

and as far as torquing the wheel nut goes.... it was a combination of having the extra spacer to eliminate wheel play, using a HUGE torque wrench without re checking the setting and me being overly comfortable with taking the wheel on and off to make adjustments so quickly. It was pretty foolish.

Appreciate the help guys !

[einstein57]

Stop taking off the steering wheel!!! Because i'm super lazy and poor i would try and reinstal the steering wheel and tack weld the nut to the spindle (after you've gotten a wheel alignment). If you don't have a welder then put jb weld on the threads.

[Mthrizzle95]

Stop taking off the steering wheel!!! Because i'm super lazy and poor i would try and reinstal the steering wheel and tack weld the nut to the spindle (after you've gotten a wheel alignment). If you don't have a welder then put jb weld on the threads.

JB Weld !! Brilliant !!

[einstein57]

I know its very mickey mouse but it should hold you over till you do your rack swap.

[DSP74]

If there are splines left I think the welded nut is fine...Fuck JB weld though. Not trusting something that keeps me out of the path of an oncoming semi to some hillbilly glue.


(JB is the shit though)


Speaking of tack welding and hillbilly glue....When I was 19 I had a POS S10 I didn't care about. Some how the front yoke was egg shaped where the ujoint resided. I put a new u-joint in and welded the cap in place......Same truck had a rusted out oilpan (gm did something wrong here as I had two w/the same issue-truck no rust-pan rust)

So I aluminum tape and Jb welded the rust hole shut.

[Mthrizzle95]

I know its very mickey mouse but it should hold you over till you do your rack swap.

If there are splines left I think the welded nut is fine...Fuck JB weld though. Not trusting something that keeps me out of the path of an oncoming semi to some hillbilly glue.

If it was my daily driver and I needed a quick fix, I would probably say screw it and tack it. But since its going to be in the garage all winter while I do the suspension and cooling system, might as well just take my time and do it right.

[bmwpower]

Taking the column out is fairly easy. It pops out of the upper "mount" towards the engine bay. You need to remove the steering knuckle to do this. Then pull it back into the cabin.

Which reminds me, I have my 87 column I could sell you if need be.