E46 Rack Swap

[chu346]

I'm in the process of doing the E46 rack swap and have a problem after putting on the E30 drum sticks on to the E46 rack with E46 dust boots. I find the dust boots are streching too much when turning lock to lock, then having trouble to reset to the normal position and sometimes bunching up.

Have I done something wrong?

[chu346]

[BHadley]

Read this.....

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... onversions

Says what is compatable in the track rod section...

There's a few options

[chu346]

Read that

[chu346]

I'm using e30 arms.

The e30 boots don't fit on the e46 rack as the opening is too small. I've put the e46 boots on and have this problem.

Seems like there is a vacuum in the boots. If I put some air in, it get pushed out and end up with a vacuum again.

[Lurch320i]

This was discussed on the Facebook e30zone the other day
Something about a equalisation chamber inside the rack and tie rods

I've just fitted e36 inner and outer arms to my e46 rack with e36 boots and I haven't had this problem yet

[chu346]

So what can I do?

[TriggerFish]

Same problem for me when using e46 rack + e30 rods (reason explained at: http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118772)

I'm just going to punch a small hole on the rubber bit that the boot attaches around in the short term, so I can get it through the MOT.

This might be a nice addition to Wiki, as I've not seen it mentioned anywhere else?

[chu346]

Thanks for your input.

I found the same answer on M42 club. I made some small holes in the boots and kept making them bigger until the problem went away. It's something that should definitely be in the wiki.

[TriggerFish]

Good stuff.

I can confirm that holes in the rubber discs work too. I guess boots are a better place though as they're easier to replace if the hole becomes a problem