steering linkage

[yung-gun]

Hi guys, going to be doing the M52 conversion in the next couple of months. what exactly is needed on the steering linkage side of things

[Motorhole]

You need:

2 x E34 steering UJs
1 x Splined shaft from DanThe
1 x E30 steering UJ (the top one - use the one in your current linkage)

1) Remove the old linkage completely
2) Remove and split the upper E30 steering UJ. Mate the upper half (that links to the column from the steering wheel) to the lower half of an E34 UJ. There are various ways of doing this, but no special tools are required.
3) This hybrid UJ goes at the steering wheel end of the splined shaft.
4) The other, complete, E34 UJ goes at the rack end of the splined shaft.

Job done. This method works for both standard E30 racks and E46 racks. Not sure about E36/Z3 racks, someone else who has one should be able to tell you! I think the input shaft for the E36/Z3 racks have a different number of splines...

Btw if you're ever in/around Cheshire, give us a shout and you can have a look at what I've done re. 5-stud, steering etc.

[yung-gun]

Ah brilliant mate! yeah it said in the info you'd need a 36 rack. i'm just thinking about getting my mate to make me a custom splined shaft. You know how much they are from DanThe?

[Motorhole]

I paid £70 posted iirc. Drop him a pm!

[yung-gun]

Will do mate

[BATTS91]

I got the standard e30 one , chopped off the rubber donut bitsand got an ally welder to sort it for me

[yung-gun]

I was kinda thinking that matey. any pics?

[BATTS91]

Not very clear ont weld but its at the top .

[Motorhole]

Welded steering linkages could give problems come MOT time:

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_220.htm

But saying that, a tidy weld might go unnoticed and what's unnoticed goes untested. Personally though, I'd be much happier with the splined shaft than a weld, it just removes the possibility of there being a weak link somewhere. Here's a pic of the splined shaft setup with E46 Clubsport rack:

[BATTS91]

Mine went fine through an mot , he see underneath and noticed it wasnt a 4 pot n checked it all out , was quite interested tbh . Think he might have not seen a 24v e30 :p

[penton08]

I have seen a linkage just like the one fitted to Batts car snap Thankfully the car was being pushed at the time, Not worth the risk IMO!! Dans linkages are cheap enough for such a safety critical part.

[BATTS91]

Now i feel abit paranoid ! But ive done 4k miles and it takes a fooking beating ! Sideways too

[DanThe]

MOT rules were the main reason I had the part made, I took a welded linkage off a car a couple of years ago that had cracked around the weld, there is a reason welded steering parts are not supposed to pass an MOT!
Dont get me wrong, a proper ally welder that knows his job should be able to make a weld strong enough for the job, it wont be with a butt joint though which yours appears to be Batts!

[BATTS91]

mine still has the dowel that goes into the uj on the column end ,not 100% sure but think the welder bridged maybe 10mm tops as a guess . and more weld around it so make it strong of course .

It has had a beating when i had a mishap and mounted a roundabout and snapped the drivers engine arm so the manifold smacked it but no signs of cracking .

If you were to have one welded how would you have it done Dan ?

[Duke137]

mine still has the dowel that goes into the uj on the column end ,not 100% sure but think the welder bridged maybe 10mm tops as a guess . and more weld around it so make it strong of course .

It has had a beating when i had a mishap and mounted a roundabout and snapped the drivers engine arm so the manifold smacked it but no signs of cracking .

If you were to have one welded how would you have it done Dan ?

He moved away from welding with these solid splined shafts, I think that says it all dude

[BATTS91]

More of a curiosity that anything as changing mine at the mo is out of the question due to funds

[Nas80]

golf mk3 steering link can be modified to work. you just need to replace the ends with the ones off your old link.