Easy steering guibo fix

[Dave1027]

I had my rack lowered yesterday to more thoroughly inspect it. I thought the rack was the source of the small play I was having but it turns out that it does in fact look like I'm getting more play from the guibo (steering coupler) than anything else.

I removed the guibo for closer inspection. There is nothing inherently wrong with the rubber material other than it has worn and loosened around the four rivets. It was a simple task to hammer those rivets tighter. The entire guibo is now tighter than a brand new one and best of all, this is a free fix saving $50.

I'll post a pic of my fixed guibo tonight.

[LivesNearCostco]

Subscribed for pics!

[danewilson77]

Well done Dave. Do you think pounding those rivets affected their structural integrity?

[Dave1027]

Well done Dave. Do you think pounding those rivets affected their structural integrity?
It does not look like it but I guess it is possible. They look quite beefy. When I post the pics I'll do close ups of the pounded riviets and you guys can decide.

[danewilson77]

Werd. Thanks Dave.

[Dave1027]

Here are the pics of the tightened guibo. Notice the rubber legs are squeezed down tight and bulging. Before I hammered the rivets the legs had a small amount of space between the rubber and aluminum. I braced the small rivet end against a hard steel surface and hammered the other end. I tried using a vice first but it was not strong enough. Hammering did the job nicely.

http://home.comcast.net/~dl1027/files/ZHP/PICT0102s.JPGhttp://home.comcast.net/~dl1027/files/ZHP/PICT0105s.JPG

[Hermes]

Here is a pic from when I changed the one on the 2002 to urethane

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/jhermes/2002/F3DE54CF-88BD-4325-BF92-6F507FFF85A8-3350-0000045D33331E79.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/jhermes/2002/16772104-94B7-4A96-AC0C-4711E6C13623-3350-0000045D2DD34308.jpg

and this is the old one

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c288/jhermes/2002/401DC751-4F5A-4456-B42E-BDE8DBDA50F4-5079-000006F6442D7962.jpg



Although it cost $50 (same price as a new guibo) here is the upgraded urethane E46 coupler with bolts, you would just need to punch out the rivets on the flanges so they can be replaced with the bolts in the kit

http://www.akgmotorsport.com/catalog/images/FX3646Dlg.jpg

...or for $55 you can have full race spec Aluminum coupler (not exactly a flexible coupler)
http://www.akgmotorsport.com/catalog/images/FX3646lg.jpg


http://www.akgmotorsport.com/gallery/thumbs/lrg-378-fx4a.jpg

AKG Motorsport.com/E46 misc items (http://www.akgmotorsport.com/catalog/catalog.php?category=e46%20Miscellaneous%20Items)

[Nivo]

I had my rack lowered yesterday to more thoroughly inspect it. I thought the rack was the source of the small play I was having but it turns out that it does in fact look like I'm getting more play from the guibo (steering coupler) than anything else.

I removed the guibo for closer inspection. There is nothing inherently wrong with the rubber material other than it has worn and loosened around the four rivets. It was a simple task to hammer those rivets tighter. The entire guibo is now tighter than a brand new one and best of all, this is a free fix saving $50.

I'll post a pic of my fixed guibo tonight.


I had done exactly the same thing on mine because the rubber around the rivets was loose and when turning the steering wheel there was play before the tires would turn. not noticeable if you do not look.

I later ended up buying the Polyurethane part from AKG.
http://www.e46turbo330ci.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Coupler-installed.jpg

[LivesNearCostco]

Replaced steering guibo last night with stock part and not much noticeable difference so far. Maybe steering is a tiny bit tighter. Got a bigger improvement from replacing old tie rods which had some free play in their joints. The old guibo was didn't have noticeable free play when twisting, but it definitely does wiggle back and forth more than the new one, probably rivets loosened as described above.

Now I plan to buy the AKG poly piece and have a shop grind off the rivets on the old one--I don't have a grinder and think using the rotary tool would take too long.

Edit: To clarify, the new tie rods made a very noticeable difference. Old ones were probably original with 170,000 miles. Replacing steering guibo might have made a small difference. The old one was probably original but in pretty good shape. Replacing FCABs with software poly (original OEM type had about 80,000 miles on them) also didn't change steering feel but might have improved handling over bumps; again the old FCABs were in good shape. With new FCABs, guibo, and tie rods steering feels very good. There is still a tiny bit of steering movement when sitting still, but I'm not sure if that's from the tread blocks on the tires, manufacturing tolerances in new tie rods, or worn steering rack.

[terraphantm]

I recently did this, but can't tell whether or not it made a difference since I swapped in a ZHP rack along with new inner and outer tie rods (and new control arms and new LCABs). Regardless, steering feels tighter than ever

I do want to convert to a U-joint like the Z4M at some point. Only thing is, it looks like the Z4M u-joint would require a Z4M rack with the longer spline. Something like this might be a good alternative: http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_4_63&products_id=169