Rubbery steering feel................

[F0Bman]

Make sure that your tie rods are nice and tight, old tie rods make the steering feel very sloppy.

[Hoofty]

Considering the kind of duty cycle a rack and pinion goes through (even over 161k) I'd be surprised if it could ever wear out. It's not evenly distributed over all the teeth of course, but the high-ish load and near zero speed cycle really shouldn't cause any wear. I am willing to be proven wrong if someone has experience of it though.

Rubbery steering off-centre can be caused by too much caster, or running small offset wheels (i.e. a larger scrub radius). The jacking effect of the inside wheel trying to lift the car means that the weight of the car resisting this effect is contibuting to the steering feel in increased amounts. THe result is quite springy steering feel, and isn't very nice. Even my Hartge ET13 front rims with standard caster cause this feeling - although the night-and-day difference in front end grip more than makes up for it on track.

Using a manual steer rack would give a more direct feeling on-centre, as you no longer have the PAS torsion bar introducing compliance in the system. Removing the guibo may also have an effect, but for starters, I'd confirm that all feels ok when using original 7.5" ET27 rims and correct toe settings.

Nick

[HANDBLT]

Tom, are you running those wheels in the pic? Maybe the added inertia is the cause?

Steve

I have the rubbery empty feel on center also. It is due to lack of camber/caster in the front. If you add camber/caster you will get the faster turn in feeling. Toe will help also.

PS: How can you tell if the rack is worn? Mine has 161k on it. All the bushings and ball joints are brand new on my car and I have a slight movement in the front wheels side to side. The movement is in the rack like there are worn components in the rack. It feels like there is something loose when I go over bumps? There is no bearing movement, just movement when you grab the wheel on the sides. While under the car the play is inside the rack. Could it be worn on center?

T

[stevesingo]

Tom, are you running those wheels in the pic? Maybe the added inertia is the cause?

Steve

[tominizer]

Exactly................. I want go-kart-like feel to my steering as well. I'm sure that with all the E30's out there, someone has solved this............

[AzN Dirtbiker]

hmms rubbery?? is it like when you go straight and you turn the wheel slighty to either side and it doesn't feel responsive? that is what i feel, and it would be nice to get it tight like a go kart. i wondered if all e30s did this, or if my joints were worn out. i am at 153k miles

Anthony

[tominizer]

Tie rod ends are all new.

[inastrangeland]

Some places make a solid bushing to replace the rag joint in the stock steering column. If you have the car up in the air, you can get under it and see the rag joint and check for cracks. Also should check your tie rods.

[Brendan]

You could switch to a z3 1.9 rack and lose the power steering

[tominizer]

I did a search on this............. didn't see anything useful pop up. My steering feels rubbery........... any thoughts on getting a better feel in the steering ? :lostme: