<E30> Centered steering wheel

[Michiel van Wessem <jmvw@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello people,

Tonight I accomplished something little: I centered the steering wheel. I
realize that this will be uninteresting for you die-hard wrenches, but to
me this was a first and satisfying.

Problem: steering wheel was off center when going straight.

Solution: I figured that if I'd turn the tie-rods at each wheel an equal
amount, I wouldn't mess up the toe-in alignment. 

One of the tie-rods was amazingly tight. I had to use lots of penetrating
oil and two Vise-Grip wrenches and my foot to get it to turn. I didn't dare
put all that force on the steering knuckle, so I had one Vise-Grip holding
the tie-rod end and jammed against a ramp (more about ramps and jacking
soon) while I tried to turn the tie-rod.

It took a little trial and error to get the correct turning of the
tie-rods. I found out that two turns of the tie-rods make about a 50 degree
(rough estimate) difference in the steering wheel position. 

Steering wheel is nice and straight now.

Michiel (87 325es http://www.vramp.net/~jmvw/cars/BMW/ ) 

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