Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

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knunger
Posts: 744
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Tucson,AZ.

Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

Post by knunger »

The car: '86 535is. Reworked by many, most recently a guy that wanted some sort of BMW 'special'. Metric mechanic driveline, Alpina bits and pieces...
I just re-did the front suspension with all kinds of goodies-Moosehead UCABs, Bilstein B6s, Lemforder etc. I matched the length of the new tie rods to the old ones as close as possible.

Got it all back together and am going to try a 'home' front alignment via the string method (seems simple enough). But-
To center the steering gear Bentley says to align the guide marks on the coupler on the steering column to that on the steering gear. When I align the marks the steering wheel is cocked about 15 degrees CCW (it was perfect beforehand).

I queried my Shade Tree Mechanic who said: "Ignore the Bentley guide marks. Some hack replaced some component and didn't bother with re-aligning anything. Find the steering wheel location where you have equal turns CW and CCW to lock and THAT is the center".

I'm tending on going with my Buddy. What do you guys think??
jayjaya29
Posts: 188
Joined: Jul 30, 2014 12:53 AM
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

Post by jayjaya29 »

Agree with your buddy. Once you get the alignment adjusted then you can remove the steering wheel from the column and rotate it to center.
JohnH
Posts: 693
Joined: Jan 24, 2007 9:55 AM
Location: Surrey,UK

Re: Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

Post by JohnH »

The most important thing is to centre the steering box using the marks on the underside of the coupler. Its best to do this with weight on the road wheels, so that the box centring doesn't go awry while you are centring the steering wheel. If you get it right the steering wheel will lock pointing straight ahead and you wont have to joggle the wheel to get it to lock. When you have got all that done you can, with the steering wheel locked, align the road wheels with them under load.
BMWCCA2
Posts: 4060
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Central Virginia

Re: Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

Post by BMWCCA2 »

knunger wrote: Apr 26, 2021 9:34 PMThe car: '86 535is.
That would be unique.
knunger
Posts: 744
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Tucson,AZ.

Re: Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

Post by knunger »

BMWCCA2 wrote: Apr 27, 2021 7:47 AM
knunger wrote: Apr 26, 2021 9:34 PMThe car: '86 535is.
That would be unique.
My bad! It's actually a 538is - I guess it IS somewhat unique
JohnH wrote: Apr 27, 2021 2:36 AM The most important thing is to centre the steering box using the marks on the underside of the coupler.
Here's my problem with this:
When I align the marks on the coupler/box, clockwise I have one full turn of the wheel + 275 degrees. CCW I have 1 turn + 227 degrees. Obviously, there is nothing centered about those alignment marks.

When I move the steering wheel 22 degrees clockwise, I get 1 full turn + 250 degrees both CW and CCW. So, I'm gonna adjust my steering wheel and the toe to this new position...
Corellian Corvette
Posts: 15
Joined: Apr 21, 2021 12:37 PM
Location: Washington State

Re: Conundrum: Bentley or Savvy Shade Tree Mechanic

Post by Corellian Corvette »

I think this is the right call esp. if you suspect something was changed or replaced in the past.

To get to a baseline you sort of need to ignore both the tires and the steering wheel, and figure out the center of your steering box. Take the horn off so you can see the nut/shaft, and turn the wheel to the point where you have equal turns CW and CCW. Put a mark straight up on the shaft (paint marker, scribe, etc.)

Then align your steering wheel straight up/down, and put a mark on the wheel that aligns with the mark on the shaft (if you need to take the wheel off later for some reason).

You now have your steering box centered, and your steering wheel centered do the steering shaft. Now it doesn't matter where the tires are, have it aligned with the steering wheel straight up.

I *think* this is what you're doing BTW.

Alternatively if you're super anal you could start by centering the box, removing the coupler, and re-aligning the shaft, then the steering wheel, then have the wheels and tires aligned. That would get everything back in order.
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