05 sti crossmember and steering rack help!!!!

[bmwpride]

Ok so i just swapped in an 05 cross member, and rack into my 97 lgt. Everything bolted in nicely, until i got to the steering knuckle. SO i have an 05 sti steering knuckle on the way. Will this bolt into the stock steering column. Only reason i ask is because my knuckle goes to the steering column cause its stock, but wont fit the rack end, so my question is if the 05 sti knuckle fit my column????? ANY HELP would be appreciated, need my DD back on the road

[bmwpride]

any body?

[rougeben83]

are you talking about the U joint that connects the rack to the column? No, you need to have an adapter piece made - the spline pattern on the sti rack and your column are different. I have something made out of 2 U joints that ECS put together to make my 05 rack work on my car...I know another fellow tigwelded together a custom U joint to make his sti rack work on his BD (did a full sti swap).

[bmwpride]

how much was that piece, cause i would rather do that and or weld to piece together than buy a whole new steering column

[rougeben83]

AFAIK, nobody makes that particular piece for sale, its just the U joint that fits the column bolted onto the U joint that fits the steering rack. You can do the same thing by ordering the U joint for the sti steering rack and having a good local welder tig weld the your stock one to that...

[bmwpride]

will do

[jdmg3]

I did this. At first I did the split joint and changed the end. Then I went with the welded u-joint. I did not like that since if I need to change it I will need to cutomise the u-joint again. What I did was I adapted the STI streering colum shaft in the leggy steering colum tube so now I just use STI/WRX u joints. Works perfectly!

[bmwpride]

Ok so i noticed yesterday, that it takes me 1.5 or so turns to lock turning right, but only about 1.2 or so turns to lock on my left. Is that because of the knuckle or is that normal??? Its kinda bugging me

[jdmg3]

No its not. You rack is not centered. You will notice that the tie rods are probably threaded in more on one side.

[bmwpride]

How do i fix that?

[jdmg3]

undo the u-joint, tie up your steering so it stays straight, unsrcew the tie rod end on one side and screw it on the other side. The same amount of turns until you have equal amount of thread on each side. You will most likely need to have it realigned!

[Kiwi GT]

I did this. At first I did the split joint and changed the end. Then I went with the welded u-joint. I did not like that since if I need to change it I will need to cutomise the u-joint again. What I did was I adapted the STI streering colum shaft in the leggy steering colum tube so now I just use STI/WRX u joints. Works perfectly!

Got any more details on this? For when others follow your lead.

[bmwpride]

agreed?

[2000gtb]

Yes, I believe this is my next mod