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Thread: Center Support Ripped Out

  1. #1
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    93,93,94,96 E36 RIP

    Post Center Support Ripped Out

    Hey guys I'm new here to the forums and am hoping to get some answers or help with my situation I have. So my center support bearing for the driveshaft got ripped out on my '94 325i drift car. The carrier got ripped out of the chassis along with the studs and I now have two holes that look like a bullet went through. My buddy with a '93 325i said that i can just get some self tappers and drill it to the chassis. Does anyone make a one piece driveshaft for the non M E36? I had my buddy weld on a couple studs but had no welding mask and the job doesn't look too good and one of the studs has a hair of wiggle room so do you think this will hold up? My car has been sitting and I miss driving my car Also have bushings from Condor Speed Shop for my rear end as well as SPC RCA's waiting to be installed

  2. #2
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    Something was wrong with the driveshaft or bearing to have caused that. You need to figure out what's up or it will just happen again. Self tapping screws is a terrible idea. Likely plates with bolts through them as studs would be the best cheap repair. Look up pre-loading the center support bearing when you re-install.
    '94 325i Sedan, Arctic Gray: UUC LTW FW, EVO 3 and DSSR, +.020 Maxsil pistons, ASC delete, Eibach shocks/springs, 16" contour reps 238k
    '93 325is Coupe, Schwarz, work beater 299k
    '89 325i Vert, Alpine White: 5spd swapped. Sold
    '04 Toyota Sienna XLE Limited AWD, In progress swapping to M50/G250, http://www.wibimmers.com/board/index...nna-25i-build/
    '05 Volvo V70 R, 6mt, mostly stock, kid hauler 200k Sold
    '85 Toyota LandCruiser: Lifted, gas hog. 205k

  3. #3
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    What jc43089 said. And also don't forget to mark your driveshaft so you put it back together the way it was. If not it won't be balanced properly.

    I'm not sure how to reply to this. (not sure if trolling or serious) I've owned track cars. In my experience, there are usually two types of owners: Checkbook owners and the DIY crew. Usually the checkbook owners have pretty cars but can't drive and the DIY crew shows up with something looking like a heap that should have been crushed years ago... and then they drive circles around you. If you are drifting the car I'm sure you are going through tires, brakes, brake fluid, etc. An auto-dim welding helmet from Horrible Freight is like $40 with the coupon.


    If you actually tore out the factory CSB studs from the chassis that's bad. Something not-good happened for it to get to that point. Did you hit something? Is your exhaust factory-ish? Do you still have heat shields or did you tear those out? Could be something stupid or major. How's your rear subframe?


    Yes you can get solid driveshafts. Probably in carbon fiber too, if you really want. But that's one of those "if you have to ask" type things. Enough money buys you whatever you want. Any driveshaft shop can make pretty much anything. Bring them your existing driveshaft so they can reuse the flanges. Just know what you are doing when you get a solid driveshaft, the front and back of the car need to be able to play nice with each other. In the e36, the two-piece driveshaft and CSB facilitate that. You can't just throw a solid driveshaft into an e36 and make everything better.


    Good luck.

  4. #4
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    We had no choice to have him weld it without the helmet due to time restraints and the fact his welding mask was in his friends town was a major pain. I have a new driveshaft to put in there that I'm gonna put in tomorrow and i didn't hit anything I just got done sliding the car and it ripped out after sliding it, my subframe also looks good and I have a custom exhaust and no heat shield. Previous owner replaced the guibo too which I shredded like no tomorrow so I'm guessing he didn't install everything right how it needed to be. Hopefully these studs will hold for now till I can get some cash to find a shop to weld some studs on

  5. #5
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    I think the previous owner must have not installed the driveshaft correctly when he replaced the guibo so tomorrow when I install my new driveshaft I'll make sure to pre-load the bearing

  6. #6
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    Why do you have a new driveshaft? Is anything wrong with the one you have? Just mark the halves, split them replace the CSB then put them back together same way. Did prior owner replace the CSB? Is it possible someone split the driveshaft without marking it so now it's out of balance?


    I was asking about the exhaust heat shield because it is between the dshaft/CSB and the exhaust. So maybe the heat from the exhaust cooked the CSB somehow?? Or, could be bad flex disc install (guibo). Or could also be a combination of bad motor/trans mounts and rear diff or subframe mounts. If the motor & trans push back (towards back of car) even a small amount then it'll cause the driveshaft to want to bend as it rotates. Same with the subframe. If you are wailing on the parking brake to start a slide you could be moving around the rear subframe relative to the car. Stuff like that could cause a CSB failure too.

    Those studs are in a specific place for a reason. You really don't want to be attaching the CSB anywhere but the factory mounting points. Unless it's a very short-term fix and you plan on destroying the CSB and replacing it again when you can re-weld those studs.

  7. #7
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    I'm almost certain the previous owner installed the guibo wrong because he mentioned replacing it and after 3 weeks of owning the car the guibo looked like a pitbull attacked it and was shredded to all hell so he messed something up. I got a new driveshaft because the one I got with the car wasn't balanced I think he said he used the front half of a 328 and so thats what probably made the studs rip out was just a combination of those things. I have allen head bolts that bolt the driveshaft to the transmission and i thought OEM were 18mm bolts. I was thinking of just flippint the bots around so I can torque the bolts in because there's no way I can fit a torque wrench between the transmission and guibo

  8. #8
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    Right, the correct bolts are hex head. The Guibo has arrows that show which way the bolts go through the holes. Put 3 bolts through it and then hold it up to the transmission and put the bolts through the transmission flange. Get the right bolts. (realoem.com for the part number) and then you can use the torque wrench on all of them with no problem. You will need to use an open end wrench to hold the transmission side of all of them.
    '94 325i Sedan, Arctic Gray: UUC LTW FW, EVO 3 and DSSR, +.020 Maxsil pistons, ASC delete, Eibach shocks/springs, 16" contour reps 238k
    '93 325is Coupe, Schwarz, work beater 299k
    '89 325i Vert, Alpine White: 5spd swapped. Sold
    '04 Toyota Sienna XLE Limited AWD, In progress swapping to M50/G250, http://www.wibimmers.com/board/index...nna-25i-build/
    '05 Volvo V70 R, 6mt, mostly stock, kid hauler 200k Sold
    '85 Toyota LandCruiser: Lifted, gas hog. 205k

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ThatBlackE36 View Post
    I think he said he used the front half of a 328

    First, what jc43089 said... You really want the proper bolts on the driveshaft, you want the guibo in the right direction/orintation, and you want the bolts fitted the correct way. (it's important)

    Was your car an auto-to-manual swap? If you have a driveshaft shop locally they can usually balance them for fairly cheap. I'd check the output flange and seals at the back of your transmission. Guibo bolts need to go in so the nuts are against the flanges. Arrows point towards the flanges. Then put the torque wrench on the outer end/side and use an open end wrench on the transmission side. You can use the torque wrench on the nuts facing the back of the car but keep the torque wrench still and tighten the inner nuts with the open end wrench. The objective is NOT to preload the flex disc when you tighten it.


    To make sure the driveshaft is straight in the car you can hang a section of black pipe from the driveshaft then use a socket as a spacer. As long as the space is the same at the gearbox, diff and either side of the center joint (driveshaft is straight) you are good.


    Good luck!

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