Hi everyone,
Thank you all for helping, sorry for not replying before, here goes.
Haven't had this problem on the A2 (yet), but experiencing it on the allroad (105k miles). My guess is a worn balljoint on the bottom wishbone. I need to verify this, but I'm pretty sure. I also had the alignment checked and it was fine bar the camber being out. Unfortunately, the camber isn't adjustable on most modern cars and points to balljiont problems.
If you get a slight clunk when turning over bumps then this is most likely your problem. Your milage is consistent with balljoint ware.
A specialist or Audi dealer will be able to veryify this for you. A specialist would be preferable as an Audi dealer will cost considerably more to rectify the problem.
Hi ksimpson,
I tried to check for play by levering the wheel whilst off the ground but there is no play.
I also took the wheel off and tried to move stuff about to check for play. Is there a definitive method for checking a ball joint?
hi and welcome.
sounds like you have all the problems i have had!
the the springs are known for breaking, just done mine. around £45 from audi to buy. also replace the top mount bearing (around £10 from audi) as this will most likely be damaged too and are known for breaking as they are made of metal and plastic! the drivers spring is a little harder to replace than the passenger side one due to the top mount nuts being hard to get too......
i would also change the anti roll bar bushes as well as these are also known for going. . this problem causes lots of knocking! go to vw and ask for polo 16mm anti roll bar bushes i think it is.
tryed to find a link but failed......can any one help here....?
once done you will notice a huge difference
Hi cjscos,
My drivers side spring is broken - see the attached image. Thanks for the info on the top mount bearing.
The link for the Anti-roll bar bushes:
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8361&highlight=roll+bushes
Welcome to the forum, I'd be interested to read your feedback on A for Audi, having also heard very good things, and I have emailed about pricing for servicing and remap work. They are very competitive and way cheaper than the mighty Lomond group (or are they part of Sytner now?) You'll get lots of good advice on here, there cant be many A2 problems or joys that have gone undocumented!
If you have broken springs and the bank book is not too wasted after Christmas, you maybe want to consider upgrading to Koni FSD. Many A2OC members rave about them. They are on my 'to do' list after my initial wave of planned tweaks.
Hi Murdo,
I will certainly let you know how things go with A4audi, but, I can tell you after speaking to them on the phone i am very confident they will be as good as we've both heard them to be.
I don't think there is much that is mighty about the Lomond group except perhaps their mighty bad attitude to customers. I know of approx 90k of sales that have travelled to Perth and Dundee Audi because of their chompiness.
You are correct, this forum is magic.
I've read all the info about the Koni FSDs on here and think they would be an excellent upgrade. They correct all the weaknesses of the stock suspension setup. At the moment i can't prioritise them as the car has quite a few things needing done to it. A bit like yourself, I think I will create a list of the needs and wants and the FSDs will have to be added to the wants
Hi Robbie, welcome to the A2oc
A couple of pointers regarding your tyre wear problem -
The wide wheels on the Sport have a tendency to wear the inner edges of the tyres but this wear should be the same on both fronts.
The front subframe can be adjusted 'side to side' to even out the camber settings
A broken front spring would tend to increase the negative camber on that side. Severity depends on just how much has broken off the spring.
If you go for an Audi spring, check the paint stripe colour coding before you buy as there are several options.
Aftermarket springs are available but if you go this way it's obviously necessary to fit them in pairs.
There is more info on suspension upgrades in the attached link -
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4727&highlight=quality+springs
Cheers Spike
Hi Spike,
Thanks you for your very concise and helpful answers to my post. In the past I have had front tyre wear on the inside and outside. I think the combination of low profile tyres on the A2 sport, and super colossal road craters we have these days messes with the tracking daily.I think they have worn mostly on the inside as you mention.
I think i will change the spring and perhaps the ARB bushes, then turn the tyre round and see if that helps. The drivers spring looks like quite a large piece has broken off. Thanks for the advice on the paint colour, mine has from left to right: 2 red stripes and 3 blue stripes (see attached photo). Think in the future rather than changing the springs will go for Koni FSDs. Unless we are all scavenging for food then Konis will probably be put off for quite a very long while.
Just discovered the same problem -inner tread worn and scored. This was discovered after getting wheel vibration at 30 mph. I initially thought I had 'thrown a weight' but on examination the tyre was down to the wires on a 2cm strip!
Diagnosed as a tracking fault - for some reason it was 14 Degs out! How I have no idea as I had not hit anything to affect it.
Hi Foghorn,
That's interesting, did the vibration only occur at approx 30 mph? Not related but, I have steering wheel vibration also, but only when braking as i've cooked my (new) disks. I think they are too small for a car which has very little engine braking. Also the TDi 75 only has disks at the front. I wonder if any of the people that have remapped their A2 have warped their disks more often? I would be interested to hear if anyone has upgraded their disks to drilled and or grooved with success (not aesthetically but actually not so warp-able).
Mine were feathering on the inside.
I got the 4 wheels laser aligned and hopefully that will be it.
It showed me a before and after,somehow he did manage to correct it.
well soon see as Im on new rubber
Hi chubbybrown,
I didn't realise the A2 could have the rear wheels aligned/could have 4 wheel alignment done.
Please let us know how it goes.
I have recently taken off my old wheels and tyres and found the same problem. Hopefully it is something that Stealth might be able to fix for me. Some people would argue that it is the 'pillow' type speed humps to blame, forcing the front wheels apart and creating the additional camber.
Hi MPG Lover,
Interesting, that possibility had not occurred to me. The only useful thing i could add is that our A2 does not go over many of those type of speed bumps and it has still had front inside tyre wear.
Audi should give you these as standard when you ask for A2 bushes as the original part has been replaced by it. Their computer will show the original as discontinued and give the rubber bushes as the replacement part number.
Hi agent006,
Thanks for pointing that out. I am sure knowing this will allow most people to order the bushes without wondering if they will get the old ones which of course would be a boohoohoo.
Once again, thanks ladies and gentlemen.
Robbie