Unusual tire wear advice please

robeeeeee

Member
Hi,

My 2003 A2 TDi Sport 75 which has done 80,000 miles is wearing the inside of the drivers front tyre.
Quick-fit checked the wheel alignment and it was fine. I understand they can only adjust the track rods and other factors could be causing the problem.
I have read through a lot of info on this forum which has been very interesting.
I've had the car since 1000 miles and it has always made a (slight) clunking noise which Glasgow Audi could never trace. It has never gotten any worse, I've just gotten used to it.
I would never use Glasgow Audi for anything as I have had some seriously bad treatment from them.
Having read great things about the local independent Audi garage "A4Audi" www.a4audi.co.uk
I phoned them and explained the problem.
They were very confident the problem can be rectified by adjusting the sub-frame.
I've read some info that it should never need adjusting and info saying it should be adjusted for problems similar to this.
The car is booked in for early Jan 09.
Since speaking to them and reading this forum, I checked the springs and the drivers one is broken.
Obviously I will ask their advice when they re-open after the new year.

What do you guys think? I haven't read anyone here mentioning tyre wear associated with broken springs, but logically I would think it's possible.
Has anyone that's had broken springs experienced this sort of problem.

Also I have read lots about suspension on this forum. If I only replace the springs they are likely to break again or can i buy more robust ones? I don't want to lower it and have always loved the handling, it performs so well on the Scottish twisty roads, it's a weebig road eater.

Thanks for taking the time to read, I'll definately post the eventual solution for others to benefit from.

Robbie
 
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 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
 
Having read great things about the local independent Audi garage "A4Audi" www.a4audi.co.uk

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.
 
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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
 
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Driver side innner tyre wear

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.
 
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:cool:
 
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.
 
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.

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 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:cool:

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
 
Speed cushions are a well known culprit for causing this sort of wear. They should NOT be taken square on but done each side in turn...................................
 
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.

:confused: audi said i needed to replace the anti roll bar. they had never hear of using the smaller bushes when i asked?
 
:confused: audi said i needed to replace the anti roll bar. they had never hear of using the smaller bushes when i asked?

I asked the parts department specifically for the bushes rather than asking the service department to find the fault.
 
:confused: audi said i needed to replace the anti roll bar. they had never hear of using the smaller bushes when i asked?

That's because removal of the cracked plastic sleeves and use of smaller bore Polo bushes is not an official factory fix. As many of our members will testify its a very cheap and effective mod.
As Skipton pointed out previously, the only slight problem may be that long term, as the bushes wear and dont grip the roll bar tightly, the bar may move out of alignment. Something like a large polythene plumbers washer, cut and slotted over the rollbar (to protect the face of the rubber bush) then held in place with a jubilee clip would be a possible (but non too elegant) solution for the sideways movement

Cheers Spike
 
Unusual tire wear problem solved - solution

Hi Everyone,

After replacing the drivers side spring the tire wear problem seems to have been resolved. More of the spring was broken off than i originally thought. I also had the alignment done but it wasn't out by much.
Anyone with tyre wear on the inside of one tyre should check their springs are not broken.
Thanks for your all help and advice.
Robbie
 
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