TYRE WEAR - ONE TYRE ONLY -SEVERE!!

[fraz]

Hi All,

I noticed on my A4 Quattro that the offside tyre had begun to 'ribbon' on the outer edge quite severely, so i took the car into a local garage for 4 wheel alignment approx 1 month ago.

Unfortunatley this does not seem to have cured the problem as the tyre is continuing to wear severley on the outer edge.

The tyres are only 4 months old, 18" Avon ZZ3 and I have only covered about 6k miles. All of the other tyres appear fine. At this rate the offending tyre will be bald on the outside edge in the very near futre, with the rest of the tyre tread capable of another 10-15k!!

If anyone has any suggestions as to how i can remedy this problem or if anyone else has experienced this please help

Thanks in advance

 

[Moresauce]

check the balance of the wheel, the tracking of all 4 wheels and check the wheel bearings. All the above could cause the wear you mention. When you got the 4 wheel alignment was it to the VAG Beissbarth standard, some peole have had the tracked 'done' but actually the people that did it never carried it out correctly.

 

[Crafty]

Yeah get a good 4 wheel done. Maybe the other place didn't know their **** from their elbow.

How old is the car, how many miles ? lowered at all ?

Could be balljoint knackered, worn lower arm bushings, dodgy top mount...
If the car is quite new its unlikely to be the above unless you've smacked something and bent the arm.

Edit: Moff, maybe move this one to the A4 forum ?

 

[Patrick]

You don't say which tyre is wearing. But I assume it's the front. I'm with the advice Crafty gave you.

I know the £130 - to £150 is expensive but that's the cost of one of those 18" tyres and I've heard they offer some odd test - not sure what it entails. I'm going to quiz the local dealer!

What you describe is quite serious wear. Does the car pull when on a level road surface? That should give some indication as to the offending side. In case you don't know all road surfaces should have a chamber for water drainage some worse than others.

Is the steering wheel off centre when driving in straight line?

Does the car sound and feel harsh/clonky over bumps?

I've only seen extreme tyre wear when I had a slight bend in my lower track arm of a Polo years n years ago. Boy did that chew up the tyres!

If your getting a 4*4 wheel alingment check carried out make sure the kit can measure the chamber as well as the alingment with the problem your descibing. Kwik fit can't do this from recent experience despite offering a service to change shocks n springs on my girl friends Golf GTI.

 

[Crafty]

Did you get any further with this Fraz ? will be interested to hear if you found out what the problem was.

 

[fraz]

Hi Crafty,

I got a friend in the trade to take it to a reputable garage with 35k worth of 4 wheel alignment machinery. The technician reported that the alignment was miles out (which speaks volumes for the competence of my local garage who intially 'sorted' the aligment!). On the invoice it stated that they had adjusted the toe.

Have been keeping an eye on the tyres, in particular the offending tyre and all seems fine a present. Total cost was £30. Much more reasonable than the extoriante audi pricing!

cheers

 

[Patrick]

It's ****** shocking the service you get these days. I would go back round to the so-called local mechanic and demand some compensation. Perhaps discount of new tyres!

That's what I got out of Kwik Fit when they replaced the girlfreinds shocks and couldn't perform the correct alingment for camber.

 

[Mo-S3]

Fraz, where abouts are you ??