Lumpy ride - back wheel prob?

[skempster]

For the last week or so I have noticed that the ride quality has deteriorated a bit. Mainly at low speeds on very flat pieces of road. So I had a look up my back wheel arches this morning, both left and right rear, and noticed that there is a marked difference between the two. But I wasn't sure whether this was normal? I will try and take some pics tonight (if it's dry) but in the meantime this is my layman's description of what I can see:

There is a vertical rod going up from the wheel and disappearing into the boot. At the bottom of the rod, nearest the wheel, there is a black plastic casing (quite flimsy) and then just above that you can see metal disappearing into a yellow plastic block and then above that the metal rod continues up into the boot.

On my right rear wheel, there is about one inch of metal rod above the yellow block. On the left rear wheel, there is just 1mm of metal rod above the yellow block.

Apologies for the rather abstract explanation but I'd be grateful if someone in the know could tell me whether this is normal - before I drive home tonight.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bang.gif

Thanks.

PS I have quattro, which I imagine is an impt factor.

 

[JaminBen]

Could you elaborate on the ride's degradation?

 

[skempster]

Sure - in layman's terms...lumpy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Difficult to describe - it feels bumpy even on the smoothest of roads, and even before I had made an investigation of the rear wheel arches, I would have said that it was undulating more on the driver's side of the car (to the extent that this can be properly tested when of course I can't sit on the other side whilst I am driving.)

Tyre pressures have been checked and are all ok.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[JaminBen]

Have the tires been ruled out?

If you have a lumpy ride on smooth tarmac, that's where I'd be looking...?

No dents whatsoever in the wheels? A banged rim (even on the inside) could do this too.. (don't ask how I know)

Would a *real* pro please stand up?

 

[skempster]

Thanks for your reply JaminBen. I'm pretty sure my wheels haven't taken any impacts but I will have a closer look to see if there's any tyre issues. My 1 scuffed alloy so far is the front left - caused by a slow parking scrape...

 

[skempster]

Here's some pics from under the rear wheel arches. Could someone please let me know if their quattro car has a similar variation in the height of the yellow block...?

Am going to speak to dealer about this tomorrow but doubt I can get round to them for a few days.

Back right:

Back left:

Thanks in advance for any comments.

S

 

[Davidwynne]

Steve,

What I belive you are seeing is the difference in the cut out in the wheel house liner around the damper mounting. If you look at your photographs you will see the rim of the damper mounting cup, where the yellow damper bush is, in both pictures are in line with the damper mount reinforcement panels (behind the yellow damper bush) so the heights are in fact the same.

As commented on earlier I would take a good look at the wheel rims and tyres. Tyres can suddenly form a 'blister' if the carcass has failed for some reason and this will for sure cause a very rough ride feeling to be transmitted through the body.

 

[skempster]

Thanks for that. Now you mention it, I can see that the line behind the yellow damper is in a very similar place on each.

I've looked at the tyres and can't see anything different about them but its a bit difficult to see so might leave it to the dealer to inspect. Needs to go in for an air con repair anyway.

Thanks again.

S

 

[marriedblonde]

Have you caught a man hole cover/drain cover, a rut in the road? It could be that one of you wheels has been dented (quite common!)

You would need to remove the wheels and spin them round? If so you should be able to get it balanced out so long as it's not too bad.

J.

 

[Amchlolor]

It could be a faulty damper.
If there is too much 'stiction' in the damper it could give the effect you describe where smooth roads do not generate enough force to make the damper move,so you effectively have no 'give' in the suspension at all and it is to all intents and purposes completely locked.
Higher speeds/bigger bumps will 'force' the damper to move,so you won't notice the effect.

 

[skempster]

Cheers for your comments all.

Bowfer: that might be it - would explain why it seems ok at higher speeds.

Time to book it in at the stealer methinks.

 

[Karcsi]

You could always swopped the rear wheels for the spare to check out whether it is the tyre/wheel - so long as you don't have to go much more than 50mph to get the symptoms.

 

[JaminBen]

Man I lolve this forum! Great insight!!!

Steve, please keep us posted with the findings.

Cheers!

 

[skempster]

Thanks for the suggestion - may try that. It went in to the stealer this morning and they say they do not notice or have not been able to reproduce the fault on a test drive, although on testing the suspension they did say it was a little stiff.

Am collecting the car tomorrow so will see if they have cured it.

Off topic - was given a 2.0FSI courtesy car - low down it has to be said, not much different to the turbo version. Just a little bit of wheel spinning without the quattro tho...

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif