2006 A3 3-door - Driver's side Front Wheel sitting further in arch than the passenger side one?

[Manlikefunk]

As per title, my driver's side front wheel is sitting noticeably further in than the offside front wheel. I always park my car facing down the road so the passenger side is next to the kerb, and when I walk up to it from that side I can see from afar that the front wheel is very close to flush with the arch. Walking up to it from the other side (in the road), I can see the driver's side front wheel is further into the arch. I've noticed the same thing when the car is parked on a flat surface too, e.g. no road camber. I used a straight edge that fits inside my front arches and placed it up against the tyre sidewalls (up the centre of both alloys obvs) and measured from the inside edge to the outside of the arches. The driver's side front wheel is sitting in by 4mm! The car is lowered on Eibach Pro-Kit springs and is using H&R 10mm spacers. I cleaned both hubs lots before mounting the spacers. The car has never sustained any front end damage or potentially chassis twisting damage etc.

I couldn't take a pic while holding the tape measure & straight edge together but as you can see from the pictures, the driver's side wheel (1st pic), the top inside edge of the straight edge is considerably further in the arch, whereas the passenger side front wheel (2nd pic) is basically flush with the arch. The face of both alloys is pretty much the same distance from the inside edge of the straight edge, so I don't think the one sitting in further could be toeing in. AFAIK my car doesn't even have adjustable toe settings on the suspension.

Any idea what this could be? Uneven tyre wear maybe? A cracked spring? Tracking is off? I haven't really had time to get the wheels off to look further. Now I can't remember the offset of these alloys, but I'm aware there are two versions of them each with different offsets, but IIRC the offsets of the 2 variants are considerably different, more than a 4mm difference anyway. I'm sure last time I washed the insides of them I looked and all 4 were the same offsets anyway. Thanks.

 

[NHN]

Is the wing fitted & aligned ok?

 

[Troubs12]

As per title, my driver's side front wheel is sitting noticeably further in than the offside front wheel. I always park my car facing down the road so the passenger side is next to the kerb, and when I walk up to it from that side I can see from afar that the front wheel is very close to flush with the arch. Walking up to it from the other side (in the road), I can see the driver's side front wheel is further into the arch. I've noticed the same thing when the car is parked on a flat surface too, e.g. no road camber. I used a straight edge that fits inside my front arches and placed it up against the tyre sidewalls (up the centre of both alloys obvs) and measured from the inside edge to the outside of the arches. The driver's side front wheel is sitting in by 4mm! The car is lowered on Eibach Pro-Kit springs and is using H&R 10mm spacers. I cleaned both hubs lots before mounting the spacers. The car has never sustained any front end damage or potentially chassis twisting damage etc.

I couldn't take a pic while holding the tape measure & straight edge together but as you can see from the pictures, the driver's side wheel (1st pic), the top inside edge of the straight edge is considerably further in the arch, whereas the passenger side front wheel (2nd pic) is basically flush with the arch. The face of both alloys is pretty much the same distance from the inside edge of the straight edge, so I don't think the one sitting in further could be toeing in. AFAIK my car doesn't even have adjustable toe settings on the suspension.

View attachment 244671
View attachment 244672


Any idea what this could be? Uneven tyre wear maybe? A cracked spring? Tracking is off? I haven't really had time to get the wheels off to look further. Now I can't remember the offset of these alloys, but I'm aware there are two versions of them each with different offsets, but IIRC the offsets of the 2 variants are considerably different, more than a 4mm difference anyway. I'm sure last time I washed the insides of them I looked and all 4 were the same offsets anyway. Thanks.

It looks like the wheel bearing housing might be bent I’m afraid bud. I had this when I changed my suspension setup from 1.9 to 2L though on mine it was sticking out a fair bit. Unfortunately the only way to sort it was a replacement. Pic included for clarity

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[Manlikefunk]

Is the wing fitted & aligned ok?

Should be mate, I don't think it's ever been changed tbh!

 

[Manlikefunk]

It looks like the wheel bearing housing might be bent I’m afraid bud. I had this when I changed my suspension setup from 1.9 to 2L though on mine it was sticking out a fair bit. Unfortunately the only way to sort it was a replacement. Pic included for clarity

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Thanks mate. So would that be the bearing on the drivers side that is bent (as in, bent inwards causing the wheel to sit further in)?

 

[theViTALiTY]

Could the same thing be a culprit for front wheels not being in axis?
When i was doing my alignment, tech told me my front wheels are not in axis and quite a bit offset (16mm). My mechanic inspected everything and couldnt find anything wrong or visually see anything bent. The symptom car is having is when going on a road that has grooves along it, and trying to leave the groove, its starts to swerve. Also, going over small bumps/holes feels like someone slapped the car from the side and that it wants to kick out the back end...

 

[Troubs12]

Could the same thing be a culprit for front wheels not being in axis?
When i was doing my alignment, tech told me my front wheels are not in axis and quite a bit offset (16mm). My mechanic inspected everything and couldnt find anything wrong or visually see anything bent. The symptom car is having is when going on a road that has grooves along it, and trying to leave the groove, its starts to swerve. Also, going over small bumps/holes feels like someone slapped the car from the side and that it wants to kick out the back end...

Potentially yes ask your mechanic to have vehicle raised and with the wheel straight measure from the top inner edge of the wheel (corner of tyre) to the shock on both sides it’s not an exact science but will give you good idea if your hubs bent without having to remove both for comparison. It depends how you look at it but I was kinda lucky on mine as from underneath as I looked up you could see by eye the gap between wheel and shock was a lot bigger on one side. Not only that I knew that I’d just changed it so that was the “change point” for my problem


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[theViTALiTY]

Potentially yes ask your mechanic to have vehicle raised and with the wheel straight measure from the top inner edge of the wheel (corner of tyre) to the shock on both sides it’s not an exact science but will give you good idea if your hubs bent without having to remove both for comparison. It depends how you look at it but I was kinda lucky on mine as from underneath as I looked up you could see by eye the gap between wheel and shock was a lot bigger on one side. Not only that I knew that I’d just changed it so that was the “change point” for my problem


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Will try to get it checked out this week. Mine is also noticeable because on the drivers side you can fit 3 fingers between the tire and the back of the wheel arch, while on the left only 2 fit. Tbh i could live with the bumps and holes behaviour, but the swerving on the uneven road makes me feel so unsafe and especially during rain and i dont wanna even mention upcoming winter time.

 

[Troubs12]

Will try to get it checked out this week. Mine is also noticeable because on the drivers side you can fit 3 fingers between the tire and the back of the wheel arch, while on the left only 2 fit. Tbh i could live with the bumps and holes behaviour, but the swerving on the uneven road makes me feel so unsafe and especially during rain and i dont wanna even mention upcoming winter time.

Yeah definitely there’s something not right there mate it’s not worth the risk


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[Manlikefunk]

Could the same thing be a culprit for front wheels not being in axis?
When i was doing my alignment, tech told me my front wheels are not in axis and quite a bit offset (16mm). My mechanic inspected everything and couldnt find anything wrong or visually see anything bent. The symptom car is having is when going on a road that has grooves along it, and trying to leave the groove, its starts to swerve. Also, going over small bumps/holes feels like someone slapped the car from the side and that it wants to kick out the back end...

I'm not sure if it's this as I find the car handles great tbh, I've never experienced any sort of alignment or tracking problems...