Front Steering / Suspension - rapid and uneven tyre wear - any ideas?

[AlpineCab]

Also posted in Audi S4/A4/A4 Cab (B7 Chassis) and title say's it all really,

The cars's a 2005 model, done around 260K now, so its only normal parts need replacing at this stage, and I've already replaced the front upper control arms about a year ago after an advisory.

Since then I've noticed:
- Generally twitchy steering, though not as bad as before replacing the control arms.
- Tyre wear on the front is now much quicker than expected, and especially so on the RHS.
- And, there's a creaking on the same RHS when coming to a stop.

There;s always been a general creaking when turning lock - to - lock, especially now the colder weather comes.


What are the usual suspects for this kind of thing? Most of the other posts seem to point to the upper which I've already done, so I had a quick look, with the RHS front wheel off, and can see a very slight wiggle on the lower wishbone, but can;t see what else it could be...

Any ideas what to look at next? Thanks.

 

[Frozenr6]

Do you have a picture of the uneven tire wear, it would be helpful to determine what kind of mis alignment you are experiencing.

is it safe to assume that you have the alignment checked when you replaced the a arms? those result numbers may also be helpful. is the steering wheel good and straight when driving?

 

[AlpineCab]

Hi, I should have been more specific, it;s wearing evenly accross the tyre, just there is more wear on the RHS than on the LHS.

Allignment all done at main dealers when the arms were done, steering is straight enough on the motorway, no pull to one side or anything, but there is a bit of twitch when going slower, round town etc. sort of having to compensate all the time if that makes sense.

 

[Frozenr6]

from your description I would lean to a toe alignment problem, I would get the alignment checked again. the end of the day your tires are not properly aligned and the alignment will do one of two things, fix the problem or be a detailed part of the troubleshooting of why there is misalignment.

it could be as simple as hitting a pothole or rubbing a curb at just the wrong time, it could be the initial alignment was not quite right or excessive play in another suspension component like the tie rods. I would go back to the same dealer and see if they still have the alignment specs on file to compare where you are today.