Something bent then

[Aspen]

My 2 month old S3.

Full lock out a junction, in ice, and into the Kirb the other side of the road. Probably about 5mph, but the alloy buckled and the wheel was sat off centre when going straight....... brilliant

So, the guys at a local place (who don’t charge £290 for alignment) had a look around, couldn’t find anything obviously bent and Ee aligned the effected tie rod, which was obviously slightly bent in the impact as the tie and 4 wheel alignment all came back in ok with that. However, new wheels on and the car is making a Ruth mix droning noise staring at 50mph and growing in intensity up to 75mph +. Not gone any faster to test it.
The NS front wheel is no sat almost perfectly at 0 camber! You can see the difference between that and the other side which is at the correct negative camber.

I can’t see anything looking bent. I was going to try and undo the shock to hub bolt and see if that’s been knocked and moved. That’s the only thing I can think as nothing else seems adjustable.

Any ideas? Anyone else had this noise is it the camber?

I’m gutted. :-(

 

[Audi Bairn]

Sorry to hear that mate.

I'd book it in for a full thorough check up.

If something is bent it is also weakened, and I wouldn't sleep easy until it's resolved personally.

 

[RichardT]

Ditto. It needs a proper checkover.

 

[Matt Titanium]

Ouch! You must be gutted.
If you aren't paying a massive insurance premium with a ridiculous excess have you considered claiming? A new wheel and tyre alone must be £500. If the geometry looks out, wheel bearing/hub damage, bent suspension arm? Could be a very expensive job to put right, but needs sorting properly by someone that knows what they are doing rather than some tyre fitter with a couple of mirrors tweeking a track rod adjustment for £20..

 

[rajeevx5]

My 2 month old S3.

Full lock out a junction, in ice, and into the Kirb the other side of the road. Probably about 5mph, but the alloy buckled and the wheel was sat off centre when going straight....... brilliant

So, the guys at a local place (who don’t charge £290 for alignment) had a look around, couldn’t find anything obviously bent and Ee aligned the effected tie rod, which was obviously slightly bent in the impact as the tie and 4 wheel alignment all came back in ok with that. However, new wheels on and the car is making a Ruth mix droning noise staring at 50mph and growing in intensity up to 75mph +. Not gone any faster to test it.
The NS front wheel is no sat almost perfectly at 0 camber! You can see the difference between that and the other side which is at the correct negative camber.

I can’t see anything looking bent. I was going to try and undo the shock to hub bolt and see if that’s been knocked and moved. That’s the only thing I can think as nothing else seems adjustable.

Any ideas? Anyone else had this noise is it the camber?

I’m gutted. :-(

Mate, had the same accident on my S3 where i hit a kerb because of an idiot at 10 mph. After replacing all the visually damaged parts myself i was getting that exact droning noise at around 50mph. Couldnt seem too see what it was after getting many alignments, but then occured to me let me try change the wheel bearing. Voila the noise was gone. Looking at the damaged wheel bearing you couldn't even tell its damaged and it didn't have any wobble, so it seems like minor knocks can damage the wheel bearing . You probably need a new wheel bearing (£120) from TPS and it is quite easy to fit if you are mechanically minded.

 

[davc]

Defo sounds like a wheel bearing mate.

 

[Tom.H]

I did exactly the same when I had the R32, 1 new wheel bearing later it was sorted. Is it more apparent when you turn the wheel?

It was a pressed bearing and as soon as they took the wheel/hub off it fell apart so was pretty much the wheel/hub holding it together!

 

[desertstorm]

As above it's a wheel bearing. The high shock load from the impact causes very small flat spots on the rollers. If the geometry is out because of bent parts you will get inconsistent handling and probably tyre wear issues.

 

[Aspen]

Hi all.

Yes!! Exactly that, when I turn right the noise is bad. And when I turn left it disappears!!

It’s booked in to audi for a geo. But I may go buy a hub / bearing assy from them Monday and do that before I take it in as it’ll probably need another geo after that. Haha

You lot are ace.

 

[Tom.H]

Hi all.

Yes!! Exactly that, when I turn right the noise is bad. And when I turn left it disappears!!

It’s booked in to audi for a geo. But I may go buy a hub / bearing assy from them Monday and do that before I take it in as it’ll probably need another geo after that. Haha

You lot are ace.

Deffo sounds like a bearing then, keep us posted on how you get on.

 

[Aspen]

Ordered one from Audi. To keep the warranty up. £148 incl vat.

I asked for some other prices whilst on the phone just in case, and actually, pleasantly surprised.
New mag ride shock £395
Lower arm £124
Ball joint £38
Lower aluminium sub frame £284
Stretch bolts for the above £35

So, actually, not as bad as I was thinking. I was expecting a bill for about £5k if all that was dead but in reality I could change all that in 2 hours if on a lift so no way it should cost more than £2k including a full geo

 

[Tom.H]

Ordered one from Audi. To keep the warranty up. £148 incl vat.

I asked for some other prices whilst on the phone just in case, and actually, pleasantly surprised.
New mag ride shock £395
Lower arm £124
Ball joint £38
Lower aluminium sub frame £284
Stretch bolts for the above £35

So, actually, not as bad as I was thinking. I was expecting a bill for about £5k if all that was dead but in reality I could change all that in 2 hours if on a lift so no way it should cost more than £2k including a full geo

Audi parts prices aren't always the problem, it's their labour price that's crazy!

 

[jfazzie]

I had similar issues with my S3. I hit something in the road and afterwards had a droning noise over 50mph.

After numerous trips to the dealers with no luck I tried my local Audi Indy who diagnosed front wheel bearing and sorted.

I also got my wheels realigned as they were well out.

Audi were adamant it was an issue with the rear.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

 

[Aspen]

Don’t suppose you guys have the torque settings for the following do you please?

Main drive shaft bolt
Hub carrier bolts
Calliper bolts

Don’t think they do a Haynes manual for it yet lol

 

[Aspen]

Can anyone help with the above torques?

 

[Bitzieee]

Agree with the rest, just get Audi to properly check it.

As tight as I am with money these are serious cars and can't be skimped on. Unless they want to drive nothing like what they are built for

 

[rajeevx5]

Don’t suppose you guys have the torque settings for the following do you please?

Main drive shaft bolt
Hub carrier bolts
Calliper bolts

Don’t think they do a Haynes manual for it yet lol

From memory when using the Audi Service Manual
Main Drive Shaft Bolt 210NM +180 degrees
Hub carrier Bolts 70NM +90 degrees
Calliper Bolts 200NM

 

[Matt Titanium]

On three occasions over the last couple of weeks I've suddenly lost grip and I mean really letting go on the front end. Every time on wet roads at really low speed. Twice whilst coming to a stop when braking and today on a mini roundabout.
Has anyone else had this with Bridgestones ? They have done almost 10k and are a couple of mm away from the wear indicators but I've never experienced this with any other car.
I could easily have joined the wheel bearing club today.
Time for some new tyres I think.

 

[Aspen]

Update:

Just picked the car up tonight. 1 x wheel bearing (fell apart when they took it off, good call guys) and a full geometry later and it’s all straight and true. And drives true.

Steering wheel is off centre to the left but I’ll take it back and get that sorted. £647 lighter is my wallet. But to be fair, could have been worse.

 

[davc]

Ouch. January is always a sore month one way or another isn't it lol.

Glad you're back on the road.

 

[DeadLock]

Hi mate sorry to raise the thread from the dead - just wondering if the new wheel bearing/ hub did anything for the camber? I recently whacked a kerb and have replaced the lower control arm and ball joint which has fixed the wobble but not the camber - it's got a positive camber out past the wheel arch.