wyliss Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 I recently had two ps2's on the front which needed replacing. The n/s fr one showed signs of wearing on the inner so once I had the new ones fitted I got the tracking checked and the guy said that it was spot on (maybe it was done by prev owner once they discovered the wearing). The thing is when I am driving the steering wheel does not sit perfectly straight when driving in a straight line and when I brake it does pull to the right a bit........ Any comments/help appreciated.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizzy Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Did you have it checked at an Audi stealer? The "tracking" checks offered by a lot of tyre places are very basic and don't use the alignment tools that the main dealers have. This is more relevant to Quattro than FWD vehicles, but nonetheless I'd be tempted to have the alignment properly checked - it's a lot cheaper than new tyres. Inside edge wear on S4's is common (weight of the engine and suspension camber settings) but the last A4 1.8T Q that I had wore all four tyres absolutley evenly over 36K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Just had my alignment checked after hitting a kerb in the snow with the nearside front wheel. There also appears to be a bit more wear on the outside edge of this tyre. Took it to APS who have the Beissbarth 4 wheel setup that the dealers use. Turned out nothing wrong at all at the front end but the rear alignment was out by just over 2 degrees in total. The technician there said just about every A4 quattro they check has the rear out more than the front and they think it might be down to transmission shunt. Looks like my front nearside tyre wear must be down to my habit of caning it around the roundabouts in Milton Keynes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted February 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Its going in the stealers for a few warranty jobs soon so I think I will get them to investigate....better safe than sorry hey.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P_G Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 If you ask your stealer to check it be prepared for a hefty price. I was quoted £300+ + VAT for 4 wheel allignment and camber chaeck / adjustment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizzy Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Bl*dy hell Graeme that's a lot! - I had the 4wd alignment and adjustment done at Lincoln Audi (during last years 2nd AVS of doom) and that element of the bill was c. £120 IIRC. I've also had it done at AmD in the past and again it was c. £120 there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted February 28, 2007 Report Share Posted February 28, 2007 Feck. It was a lot cheaper at APS. Can't find the invoice now but it was circa £160 which included supplying and fitting the RS4 ARB as well as the 4 wheel alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted March 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Having another re think over this.........the car had some warranty work done behind the dash sometime ago......could it be a possibility that the technican didnt put the steering whell back on straight ?, because when I drive in a straight line the s/w is slightly turned to the left.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupramax Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 LMAO, the steering wheel wont affect tyre wear unless you try and drive with the wheel straight and scrub the tyres along the kerb... Tyre wear on inner edges is tracking or suspension alignment, nothing else, definitely not steering wheel Sorry to laugh but thats cheered me up no end after a sh1te day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted March 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 [ QUOTE ] LMAO, the steering wheel wont affect tyre wear unless you try and drive with the wheel straight and scrub the tyres along the kerb... Tyre wear on inner edges is tracking or suspension alignment, nothing else, definitely not steering wheel Sorry to laugh but thats cheered me up no end after a sh1te day [/ QUOTE ] Fair point.... after reading it myself you are entitled to wee your pants !! . I had the tracking checked the other week and its fine but when driving straight the s/w isnt horizontal its slightly turned to the left which makes me think that who ever put the wheel back on after the warranty work on the dash that they didnt put it on straight if you see what I mean............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupramax Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Yes, they've probably just got it one spline out... irritating, take it back and moan at the service manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a4andy Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 The steering wheel on my A4 also was not level when driving in a straight line. It might seem a bit anal but it annoyed the feck out of me. This was fixed by having the steering geometry (as apposed to tracking) checked and adjusted. I think basically they just need to adjust the track rods to fix this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted March 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Had the car in the stealer for a few warranty jobs this morning. Mentioned about the Steering Wheel not being straight and that the tracking is spot on and they said it needs a 4 wheel alignment....£210 +vat !. If tracking is ok why would it need a 4 wheel alignment to correect the position of the wheel......do you think it just needs taking off and repositioning one spline ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a4andy Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Hi, I think that they would need to do the tracking again as the starting point would be setting the steering wheel straight. This would obviously mean that the front wheels would no longer be pointing straight ahead and would need re-aligning. I think it is arguable though whether you would need four wheel alignment - perhaps taking it some place other than a stealers for a traditional two wheel alignment might do the trick. As for removing / repositioning the steering wheel, I'm not sure this would be an easy / inexpensive option. Plus you would need to hope that adjusting it a spline at a time would indeed get it dead level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Hi, I think that they would need to do the tracking again as the starting point would be setting the steering wheel straight. This would obviously mean that the front wheels would no longer be pointing straight ahead and would need re-aligning. I think it is arguable though whether you would need four wheel alignment - perhaps taking it some place other than a stealers for a traditional two wheel alignment might do the trick. As for removing / repositioning the steering wheel, I'm not sure this would be an easy / inexpensive option. Plus you would need to hope that adjusting it a spline at a time would indeed get it dead level. [/ QUOTE ] Thanks for the reply. I think its probably best if I get the tracking done again. When they loosen things underneath is the steering wheel able to be altered and then held in a straight position? Ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a4andy Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Hi, yes. The important thing to remember is to explain that as part of the four wheel alignment you want the steering geometry corrected as well. I know from experience that it is quite possible to put a car in for four wheel alignment, and to have them aligned perfectly, and still not have the steering wheel level. The alignment is done using computer controlled laser measurement (you may get a graphical printout of the setting after alignment) so it is pretty precise. But all the action takes place underneath the car so it can be done without the steering wheel being leveled first. I'm sure it's not supposed to happen but it can occur. Mainly to me I think :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Just checked the depths on the two fronts, the inner and outer walls are 5mm and the centre is 6.5........can anybody explain why this is ? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Under-inflated? Driving like a loon? My outers were more worn than the centres and the tyre monkey said that it was due to high speed cornering and nothing to worry about. If it is under-inflated then that does need seeing to obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Under-inflated? Driving like a loon? My outers were more worn than the centres and the tyre monkey said that it was due to high speed cornering and nothing to worry about. If it is under-inflated then that does need seeing to obviously. [/ QUOTE ] Cheers sparky.... The inflation is spot on....they get checked every week.... Maybe it is the fact of a bit of fun last weekend...... Just thought it a bit strange having differing measurements on the outers/inners compared to centre........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Mine are always like that, but then I attack roundabouts a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted April 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Mine are always like that, but then I attack roundabouts a lot [/ QUOTE ] I bet the tyre place loves you ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techieboy Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 [ QUOTE ] Mine are always like that, but then I attack roundabouts a lot [/ QUOTE ] I reckon I get through 2 nearside front tyres for each offside front tyre. I'm sure that's all down to the roundabouts in MK and my love of going round them at speed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Seeing as the stealer wants £200 for 4 wheel alignment I went searching and guess what, there is a company not too far away from the dealer who does it for nearly a quarter of their price....going at 4.30pm today...will update later....... p.s. guess who dealer uses?????? Dealers..££££ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4teve Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 My Nearside front is more worn on the outer edge than the offside. Driving clockwise around a track doesn't help but I agree with the roundabout. I must admit to being guilty of spirited driving most of the time. Heavy front end of the S4 makes the whole thing worse. If I didn't have directional tyres I would swap the fronts over. I certainly not going to swap the front a rear and end up needing two nearside tyres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliss Posted April 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Looks as if my problems have been rectified. The steering wheel is now straight and there is no heavy pulling to the right. This setup was quite good, it gave you a before and after printout and also the tolerances that Audi set for the car. I was unaware that the back of the car could be altered and this along with a few other things seemed to be the problem. While I was there a good few representatives from dealerships were turning up picking customers cars up ! Heres is the web address if anybody needs theirs looking at www.4wheelalignment.co.uk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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