Tyre/ wheel issues on my A6 2.7T Quattro Avant

[dysonco]

Hi All,

First visit to the VW Audi forum, and a relatively new audi owner.

I've got a A6 2.7T estate (2000) which I bought about 6 Month ago and love to bits, but have had a bit of a scare today!

I stuck the car up on a ramp to try and work out why I was getting vibration under braking at 65mph and above (thought it might be warped brake discs). Whilst removing wheels and having a poke round etc I realised that the drivers side tyre was scored along the inner edge to the point that the wire was showing through the rubber. I've done a LOT of miles in this car recently, and it was so close to a major blowout its not funny!

The wheels are 17" Audi 5 spokes with 45 mm offset running Bridgestone Potenza RE050 235/45/17 tyres. Now these aren't the original wheel from what I can work out, the spare is a 16" wheel running 225 55 16 tyre (I think).

Is this tyre and wheel combo too big for this car? There is so little space between the inner edge of the tyre and the suspension that I wouldn't be surprised if under heavy braking etc. the tyre will bulge and touch.

Can I use wheel spacers to bring the inner edge of the tyres a little clear of the internals? I don't really want to have to put 4 new tyres on it when I have 3 nearly new Bridgestone 235/45/17s. Will this affect handling?

I didn't fit the wheels or tyres they were on the car when I bought it, but must admit, they are one of the things I like the best about it.

Weirdly the passenger side tyre, although very close to the suspension doesn't show signs of similar damage, so doesn't appear to be touching.

What do I do?

Thanks for any advice,

Mike

[euroslap]

Get the garage to check your tracking when you get the tyres changed, if it's scrubbing tyres it's probably not aligned correctly,

[adamss24]

These wheels have slight different offset(43 compared with the 45 on standard wheels) and the tyres are much wider 245/45/17 , i had them on my previous audi a4 quattro and i had to use 10mm spacers to clear the suspenssion arm. They fit with no problem on FWD audi a4 and a6, though ! If you can get 25mm hubcentric spacers to fit them they will be ok, otherwise look for a lower offset alloys- 35mm may give you the extra clearance needed and will fill the arches better.

[dysonco]

Many thanks for the replies.

My feeling is that I probably have worn bushes on the suspension that are causing the vibration under braking at high speed, and may also be responsible for some of the excessive/ uneven tyre wear. I did have the tracking done when I had a tyre replaced about 4 months ago, but to be honest I'm not too confident that the 15 year old spotty kid who did it, really knew what he was doing!

I think I'm going to get the tyre changed and then take it to Audi to have the suspension checked and the alignment done properly, I understand from other posts that a proper 4 wheel alignment at a trusted workshop is a must.

I would also feel a lot happier putting spacers on the wheels as the inner tyre edge runs so close to the suspension strut its scary (probably about 3mm clearance).

So my only question is, should I get the alignment done before fitting the spacers or should I get the alignment done with the spacers in place?

Many thanks for your help,

Mike

[wingers1982]

and that tyre will get you 3 points or will blow out its your tracking its towing out alot the tyre wont buldget at the top i've seen this hundreds of times if you go to audi for the tracking it'll cost you alot of money try a good tyre garage ring them first to see if they can do audi trackings as they are a pain to do

o and they are the sport alloys they are fitted as a option same as on the passat sport the spare is usually a different size cost saving!!!

yes the tracking has to be done spot on or bye bye tyres so lad who did it probabley got it wrong.

[adamss24]

and that tyre will get you 3 points or will blow out its your tracking its towing out alot the tyre wont buldget at the top i've seen this hundreds of times if you go to audi for the tracking it'll cost you alot of money try a good tyre garage ring them first to see if they can do audi trackings as they are a pain to do

o and they are the sport alloys they are fitted as a option same as on the passat sport the spare is usually a different size cost saving!!!

yes the tracking has to be done spot on or bye bye tyres so lad who did it probabley got it wrong.
All quattros have matching tyres and alloys as its a must the rolling radius to be exactly the same. Sometimes, different size/makes of tyres do upset the drivetrain as the diff lock rely on abs sensors to relay the speed at each wheel spins. Its good practice to have all 4 tyres replaced at the same time with matching tyres. There is no space saver wheell there !

[dysonco]

All quattros have matching tyres and alloys as its a must the rolling radius to be exactly the same. Sometimes, different size/makes of tyres do upset the drivetrain as the diff lock rely on abs sensors to relay the speed at each wheel spins. Its good practice to have all 4 tyres replaced at the same time with matching tyres. There is no space saver wheell there !

Thats what I thought, I understand that the quattro system can be easily damaged. My car can't be towed for instance, you can't even free wheel.

Just to update you all, after replacing the damaged tyre I took the car to audi, it turns out the juddering under braking was the front discs being scored on the back. They replaced the discs and pads, and checked the suspension which apparently is fine at the moment , although the did say that a couple of the rubbers are on the way out and some work will be needed maybe next year.

They also did the tracking so hopefully it's now sorted.

My next fun and games is sorting out the exhaust gas temperature sensor that keeps turning the engine management light on. Its not a major problem at the moment, its obviously an intermittent fault as if I reset it using VAG COM its usually a day or two before it comes back on. It may even just be a loose or dirty connection, when its a nicer day here I'll take a look properly. Typically of course it's sensor 2 which is apparently really awkward to get to :(

Thanks for all the advice guys!

Mike