I'm wondering why? Suspension bushes, dampers?

[Dyno_Man]

My '09 A4 Avant was a joy to drive along the fast, undulating roads that are common in my county. It was such a huge improvement over my previous A4 (B7). Recently and quite suddenly the car that had such poise on fast bends has now started to wander. It has also become quite prone to tracking along those deep furrows in the road left by HGVs. At times it's been a bit scary!

At first it seemed to be the rear end pitching too much on bends which initially led me to think rear dampers have gone soft. But it could quite easily be suspension bushes. I recall that on my 1989 Audi 80 I had something similar and replaced the rear dampers. Whilst it was better, I later found that the front lower wishbone bushes were damaged and that this was the root cause (A common problem on very high mileage 80s apparently). The new rear dampers just managed the symptoms of the problem better than the old ones.

So has anyone had issues with suspension bushes, dampers or anti-roll bar bushes on recent A4s (B8s) that might mean my car wanders more than it used to?

The car had done just 48k miles when this started.

I have changed tyres from summer to winter and the symptoms are the same with both sets.

Thanks, I will appreciate any suggestions.

[Eshrules]

Have you had your wheel balancing, tracking and suspension parts checked?

[Dyno_Man]

Eshrules,

Thanks for your suggestions. They are all good points.

The car was recently serviced by Audi main dealer so I would expect the suspension to have been checked (although they might have missed something!). Wheel alignment is something that I am involved with for a living so I am pretty careful about that. There are no signs that tracking might have been affected (by hitting kerbs or big potholes) and I am the only person that drives the car. My steering wheel is straight on the motorway so I think that the tracking is close to where it was when it left the factory. The wheels are well balanced, no vibrations at any speeds and were checked when the winter tyres went on.

[adani24]

Dyno_Man,

I had the exact same prob on my A4 Avant B7. It used to drive really well, on Motorways I stuck the cruise on 75mph and enjoyed driving! I bought the car in July 2012 and in about Oct - Nov of the same year noticed that the car followed every single rut/channel in the road. Slight imperfections in the road would throw the steering and I'd have to compensate.

The problem was that the tyres were wearing out in the middle. I know what you might be thinking right now - NO I didn't have them over inflated. I thought this aswell so reduced the pressures but to now avail. I have 17" Alloys and had Conti Sport 5 on the front wheels and Conti Sport 3 on the rear. The front tyres wearing tremedously in the middle. Reading up on this in the ElsaWin Technical notes, it seems that the centrifugal forces acting on the tyre increase tyre wear. This is pronouced in the middle of the tyre and commonly seen on larger tyre sizes and especially when driving at high speeds.

The tyre wear was so great that the fronts were well below legal limit by Jan 2013. I have since replaced the front with Hankook. The difference was instand. The car didn't follow ruts in the road and went where I steered it. Incidently, I also got a 4-wheel alignment at TheWheelAlingmentCentre in Southampton. So far, I have returned to enjoying my A4!

Hope this helps you

[Dyno_Man]

Many thanks for your suggestions. I have reviewed the tread depths and they are all OK. Likewise the wheel alignment seems to be good: there is no drift or pull from the steering and the wheel is straight on long flat roads.

I am coming to the conclusion that the shock absorbers have deteriorated just enough to make the body hop around a little more on these challenging roads. On a previous car that I had from new I replaced all 4 shock absorbers after 45,000 miles because the handling had deteriorated. Everyone said that they were "fine" and "in spec" - but the car was like new again when I had them done. Worth every penny.

[Boobies]

Hi, i have only recently purchased an A4 B8 SE, diesel saloon. However i have changed shocks/dampers on other vehicles and had some good success and i'm considering changing mine also as the car has done 110k. I have been a bit of a nerd of late spending time online reading reviews trying to get information on the best oem repalacement shock absorbers for the B8 se hoping to find something that might be a slight improvement over oem. The most suitable shock i have found is the Bilstein b4 which might be worth considering!!! It is apparently a slight improvement over oem and claimed to reinstate new car driving characteristics!!

[113brucey]

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