Archieafroz

There is no place better than this forum to find an answer for an issue that I have with my C7. Its in regards to wheel alignment, road crowing or wheel centering.

My C7 has about 11000 miles on it and I finish one year in April. I did my first wheel rotation at 6000 miles and then my problem started. I am in Vegas and some of the freeways here have more road crowing then others. After my tire rotation, I noticed that i had to hold my steering wheel a little to the left for car to go straight. I didnt think much about it and let it go.

At 10000 miles, I got an alignment done on my car (From the Audi Dealership). As soon as I drove off the lot and on the freeway, the "Road Crowing" effect was felt more then ever. Took the car back to the dealership and told them to check it. They showed me the alignment sheet and all numbers were under "Audi" recommendation.

I still wasn't convinced and gave it back to them for the 3rd time. They tweaked some setting and gave it back to me but I still had the problem. I have always checked my tire pressure and it seems to be perfect.

Finally I took it to Firestone in CA where I have always taken my previous cars and they did the alignment again. This time it was a little better than what I noticed from Audi, but still nothing like I used to have before my 6000 mile rotation.

My question is, does anyone have the same problem...? Some roads are fine and some roads, the steering is way off to keep the car straight.

Also, if anyone ever gets their alignment done and see that their steering is centered and alignment is perfect, can you please upload a picture of the numbers recorded on the Alignment sheet....? Would really appreciate it. I know there is usually a range between the numbers but I cant seem to find one that is perfect.

Any advise or tips will be really helpful. This is driving me crazy. Thank you

manishaudi

Next week I am getting a new set of tires and will have an alignment done. I will post my numbers afterwards.

FYI, I currently have the 20-inch tires with the OEM Pirelli's.

I am switching to the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position tires

What Rim Size/Tire do you have on yours?

mikem33

The problem may well be with the tires, even if the behavior mimics an alignment issue. I would suggest you rotate your tires again.
Since you're close to 12K and you rotated at 6K, you're almost due anyway, and judging by the pic in your sig, you have the 19" wheels, in which case your Pirelli tires probably won't last enough to need a 3d rotation anyway. And it might make your next few K more pleasant.

If you decide to rotate, let us know whether it fixed the issue?

In any case, do a google search for 'radial pull'. This may be what you are experiencing. Tire rack has a good article on it. THey even have a procedure to isolate the issue, but you may or may not want to go through the hassle, especially since your tires are probably well worn already and will probably not be warranted. It may well be that the rotation addresses the issue.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

jr'sAudiA6

The problem may also be the road. If the road has a camber to it that will cause the car to want to go in the direction of the tilt. Minor changes to the alignment will also affect this behavior. The only way to tell is to try and drive on a road that is truly flat. This may be difficult to do in your area. The fact that the roads have crowning seems to indicate they are tilted, i.e. have a camber to them. I read tire racks info on radial pulling and seems to me that if it was the tires you should have noticed it long before this. Just my 2 cents on the subject.

jimmermd

With ongoing vehicle tracking concerns, I would verify that all four wheels were aligned and that the thrust angle was adjusted properly.

mikem33

The OP mentioned that the car was aligned 3 times; twice at the dealer, and one more elsewhere.

I have had this issue before, and the location of the 'bad' tire has a huge influence. In my case, having it in the front would pull the car to the left, but if I put it in the back the car drove fine. So I noticed it when I did my first rotation after buying the car, same as the OP. The suspension geometry of the car has a lot of influence on the severity of the pull given a tire's location.

In any case, it's really cheap to rotate the tires and see if the problem goes away, especially when it's due for a rotation anyway!

snagitseven

I agree. Also, a slight tire deformation from potholes and the like or lack of proper steel belt calibration from a tire manf. ("conicity") will cause a more noticeable pull when mounted on the front vs. the rear. Also, some tires are more susceptible to pulling than others, especially if a tire's tread/belt has a deformation. Unfortunately, if alignment doesn't correct for this, only replacing the tire(s) will solve it. (Or sticking it on the rear).

I replaced a set of different brand tires on my wife's allroad a few years ago and an annoying case of directional pull was almost completely eliminated. No more pulling, especially on crowned roads.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=12

Archieafroz

Manish, I would really appreciate you posting the Numbers. I have the 19" wheels with Bridgestone, i believe. Thank you

Archieafroz

Mikem, you are absolutely correct but I forget to write something in my first post. So when I started noticing the "Pull", I thought it was because the tires were rotated the rear tires were bad. So i rotated my tires again at 10,000 Miles and that didn't solve it either.

I will look at the link you provided and see if i can find anything. The dealership I go to are really helpful and patient people but whenever I tell them, there is pull, they cannot mimic it when they drive.

Thank again.

Archieafroz

Mikem, When you rotate your tires, how did you do it...? Front to Back or Front to back opposite side....? I have always done Front to Back.

Maybe I should look into changing positions and use number of combinations to see if the pull goes away. Thanx