RMsALFA

Long time lurker here...2001 A6 with factory 'sport' suspension.

So, I switched over to my winter tires today and was shocked to see severe wear on the inside edge of both front tires. The drivers side was the worst. The last time I checked wear was less then 5000 miles ago - all was fine. This car has a history of excellent tire wear and I've owned it since new. It rides and steers fine - I can't say I notice any difference. It has a total of 102,000 miles and has never had anything done to the suspension.

Could this be an indication of shot upper control arm bushings ? Do these cars lose alignment as they age ? I can hear an occasional 'click' every once in a while when hitting a square edge bump at low speed.

I wanted to check the expert forums first before taking it to a shop. Now that the snows are on, I don't want THEM ending up with the inside edge worn to the cords...

Edd W

I have had the same and mine is at 67k with no history of problems and no changes to the suspension.

I can only assume it is due to wear in the bushes and so the extra movement allows the wheels to toe out or excess negative camber.

bigdadi

How long ago was your last 4 wheel alignment? 30,000 mile is standard for another alignment or when the new tires installed.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

If you can't find any wear on suspension components or car where the tires are hitting, it has to be alignment.
Perhaps caused by a suspension component wear but unusual to happen on BOTH front tires.
Unusual to do what appears to have happened. I've used Dunlop SP9000 tires on 2K4.2A6 for 145K miles w/o any problems with front alignment. Have had multiple UCAs replaced and last time just rebushed the inner bush on the front UCAs w/o aligning the front end.

Get it aligned/have shop look at it.

RMsALFA

I routinely shake the front suspension around when I swap tires (2X per year). I haven't noticed any play to speak of. I'm also sensitive to the tire clearance issue on the front uprights - but, this tire size has been fine, clearance-wise, for 100K miles. I have NEVER had it aligned - didn't think I needed to, as up until now, tire wear has been well within what I would call acceptable. I usually 'rotate' front to back when the set is reinstalled the following season. That said, getting it up on the alignment rack is much cheaper then control arm replacement. Even though I'm sure it will be required eventually (the car will stay mine until it (or me) dies of old age), the longer I can go without, the 'longer' the replacements will last.

A couple of questions concerning control arm replacement...

Is it normal to treat both UPPER and LOWER control arms as wear items, or is it typically the UPPERS that go ?

Is it necessary to get the car realigned after control arm replacement ? I'm considering doing it myself after watching the Bentley video and it doesn't look like any adjustments need to be released, although I may have missed it.

One note - I had the 'front assembly' or whatever they call the whole front end of the car, removed this summer to replace the alternator. Is it possible the alignment could have been messed up when this was done ? I don't know how far into the suspension (if at all) that front clip goes. That's the only work done that could have changed anything.

My engineer brain is just trying to get itself around the problem. It has a tendency to over evaluate everything before commanding my body to make a move

Thanks all !

RMsALFA

Edd W, did you install new control arms or re-bush them ? And, did that solve your similar problem ?

Kris Hansen

How often do you check your tire pressure? I've found that even with a perfect alignment and new suspension bits and pieces, if I run less than 35psi in the front tires the wear accelerates dramatically.

RMsALFA

Often.

I typically run in the high 30's with the Dunlop SP9090's (front).
But I wouldn't expect low tire pressure to severely wear just the inside edge (?)

Edd W

I have not done any suspension repairs at all.

I suspect it could now do with a complete front and possibly rear service, reaplacing any worn bushes but I will probably sell the car in the next few weeks now so I am not intending to do it, although it would be nice to see how it drives after the work was done.

The only time I have dismantled the front was to replace both CV joint boots about two years ago.

Edd W

Probably overdue but I have never had it done, maybe that is all it needs?