quattro digest, Vol 1 #4285 - Tyre wear why?

[Larry C Leung]

Sounds like type 44 negative camber problems.

Is your car lowered, this seems to be a problem with lowered
type 44s (ask me how I know).

If not, then your strut towers may have started  to tilt inwards
due to age.

Preventative measure, strut tower brace (look in archives under
"Bernie brace")

Per Bentley's:

Alignment spec is -0.5 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees. Pay strict attention
to it. I even found a the negative end of the spec (i.e. -1 degrees) that

you start seeing the type of wear you describe.

Now, corrective measures.

Assuming that the car is at the limits of it's adjustments (make sure
that the shops you use have reached this) then you have all of two
choices.

If you are close (i.e., my car is at -0.8 and -1.2), it MAY be possible
to shift the subframe. The problem here is finding a shop that is willing
to do this. And, as in my case, I'm still close to the max limit, so
I'll still have some wear towards the centerline of the car. (BTW, toe
out produces MUCH worse wear than camber issues, again, ask me
how I know).

If this doesn't work, then you're going to need to have the towers
slotted
and camber plates installed, it's not an inexpensive proposal, however.

HTH,

LL - NY


> Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 07:56:57 +1300
> Subject: Tyre wear why?
> From: e2e <sam at edgetoedge.co.nz>
> To: quattro list <quattro at audifans.com>
>
> 1990 200tqa
> Hi gang, ok so my front tyres wear on the inside edge a band maybe a
> cm
> wide. Both fronts wear the same. I have had this car aligned a few
> times by
> a few different people none of which has made any difference.
> The car handles fine (yellow konis all round) if I take my hands off
> the
> wheel it tracks dead straight, under braking dead straight.
> The wear line is smooth (not feathered over which would point me
> toward toe
> out) so that leaves camber as prime suspect. If it is camber is the
> wear
> occurring on the inside edge of the inside tyre in cornering. I
> cant
> remember what the camber setting is but it doesn't look excessive
> what
> should my set-up be.
> Does anyone else have pearls of wisdom????
> --
> Sam Clarkson
>