[s-cars] Re; Chewed up tires...

[smarinello at entouch.net]

Stranger things have happened.  Seventeen years ago in Denver, I got a new set of 
P7's on the urq and had it aligned at the Audi dealer, Prestige Motors, just before 
heading to Crested Butte for a conference.  Whatever the moron had done or whether 
he had set up the equipment wrong or whatever, by the time I got back the set was 
toast;' not just two, but four tires.  They said I had to have done something;  I 
said they were idiots...interstate and highway driving all the way.  Was pulled 
aside by one guy, who recommended Performance One, down the road a ways.  They said 
that most of the Porsche people came there because Prestige had old, worn out 
equipment and couldn't do it right.  My alignment was so far out on all four corners 
that it was almost funny... but it was consistent, not all over the place.   Never 
had an issue again, and never went back to Prestige.  Bought my wife her first Audi 
at Stammler Audi, in Boulder three weeks later.  They lost that sale because they 
couldn't even admit to botching it up, much less compensating me for a destroyed set 
of tires.  

And, yes, there was more resistance in turns, but I initially attributed it to the 
new tires, and it seemed to diminish with the drive.  Then I looked at them when we 
got there.  The guy in Crested Butte said that I might as well just leave it, 'cause 
the tires were already to far gone to keep and otherwise they might not believe it 
was so bad, so the ride back was done with a little less verve and I was at Prestige 
on Monday morning, only to get their stonewall.  Didn't even want to check it, 
because it wouldn't matter.

Cost of a set of tires and an apology versus a new car sale...apparently typical 
shortsighted dealer decision.

On that note, my mechanic's girlfriend bought a new Denali about three  months ago.  
They were headed back from the lake two weeks ago when the right rear wheel FELL 
OFF!  Middle of the drive, on I45. Just over 5,000 miles on the car, virtually all 
running out and back to the lake on the weekends, and he was going to rotate the 
tires when they got it back in his shop on Monday.  He said they were suddenly 
dragging the RR corner with barely any warning.  The wheel studs were sheared off.  
He doesn't remember feeling anything until moments before all hell broke loose.

The dealers response...if there had been anything wrong that was their fault, the 
wheel would have come off in less than 5,000 miles.  I see a little court battle 
looming.  Either way, he got her a new set of high grade studs and replaced them on 
all four wheels.  Don't think that dealer will get another purchase from the 
girlfriend...

Cheers,

Steve

On Tue Sep 15 14:59 , Tom Green  sent:

>I can't believe the toe could be off both sides enough to scrub off  
>the tread without serious indicators, i.e., apparent lack of power,  
>poor mileage, and poor handling at slow or
>high speed.  Hard to accept that camber would not be visible from a  
>casual glance down the side of the vehicle.  I don't care if the wear  
>was on the inside of the tire, Abe,
>they and other critical parts deserve a safety check more often than  
>20K miles.  Unless the car has poorly repaired collision damage, it  
>can be aligned without aftermarket
>parts and the suspension is sturdy enough to remain aligned unless the  
>parts are worn out.  Sounds like it wasn't done properly when tires  
>were installed, and then the
>operator was negligent in routine maintenance or takes a daily  
>shortcut down the RR tracks.
>
>Tom
>
>
>> On Tuesday 15 Sep 2009 Wylie Bean ringmeister at triad.rr.com>  
>> offered:
>>
>> Sounds like toe was off more than just a little, or maybe whomever  
>> did your last alignment didn't tighten the upper strut mount bearing  
>> nuts and it worked loose over time, allowing the camber to slip?   
>> Have you checked it with a level?
>> Wylie Bean
>> TheRingmeister at triad.rr.com
>> 90 cq
>> 91 90q20v
>> 92 UrS4
>> 08 Q7 3.6
>> Sent on the Sprint? Now Network from my BlackBerry?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Abe Berman yellowcuda at gmail.com>
>>
>> Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:47:14
>> To: s-car lists-car-list at audifans.com>
>> Subject: [s-cars] Chewed up tires...
>>
>>
>> Patient is a 95.5 Avant, just north of 100k I think.  Approximately  
>> 20k on
>> the Kumho tires and alignment done when they were installed.  Bilstein
>> struts up front, stock struts in the rear.  Stock springs.   
>> Suspension is in
>> good shape otherwise (ball joints, strut mounts, etc)
>>
>> The insides of the front tires were so worn that the sidewall and  
>> tread
>> separated and blew out on the driver side.  Passenger side not much  
>> better
>> shape-wise.  Camber must be pretty off.  I know that the C4's are  
>> legendary
>> for this, but I thought it was more prevalent when the car was  
>> lowered.
>> Will the Igor mod or the 2Bennett/ECS camber plates help here or am  
>> I doomed
>> to replace tires every 20k...
>>
>> Abe
>> Burlington, VT
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