Re: Tires are new, but why so many noise and front-end problems?

[John Cunningham <johnc@together.net>]

Wade -

sounds like a bad scene.  first warning: if you don't fix whatever is wrong
with your suspension soon, it may trash your new tires irreparably.  did you
maybe have to replace your old tires because the bad suspension thrashed
them?

this car should not have front-end shaking or looseness, period.

you don't say what tires you had on before, but if they were std. issue
non-sport tires, increased noise from the Potenza's is normal.  BUT if the
suspension is still wacked then you may be hearing your new tires getting
scrubbed (bad).

rusty brakes cause a little noise until the first time you use them.  then
there is no noise, cause youve scraped off the rust.  on the other hand worn
out pads can cause lots of noise, first from pad wear indicators (supposed to
do that to let you know it's time for a new set) and then eventually from
metal-to-metal (bad and expensive).  if either of these is the case then your
dealer who just did tires and alignment sets new levels of incompetence,
since it would have been blatantly obvious when they were in there.

a good shop will give you an alignment report that shows the parameters
(camber, caster, toe, etc.) and should show whether everything is in spec.
do you have this?  i've had dealers give back the car out of alignment
because one adjustment point or another was 'at end of adjustment', yet fail
to tell me this - their assumption being that's the best i'm going to get, so
long and good luck.  this will usually show up on the printout.

the other thing is that sometimes a bad bushing or worn or broken suspension
component will cause it to appear as if the car is aligned when it's on the
rack, but in real driving that component gives and suddenly your alignment is
way out of whack.  a good shop will look closely at all the important bits,
especially with a recurring problem, but... you know dealers...


"Wade R. Boaz" wrote:

> Hi,
>      On various pieces of advice and reviews, I recently purchased
> 205/55 ZR16 Bridgestone Portenza S-02 Pole Position tires for my Audi
> A4 2.8Q.  The Audi dealer put them on for me during my 45K service,
> but I've had many problems since driving it off their lot, and worry
> about what happened to cause/reveal these symptoms.
>
>      The car already exhibited some front-end shaking and steering
> looseness to begin with, but I attributed some of it to a poor
> wheel-alignment from a different dealer and my old tires.  Since the
> Bridgestones were installed, the rolling noise is ENORMOUS, though I
> have a hard time completely blaming the tires, since they can
> sometimes be heard rolling _under_ the louder sounds.
>
>      This worries me, as I suspect the brake pads are part of the
> culprit in the noise factor (they look rusted and noise increases as I
> brake at slower speeds), plus the suspension on the driver side has
> been bottoming and clunking lately (struts?), and the whole front end
> has been wobbly at any speed - especially jiggly when accelerating or
> turning while applying power (trans?).
>
>      With my 50K warranty almost up, I know that if the dealer finds
> nothing in the next couple tries, I'll begin paying $$$ when the true
> cause of the noise and shaking is discovered.  I'm looking into a
> powertrain-only warranty extension, though it's a rather steep price
> around here.
>
> What could have happened by changing my tires to cause such pronounced
> poor driving characteristics?  Yes, the wheels were balanced and the
> wheel alignment re-checked by the dealer.
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Wade
>
> Wade R. Boaz      2:-)  "Well, I've been to one World Fair, a picnic,
> wader@bestweb.net       and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing
>                         I ever heard come over a set of earphones."
>                                 - Slim Pickens
> The unquoted opinions expressed in this mailing are all mine.  Mine.  Me.
>  Nobody else's.
>  Not even my employer's.
>  So there.

--

__________________________________________________________________

John J Cunningham III           Project Leader / Technical Analyst
                                             Country Home Products
johnc@together.net                            (802) 877-1201 X1242
__________________________________________________________________