A couple years ago I mounted summer Coopers on my 18" rims and experienced severe edge wear and three of the tires failed while driving. I had them all replaced by Discount under their "full coverage" tire insurance and then took a trip to SC and back. Upon my return I went in for a rotation and found them all worn to the cord on the inside tread. I also had the alignment checked before and during this fiasco, and it was within specification.

They were all replaced with Continentals and even though I only have 9k miles on them, no problems. I think some tires just don't do well with quattro.

 

This might give you a hint.

 

You guys are all wrong about the under-inflation/tire pressure thing as being the cause of this problem! Bob Martin had it right, suspension. And he's right about pressure not affecting radials as much. So whoever said under-inflation or over-inflation plain & simple...guess again. There's way more to it! Suspension problems are difficult to pinpoint as the mechanic showed me. Not trying to battle anyone. I hope this can help other Audi owners with Quattro experiencing similar issues.

 

I think you actually should have battled the people who did your alignment TWICE, without checking all the suspension parts...
Is a typical Roseanne Roseannadanna situation: "Just like my father said: if is not one thing, is another"
Someone had to get it right.

Anyway, would have been nice to pinpoint what were the actual suspension problems...if you want to help other Audi owners.
Glad you found the solution to the nagging mystery.

 

So what was wrong?

 

Saxrasta,

As the original post was 8 months ago and it sounds like you have it fixed, what was wrong? (Like, what part(s) was bad? -- "Suspension" covers "LOTS" of parts!)

 

well now i'm interested. while i'm not an ASE master mechanic, i have spend countless hours under a lift. i have yet to find a suspension problem that will wear the BOTH edges of the tread and not the middle of the tread and have no feathering or cupping. what suspension ailment could cause such an event? i know, for a fact, that on radial tires, under inflation WILL, for a FACT, wear the edges of the tread and not the middle.

 

As I mentioned before, my tires have always been kept at proper inflation. That alone takes away tire air pressure as the cause. There is no simple single thing that causes this wear. My problem isn't fully solved, but I've had some of the rubber bushings (not sure of proper terminology on these pieces) replaced. Also had one of the lower suspension arms replaced. I'm wondering if I need new strut inserts. Car is almost 11 years old with 126k miles. They had to use a pry bar to show the play where the rubber pieces were worn. Currently using V rated Dunlop SP sport tires.

 

I'm wondering about your wear, too. One thing you might check is the top strut mounts. The bonded rubber breaks loose from the bushing, wears it, and the whole alignment thing is out the window.

Had that on a 90 100. 2 shops aligned, after new tires put on. Car DID pull, and you don't mention that. Tires replaced under warranty, but prorated.

Found that the strut mounts were worn out, about 20 bucks each, install yourself. Tires wore forever after replacing them and re-alignment.

My experience, too, that underinflation will cause shoulders to wear while center of tread is perfect.

Question. New Pirellis on the front. About 10 thou on them. Wearing the right one down, at least twice the left, that one is like new. Back to the tire shop, complain. Got BS that "Oh, your right tire is the driving tire, they ALWAYS wear faster than the left."

It is a Quattro, all 4 wheels drive, basically. They say you should rotate more often. I say I would have TWO tires that are half worn instead of one like new and one 2/3 worn out.

Regardless, MEBBE 20 thou on a pair of 760 rated tires.

I gotta write Pirelli about this. That's the only way I got replacement of the Coopers that wore out on my 90 100.

Cheers,

George

 

^^while your wear seems excessive, they are correct in that the right tires wear faster than the left. The right tires travel farther due to left turns