I have an 02 A6 Quattro 3.0l with about 78k miles on it. I REALLY like the car but am frustrated with the shudder/vibration I get at certain speeds. When I bought the car this spring it shuttered at speeds above 50mph and at 75 was bouncing pretty good and could feel it alot in the wheel. Since then I"ve had a 4 wheel alignment, tire rotation, tire balance, and had tires checked to see if they were out of round. Those changes lessened the shudder and now I only get one from 45-60mph. It really annoys me.... What else should I try next? New wheels? CV Joints?
has it got OEM wheels? if not it might need centering rings/spigot rings for the hub and alloys to make a snug fit ( without them you could balance the wheels forever with no difference ) simply because you cant center the wheels on the car
It does have Audi 16" wheels. I bought the car used, I'd gather they are the original wheels but don't know for certain other than they do have an Audi logo on them. Are these centering rings built into the Audi wheels or are they an extra piece? Just wondering if maybe the tire place I used to have them rotated didn't know what that piece was for and tossed it out??
I have a similiar problem, i have a 98 a6 and when i get past 55mph the wheel shudders a lot. again, a lot has been done to the car and it has gotten significantly better but it's still there. i don't know what the deal is.
I am willing to spend the money and put different wheels on the car but hesitant if I can't figure out if the wheels alone are the issue. I wondered if maybe the wheels (or one of them) might be slightly damaged/bent and possibly causing the issue. The tires on this thing have about 9k miles on them and while I"d like to go to a larger wheel I am to cheap to buy new tires too. Will any wheel w/ the right hole pattern and spacing work on an Audi (provided I buy centering rings too?)
Any chance the shutter could be CV joints?
I'd consider the vibration in the wheel more of a wobbly/side to side movement on the steering wheel than an up and down feeling (like a tire being out of balance)
if the wheels were balanced by a fitter on the correct machine the the wheel its self will be true but if you fit the wheel without the spigot ring it throws the center out so it will be out of center while on the car,
I have stock 16" wheels on my A6 too. But i really dont think that I have centering rings on them. I just had my tires done and I watched the dude take all the wheels off and everything and I didnt see them. Are the stock wheels supposed to have them??
so I am attempting to diagnose the problem and noticed this morning that it takes some time before the wobble actually starts. So I think it's a part getting hot (either a CV joint or possibly tires/wheels needing to heat up before becoming an issue) What do you guys think?
Your tires are shot! As they get warm they change shape. Been there, done that. New tires with a road force balance on your stock wheels and all will be good again, for about 20,000 miles anyway, then you will have the same thing again.
I had a very similar problem and it turned out to be a twisted or broken belt in the tire. It was the strangest thing, the tire would balance out correctly but when put back on the car it would act up intermittently. It rarely caused problems with cold tires but after warming up I would get this strange wobble at certain speeds above 55MPH. every so often it would cause a wobble at slower speeds as well. I finally replaced all 4 tires and I have never had a problem since.
I guess I'll start w/ the tires first? I called Euroteck in Marietta, GA today and talked with a guy named Kenny. It was towards the end of the day and he said he'd have to get back to me. I hope to hear from him tomorrow w/ some ideas on what it might be. I had this pinned (just a hunch) that it would be CV joints.
78,000 miles the outside boots are likely ready to let go on the CV joints if they haven't already. You will have grease all over inside the rim area. Expect to change them. They just let go on my daughters Passat at 68,000 miles. I just replace the entire shaft, inner and outers CV's from the local parts store for about $125 each side if I remember. They let go on my 02 A6 around 75,000 miles. The shake is coming from your tires though. That will happen about every 20-25,000 miles. That is about all a set of good tires will last before they rattle your teeth out.
Yep, I put 114,000 miles on my 02. And it was like clockwork. 28,000 is the longest I got out of a set. I don't know why but these cars are very hard on tires. Now we'll see how my new c6 version is. It appears like it might be better but I've only put 10,000 on the car so far. We'll find out down the road. Any other brand of vehicle I've had could go 60-80,000 miles. Maybe the lo-profile, I don't know why but they eat them for breakfast.
Well I am leaning more and more towards tires and wheels (not that I haven't heeded your advice Knapp)
I took it into another tire shop on Saturday and had them do a tire balance and rotation. They also checked the CV joints and found no tears in the boots. Long story short is the shutter in the wheel is now at a different speed. It doesn't "kick in" until 58 mph whereas before it was as low as 45 mph.
This leads me to believe a tire issue, correct? The shop said they tested the wheels and couldn't see any bends, although I cant vouch for how scientific their check was. He said while spinning the wheel on the balancer they place a marking device next to the wheel and see if the wheel bumps the marking device while the wheel is spinning. Does that sound like a good way to test the wheel?
That is what I have been trying to tell you. Tires, Tires, Tires!!!!!!!!!! Change to some quality tires and have them installed at the Audi dealer with a road force balance. Then be prepared to do it all over again at 25,000 miles. Been there, done that, many times over.
I would go with nothing larger than a 17" wheel on the C5. Stick with factory OEM wheel's! I have a set (5) of perfect wheels and tires off a 05 3.2 A6 that I had on my 2.7t that I took off before trading the car in if your interested. 4 have near brand new 235/45/17 Yokahoma H4's on that have only 1800 miles on, and the spare is the origional Pirrelli P6 brand new never run. The wheels are perfect and have never been curbed, they are like new! The Yokos were installed by the Audi dealer with a road force balance. I can take pics for you if interested. $800 for all 5 wheels and tires. Can't beat that deal, ready to bolt on.
Posts: 701
Joined: 9/8/2006 From: Holland MI Status: offline
jrandol -
Not sure any one answered, but before you buy rims make sure they will clear your brake calipers and have the proper offset. I never noticed spigot (or centering) rings on my OEM rims but they definitely were on my 18" SSRs. The ones that came with the car were metal but I had to replace them with plastic because that was all I could find.
Yes - an experienced wheel balancer can watch the tire spin and tell you if the rim is bent. I had two slightly bent rims on my Coopers and I replaced all rims before buying the Contis.
I would not recommend larger than an 18" because of increased risk of damage to the rim and tire, and due to tire prices go up dramatically for larger rims.
I burned through 4 tires out of 6 Coopers and finally demanded Discount Tire replace them. I got Continentals for my summer tires on 18" rims. These are supposedly OE tire on A8 and hard enough to stand up to the demands of quattro.
That is exactly the reason I won't run anything other than FACTORY RIMS. Aftermarket wheels can, and has been done, but it can get to be a real pain in the buttox! Excentric rings, hitting brake calipers, studs the wrong length, cheap wheels that bend, finish that flakes off.,ect. ect. Nothing better than a factory OEM wheel and a good Audi dealer road force balance job. Been there and done that, won't go there again.
I am having a similar shudder at 50-70 mph as the one described in this post. I have been told by Audi dealership (with road force balancer) that my tires are the problem. I have read that Audis are tough on tires but I was told by my local tire guy that the tires I have (ContiTouring Contact A/S) are wearing very nicely and have lots of tread left...my question is this: Can you tell whether the tires are causing a vibration by looking at them (assuming that they don't have major structural problems)? It just bothers me that this guy tells me that I have good tires with lots of wear left on them and I'm about to get rid of them based on the dealership's recommendation...and the dealer was trying to sell me the replacement tires. Thanks!
You can not tell by looking at them. They will have lots of tread left, but will shake so bad you just can't take it anymore. Something inside the tires go bad around 25,000 miles. New tires were the cure for me every time. It's just the way it was every 25,000 miles. I had 114,000 miles worth of it. You'll see.
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A6 shudder at speed - 
