uberwgn

Nick, as the others have pointed out, there are so many potential problem areas.

Did you have all 4 tires checked on a RoadForce machine with a skilled operator running it? Or just 2 tires? Do all 4 wheels spin true when viewed on the balancer?

Any possibility you could find a friend with an Audi that would permit you to swap all tires/wheels and test drive the car on the highway to see if the problem still exists.

Do you believe your front end is tight?

nickwh

I took the car to an independent wheel repair specialist. This is all they do. The have a Hunter RF balancer and they checked all 4 wheels. Like I said, the front two wheels were slightly bent. The rear wheels were straight but the tires were not round. I had the front wheels straightened and rebalanced and the rear tires were remounted and balanced to minimize the high point on the tire (but still couldn't be made perfect). They showed me the results on the machine.

The front suspension seems fine to me and I've been driving the car for 5 years. I had a 4-wheel alignment done when the tires were put on last October. There is no play in the steering wheel, no pulling, and the shocks still work well over bumps.

My brother has a 2005.5 A4 3.2 with the same wheel & tire size. He doesn't have any of the bent wheel/vibration issues I have. After spending $700 on tires/installation last year and $250 this year to fix vibration I don't exactly want to spend my weekend swapping wheels in the driveway to troubleshoot.

uberwgn

Did all this start when you had the new tires installed? If so, you may just have a crappy set of tires and no amount of re-balancing and tweaking is going to make that go away. I've experienced this with a set of cheap Yokos on my beater car. Belt problems and out-of-round after just a few thousand miles. They could not be properly balanced regardless how many attempts were made. I'm glad I didn't drive that car often on the highway. I would have gone mad otherwise.

Lots of people ride around with bent wheels where the roads suck. You might never know it if you rode in their car.

One of the tire "experts" I know starts to get worried when he sees measured road force exceed the 15 - 18 lb range. He will reject tires and return them for a replacement. I've seen tires all over the place. Probably the best set of tires I've seen in recent history was the Bridgestone Turanza on my wife's previous wagon. They'd all come in around 2 - 4 lb range...and they were quiet and smooth.

nickwh

When I had the tires installed at the dealer last year and brought it back complaining of the vibration, they confirmed the first bent wheel. When I asked them how they balanced it out and why they didn't tell me about it in the first place the response I got from the service adviser was "everyone's got a bent wheel, it's not a big deal, just live with it."

And that pretty much sums up my service/ownership experience with Audi.

I think the best solution to my problem is getting out of this brand.

Just Me

but if he got 4 bad tires, they should show up in roadforce measurements, or be visible when spun at high speed.

if you really had them all on the 9500, and the guy was really good, you do have a mystery.

As i noted, i believe the 9500 is a crutch for people who don't like to squint watch the rim; then watch the bead, then watch the tread. In that order.

G

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Naah....just find a better dealer and technician..

nickwh

Thanks all. There is no doubt that I have at least 2 bad tires. I just need to make a decision now whether to replace just the tires, or both wheels and tires. More money I hadn't planned on spending...

Just Me

if you know you have two bad tires, its pretty simple.

Consider replacing 4 tires with slightly larger ones if you are concerned with bent rims.

Temporarily move bad tires to rear to minimize issues if you want to extend wear.

G