jfintexas

I was in for an inspection the other day and was told I have an alignment issue (at lease front left) where there was some unusual tire wear. The car is lowered on H&R springs with 20x9 (+20) Forgestar CF-10s and Nitto 265/35 ZR 20s. I am taking it into to a specialty shop Saturday to have alignment fixed. Is there anything I need to provide them or is this pretty straight forward for a good shop?

Also, I attempted to rotate the tires during the inspection, plus had them balanced. After the rotation (rear to front on both sides), I was getting this nasty vibration. I had them immediately put back to original positions. The tires are all the same size but i suspect the original owner opted for different wheel offsets between the front and rear. For those of you that have done aftermarket, is that common to use different offsets from and rear? The car's stance is perfect, just want to get to know it better. I bought the car with this setup and do not know the original owner.

Thanks!

ecko707

The previous owner could have ran staggered on those custom rims.

jfintexas

Staggered meaning different offsets? I'll take a look when I have the wheels off tomorrow to see if there are any distinguishing notations on the rims. I don't mind the stagger. Just want to know what I am dealing with.

ecko707

Rear offsets can go wider than the front by 10mm in some setups.

jfintexas

Thanks Ecko. I think that's what I may be dealing with. No biggie. Just means I can't rotate.

jfintexas

So, I got the car back after the technician failed at getting the alignment back to close to factory specs. Taking the car back to the dealer to see what they can do. More to come...

feralc

My car had to be realigned twice after lowering, a little too much toe in in rear left wheel, hope the dealer can put it back to specs without the BS of an expensive bill and/or try to recalibrate the cameras and the side assist, the dealer tried with me and I didn't go with it.

jfintexas

I dropped it off to the dealer today. They are an exotic car dealer and used to dealing with custom configs on high-end cars. I am optimistic they'll get it set right. Problem seemed limited to front left. Wonder if maybe a slightly defective spring on that wheel. I'll check back with results.

jfintexas

Well, bad news regarding the alignment. They were not able to get it anywhere close to spec. The alignment specialist indicated I should expect tire wear on inside edge of each tire. The only tire that had visible wear was front left, but the alignment specs pretty clearly indicate camber variance out of spec on average of .07 - .10 on each tire. Left rear was the worst at .50 variance from spec.

Any other thoughts on this for those of you who have installed lower springs?

At this point, the dealer is exploring putting factory springs back on.

Ultimately, just a word of caution for those of you considering lowering your A7s.

Omnipotent

Wow.. not good. Sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with a new car. I just picked up the Eibach springs for my A7. Haven't had a chance to get them installed yet. Now I'm a little unnerved. Anyone else experiencing any ill effects after lowering/alignment?