Montreal allroad

I've had the 45MPH wobble for about a month now and just had time to bring my car to the dealer yesterday.

According to my dealer, the cause of the wobble is from excess dirt build up on the twin-spoke wheels. They've had a few allroads come in with the same problem and apparently, I would not be able to clean the wheels myself without taking them off.

During the service they also rotated and balanced the tires.

This brings up an interesting (and very annoying) thing: I paid extra to have a wobble that will be reoccuring over time!?

QQQQuattro

Yes, the dirt/snow buildup can be a problem, and can exhibit behavior similar to the 45mph wobble widely discussed here. But this is an entirely different issue from what you may be experiencing (if you have a Tip??). If it was only a wheel issue, then it wouldn't be isolated to just the Tip allroads. NONE of the 6-speed folks have ever had this, and only a certain percentage of the Tip owners. And the same thing has been discussed over on the A6 board, and they don't have twin-spokes!

Audi has acknowledged this to be a problem, and will either flash your existing TCM (transmission control module) with the new software or give you a new TCM (depending on what is most convenient at the time). Depending on the severity of the wobble, results have been mixed. I know of two people on the list that the wobble came back after a short time, while I've seen a couple other posts that said it was fixed. I had mine replaced two weeks ago, and so far it is fixed also.

I have a short document that I took to the dealer that explains the symptoms. I pulled some of the information off a post on the A6 list, as there is some excellent information over there about this problem. Evidently it was good enough that I didn't have to go through the hassle of dealing with them troubleshooting wheel issues first; they went straight to the TCM based on what I gave them. Let me know if you'd like a copy, as I could send it to you if the wobble continues to be a problem.

Good luck in getting a speedy resolution.

HPH

Although I've only had the wobble problem when my wheels were full of snow, from following the discussion of this issue over the last eight months I'm convinced that there has to be more to it than just dirty wheels for some people.

One thing that might help before a dealer visit would be to use a very high-pressure wash system on the wheels. When I had snow built up in there and was trying to scrape it out (what fun!), I found that there's a plastic disk behind (inboard of) the rotors (on my '01) that is only an inch or so smaller than the inside diameter of the wheels. Stuff builds up on both sides of this disk (and the snow froze to it, &%$#&) and is hard to remove from the inboard side. This may be what the dealer was refering to with regard to removing the wheels to get 'em clean. FYI, my back wheels were the worst.


A few quarters in one of those do-it-yourself car washes could do the trick, however. And if you go into the dealer with squeaky-clean wheels plus the wobble, well, how are they going to weasel out of that? HPH

ioh-ar

I'm going in for the 10k service and want to be well armed(informed)when I discuss the wobbles with them.

Many thanks.

QQQQuattro

You have mail.

ioh-ar

Thanks much...good information.

downhillspeed

How long did this wobble take to develop? I just purchased a 2002 Tip and I noticed something not quite right about the steering feel from the moment I drove the car off the lot - with 15 miles on the odo.

Also, how severe are the symptoms? Does it feel like tires out of balance? That's sort of what I've experienced.

hkallroad

It has nothing to do with the twin spoke. Why? Because I have the wobble and I also have the standard wheel.

JBaumgart

No luck with my dealer - would appreciate the documentation also - thanks.

QQQQuattro

Need your e-address...shoot me an email and I'll get it right back to you.