Tyres & steering - Tram lining at speed???

[lellaS4]

Hi all,
I would really like to know if any of you are suffering, with nervious steering and bad tram lining at speed???

I have So3's all round.
The front tyres have about 2mm of tread before the wear indicator and not badly scrubbed (as we have just swapped them front to rear).
On fast - less than smooth 'A'roads the steering is very nervous at speed 90+ you have to hang on tight with both hands with no hope of using all the grunt of the engine.

Any body else suffer this???

Is the suspension on these S4's so edgy that the car only runs well with new tyres???

John
Imola S4 (that's lella!)
H&R's - Short shift
Viper dump valves etc.
- and a car that cant really use all the standard grunt!

P.S. if you are lurking on this forum tonight, it was good to see you today Simon, yer car looks great (better if it was Yella).

[jeffw]

I would suggest that you need a four wheel alignment from a reputable garage (eg AmD or Kim Collins). The car should not be like that.

[wazza]

Two other things to check:
- tyre pressure could be lowered?
- could be the stiff H&Rs?

[Golich]

I take it the tyres are wearing evenly? Suggesting the alignment is ok?

I'm getting a lot of tram lining with this new RS4 over my S4 but nothing to cause me concern. I imagine the farely worn Pzeros are to blame.

I certainly noticed quite a deteriation in the rear feed back/handling in my previous S4 on part worn rear tyres.

Intially when I bought mine it had quite worn rears down to the indicators and it gave the impression of skipping sideways over a couple of particular manhole covers and a bit of tramlining. So I checked all the bushes and tyre wear but it all checked out ok then I took it to the dealer who also confirmed ok. I even had a 4 wheel alignment done by Star Performance. All fine. I eventually changed the rear tyres for SO3 and this made a tremendous improvement.

But it still wasn't quite right. Eventually I changed to RS4 shocks n springs as it became clear after a couple of test drives of the new S4 and an RS4 around the time I took a trip to the West Coast's windy roads just how worn and under performing my shocks n springs were. This made the biggest improvement. My shocks were clearly worn after 35-40K!

Another experience, Both a friend and I had exactly what you describe on Ford Orion injections. He changed his tyres round front to back no improvement. Then he took them of the rims and changed them round. This solved his problems I never got to solve mine as I wrote if off! [img]images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Sorry it's nothing conclusive. I'd check the following in the order of cheapest first,

1. Shocks for leakage - milage
2. Springs - you may have a broken one. You can loose a couple of inches of length on the actual coil ends and not really notice the car leaning slightly! [img]images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]
3. Anti roll bar bushes and mountings
4. Ball joints and bushes, there are so many on the S4
5. The subframe and more improtantly the bolts for tightness onto the chassis
6. The steering rack

Most of these can be checked quite easily and quickly i.e little cost involved.

7. 4 wheel alignment AMD, Star Performance etc, there are many others offer this service

Note if checking the ball joints make sure the who ever does this doesn't just jack one side of the car up to check the ball joints then the other side. In doing this the anti roll bar applies a huge torque to the side in the air and can hold the joints together to such a degree you can't feel any play!



Good luck

[Nige_RS4]

Have you got the std S4 aloys or aftermarket jobbies ? I have 18" RS4 reps and get some tram-lining when braking from high speed on a badly cambered road, but nothing untoward during acceleration ??

[Dippy]

I get some tram-lining and thought that all S4s suffered from it to a certain extent. However mine is only occasionally irritating whereas yours sounds like a real problem.

[Carps]

I'm running Conti Sport Contact IIs on 18" rims on my S4 and get no tramlining. That goes for the stock suspension and the H&R I am running now.
I was running Michelin Pilot IIs on the standard rims with stock suspension and was also getting no tramiling then.

I am inclined to agree with the others that you have a bit of an alignment problem. Kim Collins charges about £70 for a four wheel jobbie, as I believe AMD do too.

[lellaS4]

Hi all,
Thanks for the thoughts, I have done some more research.
I have come to the conclusion its the So3's or the Toe settings.

I have just had the alignment done at AMD along with new front arms and bushes.

This is what I have found in the last months.

1 - H&R's removed the standard S4 tramlining at slow speeds.
2 - Tramlining got worse when the slightly more worn tyres from the rear were put on the front.
3 - The new arms and bushes removed the steering movement when the suspension compresses (hurrah!) and has masked some of the tramlining at speed.
4 - I posted the same message on Audiworld last night and had three guys stating that So3' tramline badly as they wear - they were both S4 and RS4 owners.
5 - Also as the car is lowered the camber is increased and the toe also needs adjusting, so its worth a discussion with those 'fine AMD fellows' regarding this.

ANYONE HAD ANY TOE TRACKING PROBS WITH LOWERED CARS???

6 - I think the S4/RS4 chassis isnt great with tyres on the front. (unlike the original Quattro's) I suspect the liner block pattern of So3's will be more prone to tramlining.

Next, I am going to try 4 new Goodyear F1's, (more money) the tread pattern is not linear and on other cars I have had they have never let me down.

ANYBODY GOT F1'S ON THEIR CAR???

Finally - If that doesnt work its a large hole for the S4 and a rear drive car for me! (sorry!)

ANYONE WANT ANY PART USED SO3'S TO TRY OUT! ! ! ??? [img]images/graemlins/biggrin3.gif[/img]

[ibboS4]

Hi John & yup, good to meet up the other day & have lunch (thanks again!).

How is the car after the day at AMD??

What was the bill like? [img]images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]

[Mik]

I have 18" RS4 replicas with F1 GSD3's and get some tram-lining when braking from high speed on a badly cambered road, or when hitting white lines - but only when braking. My S4 Avant is a generally little uneasy on the road (have to catch the wheel on occasion), but I think thats because my suspension is badly worn (after nearly 70k). I am changing to RS4 suspension shortly.

Mik [img]images/graemlins/s4anogaro.gif[/img]