What could cause my tires to cup?

[naiku]

What should I check for to try and find out why my car constantly causes my tires to be cupped? I have checked CV, wheel bearings, axle etc and found no real play, bushings? I have 125k, but its been doing this to various sets of tires for a while now. Handling is fine, no noise when turning sharply etc.

But, I am constantly cupping tires, and then having to deal with vibration and awful noise from the tires being messed up. Before I put on new tires I want to track down what could be causing it so that I don't have to deal with it again.

Thanks.

[TFSI]

shocks?

[JayDog747]

^ When was the last time you replaced your shocks? How often do you rotate and balance? alignment?

[SinCityA6]

Shocks/struts, balance and alignment are all contributors to uneven tire wear.

[doublezero30]

should be rotating every 5-7,000 miles, dont buy shitty tires as they are more likely to cup/scallop, make sure theyre inflated properly, make sure youre suspension parts are not worn out.

[Redryuu]

Over inflation

[FraggyA4]

I heard somewhere down the grapevine that we are not supposed to rotate our tires because of something to do with the quattro. I think this actually comes from the audi owner manual.

[JayDog747]

Wow! That grapevine sounds pretty sour. Would you quote where in the owners manual it states that about the tires.

[Stewy]

Cupping, or being worn on the outer edges, is usually caused by under-inflation of your tires. What PSI are you running in them? If only one of the outer edges is work, you most likely have an alignment problem.

[FraggyA4]

Wow! That grapevine sounds pretty sour. Would you quote where in the owners manual it states that about the tires.

So I wasn't exactly wrong...You don't get the usual tire rotation and the manual doesn't state any intervals it just says

"To ensure that the wear is equal on all tyres the wheels should be
changed round from time to time according to the system
⇒ fig. 263. All the tyres will then last for about the same time."

Figure 263 is just moving FL to BL and BL to FL and vise versa for the right side

This is on page 270 of the B8 A4 and I'm pretty sure it is the same on the B7

[PaulDeer]

Cupping, or being worn on the outer edges, is usually caused by under-inflation of your tires. What PSI are you running in them? If only one of the outer edges is work, you most likely have an alignment problem.

^this

If it is worn on both outer edges it is likely to be under inflated. If it is worn on center only it is likely to be over inflated. If it is uneven wear left to right, alignment is the best bet, and if your tyre is no longer round check your shocks first. Ive had all four happen on different cars.
If you still cant solve it, post a pic of your tyres and I'm sure you will get more responses. Good luck!