Allroad C5 Ride Height Adjustment

[PCH]

For the past few years I've had the ride height set at level 1. After approx. 6K miles, (I don't drive it often) my front tires showed excessive wear only on the insides of the tires, the middle and outside showed little wear. I replaced the tires and then it went on the alignment rack. The alignment was spot on. Next all the suspension components were checked and no issues were found. This appeared to only leave one possibility, the level 1 setting. Is it possible leaving the suspension in the lowest setting could cause premature tire wear? I've contacted several dealers and independent shops only to get conflicting opinions. Look forward to your comments.

[happy2B5]

Was it on level 1 when alignment was spot on

[Black-Forest]

I'm not an expert on this but at what level did they set the base alignment at? In doing alignments I would assume they would set the car at a certain height like we would with say a Range Rover. I'm sure there is a spec for what height you set static alignment at.

[4rings2turbos]

Book is to do the alignment on level 2 and there is camber change between the levels. But of course the front wheels don't have camber adjustment, you need adjustable upper control arms for that.

[PCH]

Was it on level 1 when alignment was spot on

Level 2

[SteelyS6]

This is why you are seeing inner tire wear.

[PCH]

From the alignment computer. Maybe someone can help me decipher this.......
"Audi : all road Quattro : 2001-05 (1)

In vehicles with level control (1GB), switch on ignition before measurement, and wait until vehicle height control process is complete.

For vehicles with 4-wheel air suspension (1BY), such as the allroad quattro, vehicle must be at normal level. Be sure there is sufficient pressure in pressure resevoir. Deactivate the level control system by pressing the up and down buttons on the level control system operating unit sumultaneously for more than 5 seconds until LED indicators light up. Indicator in instrument cluster will also light up. Automatic height regulation switches off automatically at 10 kn/h."

[WCCoffey]

Because when a car is lowered it creates negative camber. Negative camber = inner tire wear

[PCH]

Because when a car is lowered it creates negative camber. Negative camber = inner tire wear

So are you saying one should not drive on level 1?

[WCCoffey]

You need to drive the car on what setting its aligned on, if you drive it on 1 and align it on 2 that's just silly. When you change the ride height you change the alignment. Should be self explanatory.

[WCCoffey]

Sounds like if you want to drive it on one, you need to align it on 1

[PCH]

This is why you are seeing inner tire wear.

Because it was aligned on level 2??

[PCH]

Sounds like if you want to drive it on one, you need to align it on 1

Are you saying it will require an alignment for each type of terrain you encounter on any given day? As far as I know the car was designed to be driven on all levels as necessary.

[SteelyS6]

If you drive most of the time in level 1 yes have it aligned at level 1.

[4rings2turbos]

Haha, the car was designed to be driven primarily in level 2 and 3 then a bit less commonly in level 1 and somewhat rarely in level 4. This is why the book says align in level 2 because it's a great compromise for tire wear. If you only drive in level 1 your only option for reducing wear with factory control arms is to check the toe up front. There is no camber adjustment on factory arms. The rear has factory camber adjustment though. If you're really concerned about the wear you can get adjustable upper control arms and then a new alignment in level 1 (you can still use level 2 and 3 no problem, but it is smart to get an alignment in a certain level if you use is predominantly, like Steely said). You can also ask for an alignment with tire wear in mind. Most German cars call to add extra toe in for high speed stability, but you don't have to have this.

The little paragraph you posted is just telling the tech to put the car into 'jack mode' it tells the suspension ecu to not make any ride height adjustments. You hold the ^ and v level buttons for 5 seconds.

[PCH]

Thank you everyone for your comments. I would think most city/highway allroad owners would prefer to drive on level 1 for handling. However, judging by the comments here that doesn't appear to be true.
4rings2turbos you mention the 'book' states to align on level 2. Are you referring to the owners manual? If so I haven't been able to locate that in the manual.

[happy2B5]

I think a lot of us do drive in 1 quite a bit. Also understand that the lower level introduces camber angles that will promote camber wear.

4rings is right in that toe adjustment combined with increased camber will wear tires quicker. I always ask the shop to set toe as close to 0 and combined with no cross camber will slow the wear some. Without adjustable ca's it is the best you can shoot for in an alignment.

I would have the shop set the alignment in 1 if you primarily drive in that level. See if it helps.

[jkag]

I run with negative camber and accept inner tire wear.

If your tires are not directional you can flip the tires left to right to even the wear

[toms73novass]

Left to right will not change things, the tire wear will still be on the inside. You have to dismount and remount on rim.

[4rings2turbos]

Yeah, rotating doesn't help in this case, but I think he was referring to the same thing. I have staggered, directional and asymmetrical tires that are about $2,500 a set new so I have adjustable uppers and camber and toe set to zero. My tires wear amazingly slow and evenly (very fresh and healthy suspension components certainly helps).

By the book I mean the service manual. Audi designed the allroad to be driven in level 3 on choppy city pavement, level 2 on rural 55mph type roads and level 1 on the highway. On my not-so-modded other allroad I drive exactly like this. Level 3 the vast majority of the time. Rides really nice and the car doesn't mind any type of road surface.

[PCH]

Although the roads in LA are no where near perfect, personally I don't have the need to drive at level 3. Again I would expect handling and fuel consumption to be at its best on level 1. I just noticed my ESP light doesn't go on when I start the car or by pressing the switch? Appears to be the opposite of what most encounter where the light always stays on. This error did not show up when the tech had the computer on it. Is this of any concern?

[4rings2turbos]

No, there's no need, it's simply how it was intended. But obviously many of us choose a different path from how it was setup at factory. I'm over 2" lower than factory on my other allroad and drive it like that almost exclusively.

[PCH]

Any comments on the ESP switch?

[happy2B5]

Do you have vagcom?

[PCH]

Do you have vagcom?

No. But isn't it odd it did not show up when the mechanic had it on the computer yesterday?

[happy2B5]

It does seem odd...any of your buddies have vagcom?

Tech may not have scanned that control module to have caught it.

[julex]

the problem is not camber but toe that changes with suspension level changes. When car is aligned in default L2, there is a positive toe set at that level. When you switch to L1, the geometry changes and tie rods pull the wheels into out-of-specs toe out causing major toe out and thus tire wear. The only problem with camber is that the effects of this are most visible on inner tire surface. If you were to drive on L4 all the time, the outsides would wear out in no time due to toe-in and positive camber

If you drive in L1 all the time, simply ask, and make sure personally by checking this with tech doing alignment, that the car is in L1 when he is turning wrenches.

BMW X3 and especially X5 have SEVERE negative camber in rear (To the point where it looks like the things will collapse any second now) and never any wear on tires to show for it since the rear toe is set to zero.

[4rings2turbos]

Brandon (Brandon002) said his X5 used to eat tires in the rear. I've read about ridiculous neg camber values for the X5 though. Odd geometry back there on those things or something.

[julex]

I had X5 for 5 years and rode over 100k miles on one set of tires and rear was never changed and had good amount of rubber left at the time I sold the car, all that while the car looked like it was taking crap all the time . Camber is complete non-issue if your toe is in check. When the toe is not in-check, the camber will then cause seemingly camber induced wear but again, it is toe not camber.

[PCH]

Surprised this wasn't discussed before? Thanks again for all your comments!

[4rings2turbos]

the car looked like it was taking crap all the time .

I lol'd

My allroad experience was with zero toe my camber wore my tires much quicker and on the inside than after adjustable control arms. Perhaps this was due to the type of extreme tire I was using. Toe in/out will definitely wear a tire extremely quickly but to say that placing forces on a smaller contact area won't wear that area quicker seems counter-intuitive. Toe is certainly the worst, but camber wear exists.

Easiest way to differentiate will be what the wear looks like, is it even? Camber wear. Is it cupping? Toe wear.

You had it for 5 years so how did you like that X5? They come with manual trans option I heard!?