Driver Front Wheel Slipped or Siezed

[needmovies]

While driving to work today (20 minute trip), 15 minutes into the trip I felt the Driver Side Front Wheel slip or seize or something for maybe half a second then went back on running as normal. Drive to work is mostly local and back roads, so my max speed was around 50 mph with the majority of the trip running at 40 mph and nothing too crazy. Roads are nice and dry as well. Since it happened so quick, I didn't lose any control and neither was there any weird noises.

I haven't had any weird noises during driving, maybe some brake pad whine that started recently but that's about it. I also have some slight steering issues, steering feels tougher than normal specially at low speeds but this didn't feel like steering related. I also just got it inspected yesterday and I would assume that they would have let me know if there was something major in there that I haven't noticed.

Maintenance wise, I got my front control arms, suspensions, front wheel bearings, and tie rods replaced 2 years ago I think. I replaced my CV boots last summer since they were ripped (lowered car issues). Brake pads and rotors were done 3 years ago. Tires maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I only do 4k to 5k miles per year with only 20 to 30 miles per day so it doesn't even get beat up that match.


Hopefully I can drive it home just fine tonight and I'll check it out tomorrow. Any thoughts on what I should check? First on my list is the CV boots to see if they're ripped again and check to see if the joints have been damaged. I'll check the bearings as well for play. Those are what I can think of off of the top of my head.


Thanks

[john_gonzo]

This is disturbing. Rotating wheels are kind of essential to keeping the car on the road. And out of oncoming traffic.

Three things:
1. Brakes
2. Wheel bearings
3. Axle

Those are the only things that could prevent a wheel from rotating. I would start by inspecting the brakes since you mentioned they are making noise. Check for stones/debris wedged between the brake pads and rotor. Also, compare the front hub temperatures after you drive it a bit. A bad bearing will put more heat into the wheel.

Was there anything on the road that you may have run over? Something that acted like a mini wheel chock for that half second before the tire went over it?

What year, engine, trans?

[f0reignfeatures]

Get new tires.

Check the DOT code on the sidewall and you'll know exactly when they were manufactured. The last two numbers indicate the year (google it). Just because you bought them at a store doesn't mean they weren't sitting in a warehouse for a year or two before that.

There's more to the breakdown of the tire than just mileage. The tire gets hot and cold, even while sitting, and the rubber compound hardens and degrades, which may not be visible. My mechanic told me they should be swapped every 5 years because of this. He's a family friend and doesn't sell tires or mount them, so it's not like he was out to get my money by telling me that.

Also, even if you only ran 5k a year for the past 5 years that's 25k. My tires are only warrantied to 40k, and from what I've read (and started to feel) they lose their ability to grip much sooner than that. 4/32's is when my wear bars start to show and most brand new all season tires for our car come with 10/32's.

Get yourself a tire gauge for a dollar and check the tread yourself. As far as your state inspection, just know that sometimes, depending on the mechanic, they can be done very half-assed and unfortunately aren't always taken that seriously. Do the research yourself and don't be cheap, it's not just your life but everyone else's on the road at stake here. The last thing you want is to accidentally kill someone over a few hundred dollars.

If your car has quattro you'll need to replace all four at once to prevent issues with the drivetrain or at the very least have tires with the exact same tread pattern within 2/32's of each other. If you have FWD you can get away with just two but make sure the fresh ones are in the front.

Last thing, the tires need to be rotated every 10k. If you haven't done that they are worn unevenly and may be contributing to the slipping. Hope this helps, best of luck and drive safe!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[needmovies]

This is disturbing. Rotating wheels are kind of essential to keeping the car on the road. And out of oncoming traffic.

Three things:
1. Brakes
2. Wheel bearings
3. Axle

Those are the only things that could prevent a wheel from rotating. I would start by inspecting the brakes since you mentioned they are making noise. Check for stones/debris wedged between the brake pads and rotor. Also, compare the front hub temperatures after you drive it a bit. A bad bearing will put more heat into the wheel.

Was there anything on the road that you may have run over? Something that acted like a mini wheel chock for that half second before the tire went over it?

What year, engine, trans?

oh yes brakes makes sense I'll check that out. If the caliper was seizing and wasn't un-engaging when I lifted my foot off of the brakes, I could see that causing the one wheel to stop briefly.

road was clear if I remember correctly, plus there were some cars in front of me, I would have noticed if they tried to evade something


it's a B6 2003 3.0 with auto trans btw

Get new tires.

Check the DOT code on the sidewall and you'll know exactly when they were manufactured. The last two numbers indicate the year (google it). Just because you bought them at a store doesn't mean they weren't sitting in a warehouse for a year or two before that.

There's more to the breakdown of the tire than just mileage. The tire gets hot and cold, even while sitting, and the rubber compound hardens and degrades, which may not be visible. My mechanic told me they should be swapped every 5 years because of this. He's a family friend and doesn't sell tires or mount them, so it's not like he was out to get my money by telling me that.

Also, even if you only ran 5k a year for the past 5 years that's 25k. My tires are only warrantied to 40k, and from what I've read (and started to feel) they lose their ability to grip much sooner than that. 4/32's is when my wear bars start to show and most brand new all season tires for our car come with 10/32's.

Get yourself a tire gauge for a dollar and check the tread yourself. As far as your state inspection, just know that sometimes, depending on the mechanic, they can be done very half-assed and unfortunately aren't always taken that seriously. Do the research yourself and don't be cheap, it's not just your life but everyone else's on the road at stake here. The last thing you want is to accidentally kill someone over a few hundred dollars.

If your car has quattro you'll need to replace all four at once to prevent issues with the drivetrain or at the very least have tires with the exact same tread pattern within 2/32's of each other. If you have FWD you can get away with just two but make sure the fresh ones are in the front.

Last thing, the tires need to be rotated every 10k. If you haven't done that they are worn unevenly and may be contributing to the slipping. Hope this helps, best of luck and drive safe!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'll check for this, thanks. I did notice that the outer edge of the tire was getting more wear than the middle and the inner edge. I chocked this up to alignment issues after I lowered my car (I did get a realignment, but they could have missed something). I do rotate every 5k so all 4 should have fairly the same wear

[diagnosticator]

If a front wheel suddenly resisted freely rotating at the same RPM as the other wheels, however brief, it would impart a significant upset to the directional stability of the car.

This is exactly what the ESP function incorporated in the ABS system does when the ESP detects that the car is beginning to spin around the vertical axis of rotation. (Yaw axis,) When the rotation rate and angular acceleration around the yaw axis is detected that is inconsistent with the driver's steering wheel position/angle and assumed intended steering direction, the ESP performs a quick brake application to whatever wheel/s that when braked, will counteract the inconsistent rotation around the yaw axis to restore stability to the motion of the car. At higher road speeds, if a light brake action fails to cause the intended correction, the brake force is increased until the required directional control response is achieved.

The point with this explanation is that if the front wheel actually seized momentarily, considering the driving speed at the time it happened, it would not be a subtle event.

Hopefully, this info will help you contemplate what happened when the symptom occurred.

[needmovies]

If a front wheel suddenly resisted freely rotating at the same RPM as the other wheels, however brief, it would impart a significant upset to the directional stability of the car.

This is exactly what the ESP function incorporated in the ABS system does when the ESP detects that the car is beginning to spin around the vertical axis of rotation. (Yaw axis,) When the rotation rate and angular acceleration around the yaw axis is detected that is inconsistent with the driver's steering wheel position/angle and assumed intended steering direction, the ESP performs a quick brake application to whatever wheel/s that when braked, will counteract the inconsistent rotation around the yaw axis to restore stability to the motion of the car. At higher road speeds, if a light brake action fails to cause the intended correction, the brake force is increased until the required directional control response is achieved.

The point with this explanation is that if the front wheel actually seized momentarily, considering the driving speed at the time it happened, it would not be a subtle event.

Hopefully, this info will help you contemplate what happened when the symptom occurred.

I see what you're saying. That does make sense that if the wheel did seize, the ESP/ABS would have done something and I would have felt it more. Now I'm not sure what happened but it definitely was not normal


So I got the chance to take a look at it. Nothing out of the ordinary from the brakes, bearing, control arms, and cv joint. I'm not even sure where the whining sound comes from when I'm braking since the pads still has a good 10 mm on them.

What I did find though is that my front tires are in bad shape. It has more wear on the outer rim (this I already know from the last time I rotated). But the bad news is that the inner rim also has some really deep wear/damage. This must be something new since I last rotated my wheels 5k miles ago last year and it was fine. Could whatever is doing this also be the one making the whining sound?

From what I've read online, this is probably an alignment issue I guess? I can't even tell what it's rubbing against. It has good enough clearance and I can run my hand around the tire, but this is when I'm outside of the car. I wonder if I'm in the car if my extra weight is causing it to lower a bit and rub against something. I'm not even that heavy I'm only around 180 lbs. Closest I could think of that could rub is the upper part of the knuckle, the part that attaches to the upper control arms. Would spacers help with this?

What I did for now is I rotated the front and the rear tires so the damaged tires are at the back and good ones up front. So I'm definitely getting new tires and will get a realignment. I'm assuming it would be best to wait until after my realignment before I get new tires? Also wait until the spacer comes before getting new tires?

Any other ideas on what could have caused this?


Thanks


Here's some pics, starting with the outer rim wear:


Inner rim damage:


Here's the only rubbing I could see, it seems to be from when I turn and lockout to the left, the outer rim rub could rub there:

[f0reignfeatures]

Wow dude, you need new tires ASAP! That one in the second picture is going to blow at any moment. If it blows at highway speeds you and everyone around you are screwed.

Get new tires, drive it to an alignment shop and get it aligned right away. Better yet, do it all at the same place.

Don't take it somewhere that doesn't specialize in Audis or at the very least Euro cars. They wont do the job properly and you'll have to either take it to another place and pay to do it again or end up buying a new set prematurely (ask me how I know).

SERIOUSLY, get new tires now! You can't drive like that man, you're putting yourself and everyone else at risk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[visabroke]

as above that tyres done for, don't drive on it.

[needmovies]

roger on the new tires. I will order them today. I can use my wife's car in the meantime.

Don't take it somewhere that doesn't specialize in Audis or at the very least Euro cars. They wont do the job properly and you'll have to either take it to another place and pay to do it again or end up buying a new set prematurely (ask me how I know).

This is probably the issue. When I lowered my car 2 years ago and got a realignment, I took it to some generic local alignment shop. They didn't even give me one of those alignment reports that I see posted around here.


Any thoughts on NTB? They have a promotion going on right now where I can get 2 free tires if I buy 2 with their "Value Installation Package" which includes alignment and balancing. The tires that are on sale that I'm looking at right now is the Continental SureContact RX, which from what I've read is an NTB branded ExtremeContact DWS. I believe in the end I'd save the $120ish for the alignment.


edit: how about Pep Boys? It's $100 more than NTB including the alignment but I can get the tires today, compared to getting them next week from NTB.


Another option would be to get the tires today from Pep Boys, then get the alignment from a separate shop later this week. I will go with this option if NTB or Pep Boys is not good for alignments.

[diagnosticator]

If you don't know of an alignment shop that knows Audis, go to the dealer for an alignment. It's not really more expensive than other shops for this.