Inside wear on front tire - DRC? Control Arm? Help?

[BenA]

I think I've found a few of you out there (Benman, DuckWingDuck, etc.) who have been through this same issue (Thread..."Ooooops"), but wanted to check to see if there has been any more definitive fix to address.
I've attached some pictures of my driver front tire... I took it in to the tire shop today thinking I had a slow leak from a puncture, but when they raised it up... the inside half inch or so of tread was totally ground off. I've never heard a rubbing noise and we couldn't identify anything inside the wheel well that would be a constant rubbing threat... so I go to my favorite rs6.com and see that it's very likely a compromised DRC (or other suspension failure) that is causing the tire (at some point) to rub on the control arm? Just for additional info, the passenger front does not show any rubbing.

So I guess I will take this into my Audi dealer, but I was hoping to provide a little direction to them in terms of what to look for because they have very limited RS6 experience.

Thanks!

[AudiRS4ever]

Did you have it re-aligned after the DRC recall was performed? It could be something as simple as that.

[hahnmgh63]

Both tires or only one? Has the car been lowered? Lowering the car will increase the positive camber resulting in more inside tire wear. I had this happen on my old S6 that I lowered without aftermarket camber plates. My RS6 is lowered (KW V3's) but the camber isn't too bad, a little more than OEM but I wanted a little extra for handling and occaisonal track time.

[BenA]

Did you have it re-aligned after the DRC recall was performed? It could be something as simple as that.

I don't believe the DRC recall was performed. I bought the car from a dealer who said they completed the DRC recall, but I didn't believe them. Based on the timing, it would have been the first DRC repair in the country and there is no record in Audi service records for this car having the DRC service performed.

The car has not been lowered and all suspension components are OEM to my knowledge.

[BenA]

Both tires or only one? Has the car been lowered? Lowering the car will increase the positive camber resulting in more inside tire wear. I had this happen on my old S6 that I lowered without aftermarket camber plates. My RS6 is lowered (KW V3's) but the camber isn't too bad, a little more than OEM but I wanted a little extra for handling and occaisonal track time.

It's only on the one (driver side) front tire. The wear is at such an extreme angle that it can't be camber wear from how the rubber is hitting the road. It would have to be too much camber that has resulted in rubbing on the upper control arm if anything.

[ben916]

Take it in to the stealership and have them pull up the service records. The recall is about one full page of parts/labor/etc....

[snoopra]

Looks like it could be rubbing, have you checked the suspension under where the upper control arms connect to the upright? The rest of the tire thread looks fine, so you can't rule out rubbing.

[RS6Steve]

Sounds like the nobly bit we all discuss in the UK!

My offside front started to separate and caused all sorts of issues, so that would be your nearside. replaced DRC with PSS9,s and Bridgestones. No more problem

[V8weight]

I seriously doubt that this is due to any type of rubbing. Wear like that usually has to do with excessive toe, not camber. With my car being lowered, I run about 1.8 degrees of negative camber, and still have even tire wear. Here's a couple of pics of the same kind of wear on my tires when I decided to experiment with aggressive toe in, and drove down to Arizona and back. In less than 4000 miles I shaved the inside shoulder of these tires right off. I would have the alignment checked.
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/006-3.jpg
http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww228/Pellis833/009-1.jpg

[Elevens]

I seriously doubt that this is due to any type of rubbing. Wear like that usually has to do with excessive toe, not camber. With my car being lowered, I run about 1.8 degrees of negative camber, and still have even tire wear. Here's a couple of pics of the same kind of wear on my tires when I decided to experiment with aggressive toe in, and drove down to Arizona and back. In less than 4000 miles I shaved the inside shoulder of these tires right off. I would have the alignment checked.

Totally agree with you. My lowered A6 had this Inside tire wear issue. couldn't get around it since it was lowered and factory specs could not be attained. I was determined not the let this happen with the RS. So I bought a pair of Sterns Adjustable upper links. And even though the car sits aggressively low all 4 wheels aligned up perfectly, no abnormal tire wear. I don't think Bens car is lowered, but that definitely looks like an alignment Issue.......

[hahnmgh63]

The question is why is it only the one side? Something must be damaged or a bushing almost completely gone. Does it clunk or a knocking sound on the drivers side? If the DRC hasn't been done then something is completely gone on that side. Try measuring the fender height, either from the ground to the fender lip or the standard center of the wheel hub to the fender lip and see if the drivers & passenger sides are different. How many miles are on the car? The drivers side wheel needs to be pulled and a visual inspection of all the control arm bushings & DRC strut for leaking or any abnormality.

[Bigglezworth]

You would have excessive feathering. Toe-in/toe-out or a bad bushing.

10180

[BenA]

The question is why is it only the one side? Something must be damaged or a bushing almost completely gone. Does it clunk or a knocking sound on the drivers side? If the DRC hasn't been done then something is completely gone on that side. Try measuring the fender height, either from the ground to the fender lip or the standard center of the wheel hub to the fender lip and see if the drivers & passenger sides are different. How many miles are on the car? The drivers side wheel needs to be pulled and a visual inspection of all the control arm bushings & DRC strut for leaking or any abnormality.

There are no noises whatsoever from either side, but I suspect a bushing or severe alignment issue. The wear is at such an angle that is almost has to be rubbing on the upper control arm... I'd think a toe or camber issues would create more wear on the tire than just on the extreme side of the tread. I've not noticed a fender height difference, but I've not measured it either. There are about 60k miles on the car. It's scheduled for a trip to the dealership tomorrow. I will give them some hints based on what has been discussed here, and I'll let you all know what they find.

[BenA]

You would have excessive feathering. Toe-in/toe-out or a bad bushing.

10180

I'm getting an error message when I try to read this attachment... do you mind reposting?

[Bigglezworth]

Tire wear

10187

[V8weight]

Tire wear

10187
Great chart Bigglezworth, It drives my point home perfectly, BenA has a toe problem.

[Audi-RS6]

Alignment!
Bring it to the shop and ask them to make toe for the front and rear: 0.1 degrees in total (0.05left/0.05 right), same for the back

[BenA]

Great chart Bigglezworth, It drives my point home perfectly, BenA has a toe problem.

Ding Ding Ding! I think we have a winner!

The dealership could find nothing wrong with the suspension, and now we're pretty sure the DRC has been replaced per the recall.

It appears as though a pothole at some point caused driver front and back TOE alignment issues. Before the alignment, front was at 0.35 degrees and now it is at 0.15 degrees (within spec). They didn't believe that toe was out far enough to cause the tire wear I experienced, but that's the only explanation we have at this point.