Vibration Issues

[Meteor Ghost]

Here's my recent experience with the vibration issue.



http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...848/index.html

[Meteor Ghost]

Just a little more of an update for my vibration is that I have not noticed a thing since having the wheels road force balanced. I driven all day with the car and no vibration.

I feel rather lucky as of right now but I'll definitely continue to look at it.

[LonestarS5]

Anyone know if they replace both the upper and lower control arms, or just one of them?

[generationwhy]

pretty sure its just the lower control arms....main culprit imo though was the tires....the Dunlops are awful

[danman]

I too had roadforce balance last week and vibration is GONE. yippee!!!

[PeteA5]

Hey guys, have an 08 A5, 17,500 miles on it... have vibration problems. Brand new tires in the front now and still hasn't fixed my problem.

Going to check tomorrow about the control arms and road force balance, this thread really helped me out hopefully it will work out tomorrow.

[srlash]

Hey Guys,

This is a long shot, but I had a 1975 Ford Mustang that always
did the same thing you all are describing here. Always got a steering
wheel shake but this would start at 52mph. Lived with it for a while till
I found out that the rack and pinion mount point bushings were way to
hard. Ford replaced them with softer rubber mount bushings...steering
wheel shake and vibration gone. It's just something to consider. For the
the record I own a 2009 Audi A5 with the Pirelli's and do not have any
vibration issues. Wish you all the best of luck with your vibration issues,
I was ready to drive that Mustang off a cliff.

Steve

[denakno]

After have read this thread (twice), here's my input.
I've got a 2009 S5 (with 3G MMI = a late 09 model).

I had my car for about 4000 miles without any issues until the dealer installing KW V1 coilovers. That's when the vibration/steering wheel shimmy problem occured (between 50-70 mph). Before that I didn't notice any problems, neither with 20" BBS with Michelin PS2s or stock setup 18" continental.

After have read a couple of threads I thought it might have to do with the 20" wheels, so did the dealer. So today we decided to put on the 18" stock setup. The problem is still there, in a smaller scale, but definately still noticeable and annoying.

My gut feeling told me it had something to do with the coilovers... but after have read this thread for the second time I'm not sure anymore. Besides if it would have to do with the coilovers, shouldn't we feel a vibration in the car itself instead of the steering wheel. My dealer tells me it has to be some kind of unbalance somewhere, otherwhise we wouldn't have felt it in the steering wheel?

I'm not sure that replacing the control arms and such would help? Since I have a late 09 model. But I'll ask them and see what they'll say.

Those of you who have replaced the control arms, how's everything now?

Edit: Btw, it doesn't matter if the car/tires are warm or cold. I have this vibration issue all the time between 50-70 mph.


My God, I'm having nightmares about this

[morski]

I personally dont see how it could be the control arms as these don't rotate with the wheel and cant cause vibrations. A faulty control arm would relate mroe to poor or 'skippy' handling.
That leaves the wheels, drive shafts and bearing assemblies. The wheels i think we could eliminate as lots of owners have changed the wheels and the problem is still there. Bearing assemblies; i think if these were a bit dodgy then there would be bearing noise as well as the vibration and the vibration would be felt at all speeds. This leave sthe driveshafts; these could well be the culprits as the main shaft is fully balanced at speeds during manufacture. Maybe Audi has got these made from some cheaper outlet and they have not done the balancing 100% correct. IIRC there was a member here who's dealer swapped the driveshafts and eliminated the vibration issue.
I do wonder that thoise of you that have had the road force balance done; is this a permanent fix or a temporary fix? Time will tell

[LittleDevil]

S5 Steering wheel vibration Article in Edmunds.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2...mktid=cj260233

[denakno]

Originally Posted by LittleDevil

S5 Steering wheel vibration Article in Edmunds.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2009/07/2009-audi-a4-and-s5-steering-vibration-wrap-up.html#more?mktcat=enabler&AID=10364102&PID=31964 82&kw=N&synpartner=edmunds&mktid=cj260233

Great article. Thanks!

[loc]

BTW I collected much of this stuff in one article, for the retrofit site I frequent, a while back if anyone wants to recap:

Tyre and vibration issues in Audi A4 B8/A5
http://a6retrofit.tripod.com/article...vibration.html

[markus]

Just to note that I solved my issue by changing all four tyres (same make of tyre). Just goes to show (I think) that is issue is not down to any one thing - which of course makes it that much harder to fix!

Mark

[denakno]

Originally Posted by loc

BTW I collected much of this stuff in one article, for the retrofit site I frequent, a while back if anyone wants to recap:

Tyre and vibration issues in Audi A4 B8/A5
http://a6retrofit.tripod.com/article...vibration.html

Thanks loc, nice of you to take the time

[LittleDevil]

Can someone contact Edmunds to see which control arms was installed before they change them and after.

I can see in ETKA: 8K0 407 693K and 8K0 407 694N.

Best Regards

[denakno]

Originally Posted by LittleDevil

Can someone contact Edmunds to see which control arms was installed before they change them and after.

I can see in ETKA: 8K0 407 693K and 8K0 407 694N.

Best Regards

LittleDevil, are these the part numbers for the new parts installed on the A/S5 from the factory? Or the old parts before they got replaced?

[IN3731Z]

Originally Posted by denakno

LittleDevil, are these the part numbers for the new parts installed on the A/S5 from the factory? Or the old parts before they got replaced?

Those are the newest partnumbers.

[denakno]

Originally Posted by IN3731Z

Those are the newest partnumbers.

Which means it's the part numbers of the flawed control arms?

[IN3731Z]

Originally Posted by denakno

Which means it's the part numbers of the flawed control arms?

Okay I mean that is the latest numbers and the newest arms.
Är du med vad jag menar?

[srlash]

I believe I mentioned bushings as a possible problem
several pages back. My 75 Mustang suffered from this
problem and was eventually fixed for free out of warranty.
I am absolutely amazed over thirty years later and car
maunufacturers are still making the same mistakes with
rubber bushings of all things. Oh well, I hope this brings to
an end the vibration issues to a otherwise perfect car !!!

P.S I would buy new tires and always have the tires balanced
on my 75 Mustang and the vibration would be less noticable...
but the root problem was not cured;bad bushings, and sooner
than later the vibration problem would be back.

[loc]

Just to keep things cross-referenced for future use, an angle of this topic is being discussed here:

Anyone that has a A5/S5 2009 with vin-number after 028000?
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...222/index.html

IN3731Z

Is there anyone that owns a A5/S5 2009 with a vin-number after 028000 or even better an 2010 model? the thing is that after that vin-number there are new rear control arms. If no one has the vibration issue after that vin-number maybe that is the biggest problem with the vibrations.

Serdinya

My vin is several hundred after 028000 - I don't have any vibration issues (as yet!)

Hobbes

My VIN is after 35000 and I have the high-speed vibration.

gotboost?

My dealer tells me that replacing the control arms will take care of the problem. Apparently it's not an Audi TSB remedy, but a proven dealer remedy. Road force balancing is really a band aid and not a real fix for the real problem IMO. Ask them to replace the front control arms. I don't have the vibration issue yet, but I anticipate on getting the vibration as I am putting on spacers tomorrow and the coilovers on Friday.

Also this thread:

Update on Vibration Issue
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...86/index2.html

[loc]

Just to keep things linked, the new TSB content is being searched for here. If anyone knows more about this TSB, maybe a PDF? (I also only know the number mentioned on Edmunds or somewhere):

New TSB on A5/S5 steering wheel vibration?
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...276/index.html

[Meteor Ghost]

Here's an update from myself. As noted in an earlier thread that I had road force balancing done at the dealer and the vibration was cured. Well I come to find out that once I installed my H&R wheel spacers, the vibration is back. I took off the spacers and the vibration is gone.

I put them back on and it is still there but I called to dealer to find out "exactly" what they did and I did find out that they did not road force balance the tires they just balanced the front two and moved the front two to the rear of the car. They checked the rears and they were fine, then moved the rears to the front.

But I now have the look of the spacers but now must live with the vibration until this gets fixed. I may have my all of my wheels road force balanced with the lower road force values put towards the driver then the next higher value at the right front, then left rear and finally right rear.

[RGBArgee]

You can't really blame Audi if the vibration only happens when you fit spacers. Does seem rather strange though. I had a similar problem on a 60's Mini Cooper on 10in wheels which really firmed up on my keep it standard views.

Good luck though.

Cheers
RG

[LittleDevil]

ETKA for EU spec. cars...

As we can see part 1 and 2 (bushing) is also different A5/S5 2009 with vin-number after 027700...



Here are part numbers for lower-front control arms (number 7), also different A5/S5 2009 with vin-number after 028000... number 8 (bushing) is the same for all control arms.



Interesting that part 19 also have different part number for A5/S5 2009 with vin-number after 028000...



So all who have vibration and want to replace lower-front control arms also need to change part 1 and 19 or not?

ETKA for USA spec. cars also have different part numbers:

Here are part numbers for lower-front control arms (number 7), also different A5/S5 2009 with vin-number after 028000... number 8 (bushing) is different for 8K0 407 639R and 8K0 407 694R control arm and there is also one date 20.7.2009...



So all who already have control arms replaced and vibration is gone, please ask your dealer for part numbers and what did they also change on your car!

Best Regards

[loc]

Just to keep things linked again...

This issue is currently being discussed here and here:

Vibration issue-Fixed?
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...848/index.html

Update on Vibration Issue
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthrea...86/index2.html

[Graham]

Originally Posted by Meteor Ghost

Here's an update from myself. As noted in an earlier thread that I had road force balancing done at the dealer and the vibration was cured. Well I come to find out that once I installed my H&R wheel spacers, the vibration is back. I took off the spacers and the vibration is gone.

I put them back on and it is still there but I called to dealer to find out "exactly" what they did and I did find out that they did not road force balance the tires they just balanced the front two and moved the front two to the rear of the car. They checked the rears and they were fine, then moved the rears to the front.

But I now have the look of the spacers but now must live with the vibration until this gets fixed. I may have my all of my wheels road force balanced with the lower road force values put towards the driver then the next higher value at the right front, then left rear and finally right rear.

I experienced exactly the same problem today. I took the whells off for an inspection and when I put them back on again bad vibrations occurred ( steering wheel shimmy at 50 - 60 mph and the whole car shakes at 75+ mph). I re-balanced all four wheels and swapped front to rear, was very careful about progresively tightening the wheel bolts etc. Result = no significant reduction in vibration. I'm running H & R 10mm spacers and on closer examination it appears that the central spigot on the spacers doesn't locate the wheel properly, so you rely on the bolts to centralise the wheel. With the longer wheel bolts and increased distance between the wheel face and the threads,I don't think this works properly, so the potential to fit the wheels eccentically is high. This would expalin why the vibration went away when Meteor Ghost took the spcers off.

Has anyone else seen this? and is there a solution for it?

[jneutron]

Graham -
On all of the 15 mm spacers I have seen, admitidly not every type, there is no hubcentric lip to keep the wheel centered. On 15mm spacers and above, e.g., H&R, there is a lip to keep the hub centered. It seems that if the tire were to get jarred, pothole, it would knock the 10mm setup off-center hence causing vibration issues.
Do your 10mm have the hubcentric lip?

[Graham]

Originally Posted by jneutron

Graham -
On all of the 15 mm spacers I have seen, admitidly not every type, there is no hubcentric lip to keep the wheel centered. On 15mm spacers and above, e.g., H&R, there is a lip to keep the hub centered. It seems that if the tire were to get jarred, pothole, it would knock the 10mm setup off-center hence causing vibration issues.
Do your 10mm have the hubcentric lip?

Yes, I have the hubcentric lip, but it doesn't seem to fit the wheel properly. You cannot engage the wheel onto any sort of parallel hub and then line up the wheel bolt holes ( as you can on the hub without the spacers). So i'm guessing the spacers are the wrong type and the wheels were lined up more concentrically when they were initially installed ( they've been on for nearly a year with no problems).


I'll investigate further, but need to fix it properly, so that if I need to remove a wheel for some reason ( bound to be a puncture in the pouring rain and dark! ) they will go back in the correct place!

[loc]

Further acknowledgement from Audi that the B8 platform is very picky about wheels?

http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publi...cle_5198.shtml

FORT WORTH, TX -- This month marks the beginning of a campaign by Audi of America to implement the use of Haweka wheel balancer tooling. The Special Tool and Equipment Program, which is available to all U.S. and Canadian Audi Dealers, will now offer Haweka brand flange plates.

According to a service bulletin issued by Audi of America, the Haweka flange plates are recommended to replace original tooling when balancing wheels of the new A4, A5 and S5 models in order to minimize damage to the top coat of the wheel. The bulletin also states that the Haweka flange plate "provides more accurate road force balancing results due to it having a stabilized mounting method."

President of Allpart Supply, Bruce Hartin, observes, "More and more car manufacturers are seeing the benefits of utilizing Haweka wheel balancer tooling in their dealerships." Hartin goes on to say, "Not only do they protect the finish on expensive alloy wheels they improve the accuracy of wheel balancing."