Urgent help. Suspension lower on one side

[Toonsoldier91]

As you all know I’ve only had my car not even 2 weeks. This evening I’ve noticed the suspension on the driver side is roughly 10mm lower then the passenger side.

I will attach a couple pictures to show the difference. In 2 of them I have a small bottle that hardly fits in the driver side but goes in the passenger side no problem.

I’ve checked tyre pressures and the passenger side is 6psi lower then the driver side ( 140 point check ?? Yeah right )

Could the lower psi cause this amount of gap??

I will ring Audi first thing tomorrow to get the car checked over or try pop into a local garage to make sure nothing is snapped while I arrange a date and time with Audi.

Hopefully you can see the difference in the photos of just the wheels. My photo skills ain’t the best. But it’s clear as day with the bottle

 

[cuke2u]

Personally I might be looking at rejecting the car. I assume that the necessary checks were performed about accident damage?

 

[Toonsoldier91]

Personally I might be looking at rejecting the car. I assume that the necessary checks were performed about accident damage?

Yes buddy. All come back clear. I’ve just checked for part numbers and there both time same on the springs

Am I right I thinking the if the tyre pressures were at fault then it would be the side with the lower pressures that would have a lower gap??

Only thing I can think of is snapped spring now but there’s no way I can get in to check the springs. I only just managed to get my arm in to clean the mud off the tags with part numbers in.

As for rejection how does this work ?? Obvs I need a car to get to work etc. Would they put me in one and source another for me ??

 

[MOA4B9]

Lower tyre pressure should not effect the gap between tyre and wheel arch, it will effect gap between ground and bottom of the car.
Have you checked the gap when parked in different place? You might be parked on slight incline which might effect the gap as the car might be slightly tilted sideways.

 

[Toonsoldier91]

Lower tyre pressure should not effect the gap between tyre and wheel arch, it will effect gap between ground and bottom of the car.
Have you checked the gap when parked in different place? You might be parked on slight incline which might effect the gap as the car might be slightly tilted sideways.

I havnt yet. I’m going to correct the pressures and find somewhere else to park. And check again

 

[Pork]

It doesn’t sound right but where ever you park to measure you should take the measurement parked both forward and reverse to ensure there is no influence on the angle of the ground. I’d mark the exact position of the tyre on the floor too just to be precise

 

[jds_sg]

To be honest I think this is a common thing with the A4, particularly the inline 4 cyl diesel models. Mine is very similar with about a 10mm difference, drivers side lower, in fact it's probably worse than in the pictures above. I've had Audi check mine twice and also an independent tuning outfit and all have said they can see there is a difference but Audi maintain it is within spec and would do nothing under warranty. The spring numbers were checked too and they all were correct.

I've even taken a look at other A4s and many show this trait, not always as much, it's just that you don't always notice unless you're looking for it. They leant me a loan car once, similar spec to mine, and it also had this issue and it was nearly brand new.

I think its more obvious with the lower suspension as your eye is drawn to the wheel arch gap and 10mm is a bigger proportion of a small gap. If it were an SUV you wouldn't notice because the gap is much bigger anyway.

Personally I think its because the car is designed as a left hand drive primarily, so possibly the weight distribution is better in this case than for a UK spec right hand drive. The engines in the V6 models would naturally distribute the weight a bit better. If you look in the engine bay on the 4 cyl everything is pretty much on the right hand side (from drivers seat) including the steering column of course. Well that's my theory anyway...

Would be interested to hear what Audi say to you about it though, but I bet they will tell you its all ok.

 

[Toonsoldier91]

To be honest I think this is a common thing with the A4, particularly the inline 4 cyl diesel models. Mine is very similar with about a 10mm difference, drivers side lower, in fact it's probably worse than in the pictures above. I've had Audi check mine twice and also an independent tuning outfit and all have said they can see there is a difference but Audi maintain it is within spec and would do nothing under warranty. The spring numbers were checked too and they all were correct.

I've even taken a look at other A4s and many show this trait, not always as much, it's just that you don't always notice unless you're looking for it. They leant me a loan car once, similar spec to mine, and it also had this issue and it was nearly brand new.

I think its more obvious with the lower suspension as your eye is drawn to the wheel arch gap and 10mm is a bigger proportion of a small gap. If it were an SUV you wouldn't notice because the gap is much bigger anyway.

Personally I think its because the car is designed as a left hand drive primarily, so possibly the weight distribution is better in this case than for a UK spec right hand drive. The engines in the V6 models would naturally distribute the weight a bit better. If you look in the engine bay on the 4 cyl everything is pretty much on the right hand side (from drivers seat) including the steering column of course. Well that's my theory anyway...

Would be interested to hear what Audi say to you about it though, but I bet they will tell you its all ok.

Thanks for that. It’s reassuring that it isn’t just my car, I will pop into a local garage and get them to check incase if a broken spring that way it will put my mind at rest. As long as nothing is broken I will leave it

 

[cuke2u]

Good luck and I hope it is just a 'feature' of the car I haven't heard of....

 

[jds_sg]

Checking in different parking positions is a good idea although I think you’ll find the difference still exists to some extent.

 

[holly35]

Simple.......broken coil spring.

 

[sotondjt]

Check the shipping blocks have been removed on both sides?

 

[Toonsoldier91]

Check the shipping blocks have been removed on both sides?

The cars 2 and a half year old id hope they have. I did have my head in there yesterday and couldn’t see anything. But I will double check to make sure. Nowhere was open near me today just kwikfit. I’d rather wait the extra day then going there from past experience. I’ve emailed the sales guy also.

Also pumped my tyres up. Put them into 35 comfort so 2 psi drop on driver side and 4psi higher on passenger side. And it doesn’t seem as bad now. Maybe only 5-6mm.

 

[c14aff1979]

Did you ever find the cause as mine is 15mm rear and 10 front on passenger side - Had it checked and no broken springs or anything out of place.

 

[StretchS4]

They come like this from factory, including my S4. Story I was told when I enquired is that it’s intentionally done to compensate for the weight of the driver..they just never got around to carrying out the opposite for our right hand drive cars.

 

[jds_sg]

They come like this from factory, including my S4. Story I was told when I enquired is that it’s intentionally done to compensate for the weight of the driver..they just never got around to carrying out the opposite for our right hand drive cars.

Oh right. Have they designed it for some particularly hefty left hand drivers then?
I have heard this before too, but I didn't believe it to be honest.

 

[tickedon]

Mine has this as well. Really annoys me!

 

[jds_sg]

I think they all do to some degree, it annoys me too, so I just try to ignore it. My current car is better than my previous 2016 model though.

 

[cuke2u]

Oh right. Have they designed it for some particularly hefty left hand drivers then?
I have heard this before too, but I didn't believe it to be honest.

Neither do I, mine appears to be level but will get around to measuring it. In fact I've never heard of any vehicle being higher one side than the other and never noticed it with the 10's of vehicles I, and my partner, have owned...

 

[jds_sg]

The allowance is actually 10mm difference side to side, but it is hard to measure accurately and where you park for it can make quite a difference.
If you’ve never noticed it then probably best not to measure, because once you find a difference you’ll always see it no matter how small!

 

[cuke2u]

I'll do the 'bottle technique' on both our vehicles, need to satisfy my curiosity now...

 

[Jon fire]

As you all know I’ve only had my car not even 2 weeks. This evening I’ve noticed the suspension on the driver side is roughly 10mm lower then the passenger side.

I will attach a couple pictures to show the difference. In 2 of them I have a small bottle that hardly fits in the driver side but goes in the passenger side no problem.

I’ve checked tyre pressures and the passenger side is 6psi lower then the driver side ( 140 point check ?? Yeah right )

Could the lower psi cause this amount of gap??

I will ring Audi first thing tomorrow to get the car checked over or try pop into a local garage to make sure nothing is snapped while I arrange a date and time with Audi.

Hopefully you can see the difference in the photos of just the wheels. My photo skills ain’t the best. But it’s clear as day with the bottle

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Hi Toonsoldier91

Did you ever get to the bottom of why one side is lower? I've same problem with 2014 Q7.

 

[Toonsoldier91]

Hi Toonsoldier91

Did you ever get to the bottom of why one side is lower? I've same problem with 2014 Q7.

hi sorry for the late reply I rarely get on here now as I’ve got rid of the car

I never got to the bottom of it I just swapped the alloys and forgot about it. It never failed a mot or anything so just put it down to maybe being heavier on one side or it’s like that for when you get into the driver seat it’s then level.