JBaumgart

Ouch - hit a nasty pothole today and my left front tire (Pirelli) went flat almost immediately. Barely had enough time to pull off the freeway without riding on the wheel itself. It was a pain changing the tire - the jack is not very stable on even a slight incline - be careful! Also make sure you put the car into "jack mode" as described in the manual - fortunately I remembered this after reading something about it in this forum - thanks to whoever it was that mentioned it. Anyway after inflating the spare and driving off it was very disconcerting when I noticed a pronounced wobble (shimmy) anytime I approached 45 mph. There are yellow warning stickers all over the spare wheel to not exceed 50 mph, but I didn't have any desire to even go 45, due to shimmy which felt very unsafe. I made it to the nearest dealer and as it turned out neither of the two Audi dealers in town had a Pirelli allroad tire. The sidewall on mine is ruined and is not repairable - too bad 'cause it had just 3,040 miles on it. To get the replacement tire in, I'm told it'll take at least 2 days during which time I'm basically out of commission - this is unfortunate considering it's just a flat tire - luckily the wheel appears to be fine but we won't know for sure until the new tire is mounted and balanced.

Watch them potholes!

AeroSmith

What tire pressures do you run?

Finman

Several months ago, I got my first of two flats. Since I have changed many, I decided it would be much "faster" to do it myself. On no incline/decline at all, the jack collapsed just as I had my hands on the tire within the wheel well pulling it out. Fortunately, it collapsed only an inch or so first, then the rest of the way so I had time to get my hands out. No damage to the wheel or brake caliper or rotor, fortunately. Call Roadside assistance (AKA AAA) and since then have had another which I just directly called AAA.
I have also bought a heavy duty full scissor jack for use on long trips and in the garage. Around town I take it out and will call AAA, but I don't want to get stuck in the desert with a flat during a junket to Vegas.
The jack sucks and is quite dangerous. Recommend calling AAA or equivalent and getting a REAL jack to do it yourself.
Are there any non-allroad tires you can put on temporarily until the replacement arrives? Maybe you should buy 2 replacements so you always have one available if this happens again.

maugt

It just has to be on a perfectly level surface, and you have to make sure that you put the bottom piece in the correct place in relation to the car.

That said, I wouldn't want to use it unless it was an emergency for changing a wheel.

Maybe thats why we get free roadside assistance from audi ;-)

Finman

although mine was on perfectly flat ground and it didn't collapse backward or forward, it collapsed straight down as the metal flanges which support the plastic pieces splayed outward collapsing about an inch. I guess it wasn't meant to handle that much force (from the car moving quickly downward) and collapsed the rest of the way. Audi confirmed the jack appeared defective and gave me a new piece of crap.
You are right, in an emergency, I'd try it again, but I'd really hate to watch $50k come crashing down again.
I've changed at least 100 tires in my life (used to rotate my own and have a strange attraction to sharp objects on the road), this was the first glitch ever. I'm glad I still have my hands

maugt

it collapsed on him.

I'm not going to carry around my floorjack though.

Maybe audi should have a better solution. I bet even the S8 comes with the same thing though (and thats even heavier than the allroad, right?)

Finman

and has 150-200 lb on the S8/A8/A8L and A6 4.2.
It is probably a little lighter up front since it doesn't have the heavier V8 and has its weight spread around a bit more.
My jack collapsed under the heavy front end. Someone else had the same thing happen, but otherwise I haven't heard of anyone else, so it obviously works, sort of, but they are pushing the risk/reward (small, light, compact) to the brink and maybe beyond.
Yeah, I think it's the same one in all models (I've seen in the the A4/S4).
Fortunately, my full scissor fits in the space were the current jack and CD changer go, although it's not convenient in/out.
Have fun with your allroad, I think I'm losing the battle to get my wife to get one (or an S6 Avant) because she says they are too big. Looks like I'll have to "settle" for her getting an S4 Avant

BN

It sounds like the tires, like the jack, are junk based on the number a flats reported. What brand did your car come with? Do you really want to go "offroad" with an "Allroad"?

Finman

car I was talking about, since we all have the same crappy jack. I can't blame the tires, I have always seemed to have an affinity for running over sharp objects.
I troll here at times because the allroad is an A6 and I want to coerce my wife into an allroad or S6 Avant, but I think she is heavily leaning toward the S4 Avant. So, unfortunately, neither one of our cars will be semi-offroad capable. But, who can complain with a 4.2 and S4 Avant?

TahoeAudi

If the problem with the jack is widespread, it may be worthwhile to file a report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. Car manufacturers don't like to see their products listed with the NHTSA so this might be a way to pressure Audi to do something to correct the problem. I think jack safety issues are accepted since they are related to automobile operation.

You can file a report with NHTSA online at

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hotline/