AudiTTR225

k, so i just replaced all four tires on my '01 ttr 225. the old tires, particularly the rear, were pretty chewed up on the inside from a pretty severe negative camber (toe's probably misaligned as well, but the camber's much more noticeable). the car's suspension is stock, not lowered. so i figured i'd just replace the tires and take it in for a 4 wheel alignment and that'd take care of it, but the dude at pep boys told me that they can't adjust the rear camber on this car and that i'd need to take it to either the dealer or a shop that specializes in audis and it'll probably require some sort of new camber kit. does that sound right? do i really need to take my car to the stealer? i'd figure that if it managed to get misaligned in the first place, there must be some way to adjust it.... it's not like i have lowering springs on it or something. TIA.

TTschwing

They are absolutely right. I also wouldn't count on Pep Boys to know how to adjust toe on the car either. What are your current camber settings? That tells the tale..

You may or may not need a camber correction solution. Regular rotation and reasonable settings will result in 20K of even wear...

AudiTTR225

i don't know the current camber settings as it's not yet been officially checked; but it looks pretty severe to me, and the guy at pep boys agreed that it looked way out of alignment. if you look at the car from behind, the bottom of the wheel sticks out from the edge of the wheel well, and the top is tucked into the well - on both sides.

i've had the car for maybe about 10k miles. can't recall how the tires looked when i bought it, but i haven't gotten a rotation since i got it (lowering head in shame) - didn't think it needed it that frequently. the tires were VERY unevenly worn. the inside was practically bald, and the outside had decent tread left, which is partly why i didn't realize until so late that i needed new tires.

as i said, i haven't lowered the car or screwed with the suspension - how could this have happened?

TTschwing

-2.0 degrees and more on occasion. We've found a pretty decent street setting is -1.6 to -1.8. (It will take either adjustable lower arms or a Kmac kit to get to this number) Since you didn't buy the car new it may have lowering springs on it...Hard to tell without a picture.
Consider rotating every 5K. These tires have 20K on them. -1.6 rear camber, -,08 front, lowered an inch..

<img src="http://images112.fotki.com/v592/photos/7/7305/776256/DSC04907-vi.jpg">

AudiTTR225

here's some photos from last april, right after i got the car. you can already kind of see the negative camber in these photos, although i didn't notice it at the time and i think it's worse now. what do you think? also, far as i know, it's not lowered but maybe you can tell from these photos.

<img src="http://www.dwwebmaster.com/photo/DSCF1281.jpg">
<img src="http://www.dwwebmaster.com/photo/DSCF1283.jpg">
<img src="http://www.dwwebmaster.com/photo/DSCF1287.jpg">

JohnLZ7W

the fender angles in towards the bottom of the car which adds to the appearance of negative camber

TTschwing

Nor does it look lowered. How many miles were on the tires and on the car?

You may simply have a Toe issue that needs to be addressed..or tires that had not been rotated and were at the end of their lifespan (20K is a lot on performance tires)

AudiTTR225

true, now that i'm looking back at my photos and the 2 cars in JohnLZ7W's sig, i see what he means about the fender giving sort of an optical illusion, making it look more extreme than it is. maybe it's just not as bad as i thought and i should just stop whining, get an alignment and rotate every 5k miles like you told me to.

when i got the car, it had about 35k miles. i've put about 10k miles on it. not sure if they were the original tires, but the brand was "federal". are those OEM?

TTschwing

Some cheap junk tires the previous owner put on for a lease turn in probably. Be glad they're gone. Get a solid alignment and do regular rotations and you should be good...

Performance tires on this car are Lucky to get into the 20K range, so you probably had 20K+ on those Federals. They were due for replacement anyway..

AudiTTR225

cool, thanks a lot for all the advice. it's a relief that i don't have to buy some overpriced camber kit or something from the stealer. thanks again.