Simon Park

I found this website very helpful and i would like to contribute a little bit now that I have my wheels and tires installed.
I have a 2000 A6 2.7T and bought BBS RX II 18inch wheels ,Bridgestone 235/45 tires, and H&R springs about a month ago from Tirerack.com.
I must say that I cannot be more satisfied with the looks of the wheels and tires on my silver car. I get the looks of admiration everytime i drive and i also get compliments when people get to talk to me.
HOWEVER!!! The experience with installing these was a complete nightmare.
I decided to install my wheels and springs at a local speed shop since i knew that they have done many wheel installations on expensive cars like mercedes and bmws. they charged me $424 including tax. took about 3 hours.
and then about half an hour later when the excitement toned down, i noticed that the steering wheel was completely off to the right.
the speed shop refused to correct the problem and just told me to find an alignment shop.
i literally called about 20 places and actually visited 3 places only to find that they can't do alignments on 18 inch wheels or Audi quattros.
even the Audi dealer didn't have an alignment machine that fit 18 inch wheels. what a shame!
Then i finally did the alignment at Sears autocenter for $69.
and then a couple of days ago, i noticed that i get strange squeaky sound from the wheels when i slowly move or stop. i don't know what the problem is but i'm sure they are from the wheels or the brakes.
i have yet another problem to fix.
this is just not a plesant experience.
Time, money, energy, and STRESS!!!!


If somebody asks me if i regret changing wheels, i would say no. because the handling and looks are sooooooo much better. ride quality is of course a little bit sacrificed but i was surprised that it's not as bad as I expected. tire noise is much less than before.

i just would do more research and pay the premium price to get the job done right. I would NOT recommend trying to save money on installation by going to cheaper places.

By the way, my real question is, do you know what that squeaky sound is from the wheel when you move slowly or brake? I'm sure it's a common problem but i don't know what it is.

2.7Tango

Simon,

I am very sorry to hear this. Did you pay with a credit card? If so, maybe you can get your money back. That shop should not get away with this.

Also, it would be a service to the other members of the forum to know the indentity of the shop, so no one else has to make the same mistake.

Sorry, but I have no idea about the squeak.

SAR

When alignment has been corrected, go back to your 18 inchers.

Simon Park

I live in Fort Lee, NJ. and this place that I have done the wheel & spring installation is called 46 MotorSports. It's on route 46 West. about 15 minutes from Fort Lee.
I was completely pissed about the way they treated me when I called them back after the job was done.
they basically said that it's not their problem that the alignment was off. didn't explain to me why it happened and tried to hang up on me asap as if i was wasting their time.
Today, i'm going to Audi dealer for the first service and i'll have them look at the squeaky sound problem. if it turns out to be a major problem, i'll definitely have an issue with these people.

KKelly

I just got some BBS RC's. I put them on but had improperly installed the hub adapters. I too was getting squeaking at slow speeds (and my rotors were coming loose in back). What was funny was that the car tracked perfectly straight and smooth. I don't know if you are using adapters but once I corrected them the squeaks have disappeared and not returned.

My adapters were installed with the lipped edge facing up--installing from the back of the wheel. They also give you a little ring to put in a slot so the adapters don't fall out when the wheels are off. The adapters should seat all the way down.

You should pull one off and have a look.

Simon Park

hey kevin,
thanks for the reply.
Yes, i think i'm having the same symptom that you had before. i get those sounds only when i'm parking or driving out of parking (slow speed, braking).
if you can educate me a bit more, it would help me a lot.
what is a hub adapter? what is it used for?
and what is a lipped edge? rotor?
The reason I'm asking is that I need to be able to at least explain what the problem would be to the technicians since I can't do these myself.
I went to the audi dealer today and they found nothing wrong.they said everything was right to the factory specification. and they just told me that the sound was coming from the brakes and it would disappear once i get more mileage.

KKelly

Simon, there is a post above about hubcentric rings. That is what I am talking about.

thewoodman

When you are mucking around back there its easy to push these things in a little... creates a heck of noise. simply push them back - they are very flimsy.