Evening everyone

Just got a second hand Audi A4 AVANT 2019.

I’ve noticed when I have my wife and two kids in the cars there’s a banging noise from the rear.

I’m assuming it’s to do with the suspension and after market wheels the previous owner has fitted to the car.

They are 20” alloys with 255/35/20 tyres.

Would I be right in assuming the wheels are too big for the arches hence the banging only under load ?

If that is the case, what are my options? I don’t really want to swap the wheels as I think these ones make the car.

Any suggestions welcome

Cheers

Car needs to be jacked up with rear wheels off to investigate. Check the rear springs. Our roads are shocking just now, and not uncommon to lose an inch on a spring. Also look at the rear spring seats. There’s an aluminium or steel insert in the rubber bush that corrodes. They are a few pounds from Audi, but you’re looking at labour to fit unless you can do the work yourself.

Is the car is a Quattro. Look at the rear diff. It should be bone dry.

Also rule out that the car is bottoming out, by checking the inner wheel arches for scuff marks.

Get yourself a decent 2-tonne trolley jack for raising the car. The jack that comes with the car is just for a roadside flat. I’d also invest in a decent 1/2” breaker bar for the wheel bolts and impact socket. You can get rubber jack inserts to protect the sill while you raise the car. Look for one that has a slot of at least 20mm deep.

Appreciate that post mate.

Small Update. 4 of the 5 nuts that hold the alloy to the hub have come loose leaving me with 1 holding The alloy to the hub. This happened on the motorway going 70mph.

Frightening. So you discovered this between 10 o’c last night and around 7 this morning-?

2 hours ago, anthonysaudi said:

4 of the 5 nuts that hold the alloy to the hub have come loose leaving me with 1 holding The alloy to the hub. This happened on the motorway going 70mph.

That alone might be enough to explain the noise, in which case the wheels may well be damaged and need to be changed. Take them off and look for cracks and abrasion around the stud holes. In my view any such damage means they should be scrapped as I am unaware of a way to repair them.

This was the state of the vehicle after I pulled off motorway. Someone was looking out for me I think.

RAC confirmed 13/15 remaining fixings all finger tight.

Can we assume it was a private seller so there is no chance of recompense?

Just now, cliffcoggin said:

Can we assume it was a private seller so there is no chance of recompense?

Lucky for myself, dealership with AA certification. Although I now know that’s not worth a w*nk.

Well someone has screwed up. That's very concerning. At some point the wheel has been off for sale preparation and wheel bolts not tightened. Speak to the garage concerned and take it from there.

2 hours ago, anthonysaudi said:

This was the state of the vehicle after I pulled off motorway. Someone was looking out for me I think.

RAC confirmed 13/15 remaining fixings all finger tight.

Hi pretty basic stuff really you can't blame the AA as they don't drive them they just inspect them and that type of fault will only appear when driving over distance, go back with the RAC findings and give them hell, in saying that I have known it where aftermarket wheels have been fitted and are the wrong offset so they slowly pull the bolts out because the hub mounting of the bolts are under constant stress, thats why wheel spacers are not sold generally and should be avoided as they alter the factory offset, the cars are manufactured to take certain sizes of wheel from 16inch to 19inch to accommodate different model designations such as S Line etc once you start putting on much larger wheels outside the models original production spec, then you can easily run aground.

Steve.