wheel bolt torque AUDI A6 2014 Owners Manual

Page 259 of 304

chains because the vehicle will be ex­
tremely low. If you do drive with snow
chains on while the vehicle is at this lev­
el, the snow chains might severe ly dam­
age the wheelhouse and other parts of
the veh icle .
@ Tips
Where snow cha ins are mandatory oncer­
tain roads, this normally also applies to
veh icles with all -wheel dr ive.
Wheel bolts
Wheel bolts mu st always be tigh tened to the
correc t torque .
The design of whee l bolts is matched to the
factory in sta lled r ims. If different rims are fit ­
ted, the correct wheel bolts with the right
length and correctly shaped bolt heads must
be used . This ensures that wheels are f itted
secure ly and that the brake system f unctions
correctly .
In certain circumstances, you may not use
wheel bolts from a d iffe rent vehicle -even if it
i s the same mode l
¢page 285.
A WARNING
Imprope rly tig hte ned or maintained whee l
bolts can be come loose causin g loss of
contro l, a co llision and serious persona l in­
jury .
- Alw ays keep the w heel bolts and the
th reads in the wheel hubs clea n so the
wheel bolts can turn easily and be prop­
er ly tightened .
- Never grease or oil the wheel bo lts and
the threads in the w heel h ubs. They can
become loose while driving if greased or
o iled, even if tightened to the specif ied
torque.
- Only use wheel bolts that belong to the rim being installed.
- Never use different whee ls bolts on your
vehicle .
- Always maintain the co rrect tightening
torq ue for the wheel bo lts to reduce the
Tire s an d wheel s 257
risk of a wheel loss. If the tighte ning tor­
que of t he wheel bolts is too low, they
can loosen and come out when the vehi­
cle is mov ing . If the tighte ning torque is
too h igh, the wheel bol ts and threads
can be damaged and the whee l can be­
come loose.
(I) Note
The specified torque for the whee l bolts is
90 ft lb ( 120 Nm) with a tole ranc e of± 7,4
ft lb(± 10 Nm). Torq ue whee l bolts diago­
nally. Afte r cha nging a whee l, the torq ue
must be checked as soon as possible wi th a
torque w rench -prefe rably by an au thor­
i z ed Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
Low aspect ratio tires
Your Audi is facto ry-eq uipped with low aspect
ratio tires. These tires have been thoro ughly
tested and been se lected specifically for your
model for their superb performance , road fee l
and handling under a variety of driving cond i­
tions . Ask your authorized Audi dealer for
more details.
The low aspect ratio of these t ires is ind icated
by a numeral of
55 or less in the tire's size
designation . The numera l rep resents the ratio
of the t ire's sidewall height in relation to its
t read width ex pressed in perce ntage. Conven ­
tion al tires have a he igh t/w idth ratio of 60 or
more.
The performance of low-aspe ct-ratio tire s is
particularly sensitiv e to improper infla tion
pres sure. It is therefore important that l ow
a spect ratio tires are inflated to the specified
pre ssure and that the inflation pressure is
regularly checked and maintained. Tire pres·
sures should be checked at least once a
month and always before a long trip
¢ page 246, Checking tire pressure .
What you can do to avoid tire and rim
damage
Low aspect ratio tires can be damaged more
easily by impact w it h potholes , curbs, gul lies ..,.

Page 266 of 304

264 What do I do now?
&_ WARNING
You or your passengers could be injured
while changing a wheel if yo u do n ot fol­
low t hese safety precautions:
- If you have a flat t ire, move a safe dis­
tance
off the road. Turn off the engine,
turn the emergency flashers on and use other warning dev ices to alert other mo­
torists.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a safe
place away from the vehicle and well
away from the road and traff ic.
- T o help p revent the veh icle from mov ing
sudden ly and possibly slipping off the
ja ck, always fully set the parking b rake
and bloc k the whee l diagona lly opposite
the whee l being changed. When one
front whee l is lifted off the gro und, plac­
ing the Automat ic Transmiss ion in P
(Park) will
not prevent the vehicle from
moving.
- Before you change a wheel, be sure the
ground is level and firm. If necessary,
use a sturdy board under the jack.
- Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack
and the replaced t ire i n the luggage com­
partment
c> page 134.
Before chang ing the wheel, yo u m ust acti­
vate the jacking mode, so that the auto­ mat ic cont rols for the Adaptive Air S us­
pens ion* do not make it more difficult to
lift the vehicle with the jack
c> page 266.
Changing a wheel
When you change a wheel, follow these­
quence described below step-by-step and in
exactly that order .
1. Activate the vehicle jack mode*
~page 266.
-
2. Remove the decorative wheel cov er* . For
mo re details see also
c> page 265, Deco­
rative wheel covers
or c> page 265,
Wheels with wheel bolt caps.
3 . L oosen the wheel bolt s c> page 265.
4. Locate the proper mounting point for the
jack and alig n the jack below that point
c> page 266 .
5.
Raise the car with the jack c> page 266.
6. Remove the wheel with the flat tire and
then insta ll
the s pare c>page 267.
7. Tighten all whee l bolts lightly.
8 . Lower the vehicle with the jack .
9. Use the wheel bolt wrench and firmly
t igh ten al l w heel bo lts c> page 265.
10. Replace the decora tive wh eel co ver*.
11. Deactivate the vehicle jack mode * in the
MMI:
I CARI f u nction button > (Car )* sys­
tems
control button > Se rvicing & chec ks
> A ir susp .: jac k mode > Off .
The vehicle jack mode * switches off automati­
ca lly at speeds above
6 mph (1 0 km/h) .
&_ WARNING ,.__
Always read and follow all WARNINGS and
i nformat ion
c> &. in Raising the vehicle on
page 266
and c> page 268.
After changing a wheel
A wheel change is not complete without the
doing the following.
.,. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack*
and the rep laced tire in the luggage com­
partment
c> page 134.
.,. Check the tire pressu re on the spare whee l
immed iate ly after mounting it .
.,. As soon as poss ible, have the
tight ening
torques
on all whee l bolts checked with a
t o rque wrenc h. The co rrect tighte ning tor ­
que is 90 ft lb (120 Nm).
.,. Have the fla t tire
replaced as soon as possi­
b le.
(D Tips
- If you not ice th at the wheel bo lts a re
co rroded and difficult to turn while
changing a tire, they should be rep laced
before you check the tightening torque.
- Drive at reduced speed until you have the
tightening torques checked .
ll-

Page 270 of 304

268 What do I do no w?
P uttin g on the spare wheel
.. Lift the spare wheel and ca refully slide it
over the alignment pin to guide it in place
¢ (D .
.. Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
handle to screw in and tighten all wheel
bolts
slightly.
.. Remove the alignment pin and insert and
t ighten the remaining wheel bolt slightly
l ike the rest .
.. Turn the jack handle counte r-clockw ise to
lower the vehicle unt il the jac k is fully re­
leased.
.. Use the wheel bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bolts firmly¢
page 265 . Tighten
them
crosswise, from one bolt to the (ap­
proximately) opposite one, to keep the
wheel centered.
When removing or installing the wheel,
the rim could hit the brake rotor and dam­
age the rotor. Work carefully and have a
second person help you .
(j) Tips
Never use the hexagonal socket in the han­
dle of the screwdriver to loosen or t ighten
the wheel bolts .
- Pull the reversible blade from the screw­
driver before you use the hexagonal
socket in the handle to turn the wheel bo lts.
- When mounting tires with
unid ir ec tional
tread design
make su re the tread pat­
tern is pointed the right way
¢ page 268.
-The wheel bolts should be clean and easy
to tu rn . Check for d irt and corrosion on
t h e mat ing s urfaces of both the whee l
and the h ub. Remove al l dirt from these
s ur faces before remo unting the wheel.
Tires with unidirectional tread design
Tires with unidirectional tread design must be
mounted with their tread pattern pointed in the right direction .
Using a sp are t ire w ith a tre ad pattern
intended for use in a specific direction
When using a spare t ire with a tread patter n
intended for use in a spec ific d irection , please
note the following :
- The direct ion of rotation is marked by an ar­
row on the side of the ti re .
- If the spare tire has to be installed in the in­
correct direct ion, use the spare tire only
temporarily s ince the tire will not be able to
achieve its optim um performance cha racte r­
is tic s wit h regard to aquap la ni ng, no ise and
wear .
- We recommend that you pay part icu la r at­
t en tion to th is fact d uring wet wea ther and
t ha t you adjust you r speed to match road
conditions .
- Replace the fl at tir e with a new o ne an d
have it insta lled on you r vehicle as soon as
possible to resto re the handling advantages
of a u nidirectional tire .
Notes on wheel changing
Please read the information¢ page 251, New
tires and replacing tires and wheels
if you a re
going to use a spare tire which is different
from the ti res on your vehicle .
After you change a tire:
- Check the tire pre ssure on the spare imme­
diately after install ation.
- Have th e whe el bolt tightening torque
c hecked with a torque wrench as soon a s
possible by your author ized Audi dealer or
a qualified service stat ion.
- With steel and alloy wheel rims, the wheel
bolt s are cor re ctl y tightened at a torque of
90 ft lb (120 Nm ).
- If you noti ce that the wheel bolts are cor­
roded and diffi cult to turn while changing
a ti re , they should be replaced before you
check the t ightening torque. .,..