wheel alignment AUDI Q5 2013 Owners Manual

258 Tires and wheels
Tire service life
The service life of tires depends on a lot of
different things including proper installation
and balancing, correct tire pressure and driv­
ing style.
F ig. 20 5 Tire tread: tre ad wea r ind icators (TWI)
F ig. 206 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l tires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 205 running across the tread. Depend ­
i ng on the make, there will be six to eight of
them evenly p laced around the t ire. Marks on
the tire sidewa ll (for example "TWI" or other
symbols) indicate the positions of the tread
wear ind icators . Worn t ires must be replaced .
Different fig ures may apply in o ther countries
c::> & .
Tire p ressure
Incorrect tire pressure causes premature wear
a nd can cause sudden t ire blow-out. For th is
reason, tire pressure must be checked at least
once a month
c::> page 254.
Driving style
Driving fast aro und curves, heavy acce leration
and hard braking increase tire wear.
Rotating tires for more even wear
F or all four tires on your ve hicl e to h ave the
same service life, we recommend that the
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufacturer's suggested tire rota­
tion intervals. Please remember the follow­
ing :
- Tire rotation intervals may differ from the
vehicle service inte rva ls o utlined in your
Ma intenance and Warranty Book let .
- The longer one tire is used in one location
on the vehicle, the more it wears at certain
points; therefore, we recommend that you
follow the tire manufact urer's suggested
tire rotation intervals .
- Vehi cles w ith front-wheel dr ive experience
more tread wear on the front wheels com­
pa red to all-wheel drive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 206.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 278 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unbal ­
anced, re sulting in vibrat ions you can usually
feel through the steer ing wheel.
Un balanced whee ls must be rebalanced to
avoid excessive wear on steering, suspension
and t ires. A whee l m ust also be reba lanced
when a new tire is insta lled.
Incorrect wheel alignment
Incor rect wheel alig nment can cause exces ­
sive tire wear, impairing the safety of the veh i­
cle . If tires show excessive wear, have the
whee l alignment checked by an authori zed
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All-wheel driv e
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 202 . ..,.

exactly one location for each whee l. The jack*
must not be positioned at any other location
¢ &. ¢ (D .
An unsta bl e s urface under the ja ck* can cause
the vehicle to slip off the jack* . Always provide
a firm base for the jack* on the ground. If nec­
essary place a sturdy board or s imilar support
under the jack*. On
ha rd , sli ppery surfaces
(such as tiles) use a rubber mat or simi lar to
prevent the jack* from slipp ing
<=> &. .
A WARNING
- Yo u or your passengers could be injured
wh ile chang ing a whee l if you do not fol­
low these safety precautions:
- Position the jack * only at the designat­
ed lift ing points and align the jack*.
Otherwise, the jack* could slip and
cause an injury if it does not have suff i­
cient hold on the vehicle.
- A soft or unstable surface under the
jack* may cause the vehicle to slip off the jack*. Always provide a firm base
for the jack* on the ground . If necessa­
ry, use a sturdy board under the jack*.
- On ha rd, slippe ry surface (such as tiles)
use a rubber mat o r similar to prevent
the jack* from slippi ng.
- T o he lp p revent injury to yourself and
yo ur passengers:
- Do not raise the vehicle unti l you are
sure the jack* is securely engaged.
- Passengers must not remain in the ve­
h icle when it is jac ked up .
- Make s ure t hat passengers wait in a
safe place away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffic.
- Make sure jack position is correct, ad­
just as necessary and then contin ue to
ra ise the jack *.
(D Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the s ill. Pos ition
the jack * on ly at the des ignated lifting
points o n the sil l. Otherwise, your vehicle
will be damaged.
What do I d o now ? 277
Taking the wheel off/installing the
inflatable spare tire
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel
Fig . 2 21 Changing a whee l: using the screwdriver han­
dle (w it h the blade removed) to turn the bolts
Fig. 222 Cha ngi ng a wheel: align ment p in inside the
top hole
After yo u have loosened all wheel bo lts and
raised the vehicle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows :
Removing the wheel
... Use the hexag onal so cket in the screwdri v­
er handle
to completely remove the top­
most whee l bolt and set it aside on a
clean
surface ¢ fig. 221.
... Screw the threaded end of the alignm ent
p in from the tool kit hand-tight into the
empty bolt hole
<=> fig. 222.
... Then remove the other wheel bolts as de­
scribed above.
... Take off the wheel leaving the a lignment
pin in the bolt hole
¢ (D .
Putting o n the inflat able sp are t ire*
... Inflate the inflatable spare tire*
<=> page 2 71 and push the wheel over the
alignment pin .

278 What do I do no w?
• Use the hexagonal socket in the screwdriver
hand le to screw in and tighten all wheel
bolts
slightly .
• Remove the alignment pin and insert and
t ighten the remaining wheel bolt slightly
Like the rest .
• Turn the jack handle* counter-clockwise to
lower the vehicle unt il the jack* is fully re­
leased .
• Use the whee l bolt wrench to t ighten al l
wheel bolts firmly¢
page 2 76. Tighten
them
crosswise, from one bolt to the (ap­
proximate ly) opposite one, to keep the
whee l centered.
@ Note
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.
@ Tips
Never use the hexagonal socket in the han­
dle of the screwdriver to loosen or tighten
the wheel bolts .
- Pull the reversible b lade from the screw­
driver before you use the hexagonal
socket in the handle to turn the whee l
bo lts.
- When mounting tires with
un id irectional
t re ad desi gn
make sure the tread pat­
tern is pointed the right way
~ page 278.
- The wheel bolts should be clean and easy
to turn . Check for d irt and corrosion on
the mat ing surfaces of both the whee l
and the hub. Remove all dirt from these
s ur faces before remo unt ing 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 optimum performance cha racter­
isti cs wit h regard to aquap lan ing, no ise and
wear .
- We recommend that you pay part icu la r at­
t ention 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 one and
have it insta lled on you r vehicle as soon as
possible to restore the handling advantages
of a u nidirectional tire .
Notes on wheel changing
Please read the information¢ page 259, 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 tight ening torqu e
c hecked with a torque wrench as soon a s
pos sible by your author ized Audi de aler or
a q ualified wo rkshop.
- With steel and alloy wheel r im s, the wheel
bolt s are cor re ctl y tightened at a torque of
105 ft lb (140 Nm).
- If you noti ce th at the wheel bolts are cor­
roded and diffi cult to turn while changing
a ti re , they should be repl aced before you
check the t ightening torque. .,..