wheel alignment AUDI A4 SEDAN 2013 Owners Manual

240 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. 176 Tire tread: tre ad wea r ind icators (TWI)
_____ __,.J)
F ig. 1 77 Rotat ing t ires for more ev en wea r
Tread Wear Indicator (TWI)
The o rigi na l t ires on your veh icle have
1/16 inch (1.6 mm) high "wear indicators"
c::> fig . 176 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 236.
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 recommen d that t he
front and rear t ires are rotated according to
the tire manufact urer'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 fro nt w heels com­
pa red to all wheel d rive (quattro ®).
- Please rotate tires as shown
c::> fig. 177.
-Extra care must be taken when rotating di-
rection-specific tires
c::> page 2 5 7 .
Wheel balancing
The wheels on new ve hicles are balanced .
However, various situations during everyday
driving can cause them to become unba l­
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 aut hori zed
Audi dealer or qualif ied workshop .
All wheel drive
Vehicles with q uattro ® mus t always have tires
of the same size, construction and tread type .
For details see
c::> page 189. ..,.

What do I do now?
Vehicle tool kit
The tools ore stored underneath the floor
panel in the luggage comportment.
F ig . 180 Luggage compartment: tool kit
When you need access to the veh icle tool kit
or jack*, you will need to take o ut the spare
tire* and cover¢
page 251.
The vehicle tool kit includes:
- Hook for removing wheel covers*
- Alignment pin for changing the whee l
- Screwdriver w ith reversible blade
- T ool for chang ing light bulbs
- Reversible bit (reve rsible Torx bit for chang-
ing light b ulbs)
- Rod for jack
- Jack*
- Lug wrench
- Towing eye
Some o f the ve hicle items listed above are
p rov ided o n certain models on ly or are opt ion­
a l extras.
Before returning the ja ck* to its place, ret ra ct
the jack a rm fully.
& WARNING
- Never use t he screw driver hex head to
tighten whee l bolts, since the bolts can­
not attain the necessary tightening tor ­
que if yo u use the hex head, potentially
caus ing an accident.
- The factory-supplied jack is intended on­
ly for your ve hicle model. Unde r no cir­
c u mstances should it be used to
lift
What do I d o now ? 251
heavy ve hicles o r other loads; yo u risk in­
juring yo urself.
- Never start the engi ne when the vehicle
is raised, which could cause an acc ident.
- Support the vehicle secu re ly wit h app ro­
priate stands if wor k is to be performed
underneath the vehicle; otherwise, there
is a pote ntia l risk for injury.
Space-saving spare tire
(compact spare tire)
App lies to vehicles: wi th space -saving spare tir e
The spore tire/wheel is located in the luggage
comportment under the cargo floor cover. It
is in tended for shor t-term use only.
Fig. 181 Spare tire
Removing the spare ti re
.. Lift
th e ca rgo floo r by the p lastic handle
r:!) fig. 1 Bl.
.. Hook the handle into the luggage compart­
ment weather strip.
.. Turn t he large screw ¢
fig. 181 counter­
clockw ise.
.. Take out the spa re tire .
.. Always store the vehicle tool kit, the jack*,
an d the replaced tir e in the luggage com­
par tme nt
¢page 132.
.. Unhook the cargo floor befo re closing the
rear lid .
Using the spare tire (compact spare tire)
The compact spa re ti re is only intended for
eme rgencies unt il yo u ca n reac h a repa ir sh op.
Rep lace i t as quickly as possible with a stan d­
ard whee l and tire.
T he re a re some restr ictions o n the use of the
compact sp are tire. The compa ct spare tire
IJ>

256 What do I do now?
-Do not raise the vehicle unti l yo u are
sure the jack is securely engaged.
- Passengers must not remain in the ve­
h icle when it is jacked up.
- Make sure that passengers wait in a
safe p lace away from the vehicle and
well away from the road and traffic.
- Make sure jack position is correct, ad­
just as necessary and then continue to ra ise the jack.
CD Note
Do not lift the vehicle by the sill. Position
the vehicle jack only at the designated lift­
ing points on the sill. Otherwise, your vehi­
cle will be damaged.
Taking the wheel off/installing the spare
tire
Follow these instructions step-by-step for
changing the wheel .
Fig. 187 Changing a w hee l: usi ng the screwdriver han ·
dle (with the blade r~mo ved) to turn th e bo lts
Fig. 188 C hangin g a w hee l: alig nmen t pin inside the
to p hole
After you have loosened a ll wheel bolts and
ra ised the veh icle off the ground, remove and
replace the wheel as follows:
Removing the wheel
.,. Remove the topmost whee l bolt completely
with the
hexagonal socket in the screwdriv­
er handle (vehicle tool kit)¢
fig. 187 and
set it aside on a
clean surface .
.,. Screw the threaded end of the
alignment
pin
from the tool kit hand-t ight into the
empty bolt hole ¢
fig. 188.
.,. Then remove the other wheel bolts as de ­
scribed above.
.,. Ta ke off the wheel leaving the alignment
pin in the bolt hole
c::>(D .
Putting on the inflatable spare tire
.,. Push the spare tire over the alignment p in.
.,. Screw on the wheel bolts and tighten them
slightly using the hexagonal socket .
.,. Remove the alignment pin and insert and
tighten the remain ing wheel bolt slightly
like the rest.
.,. Turn the jack hand le counter -clockwise to
lower the veh icle until the jack is fully re­
leased .
.,. Use the wheel bolt wrench to tighten all
wheel bolts firmly
c::> page 254 . Tighten
them
in a crisscross pattern, from one bolt
to the (approximately) opposite one, to keep
the wheel centered .
.,. Perform the steps required after changing
the wheel
c::> page 253, After changing a
wheel.
T he hexagonal socket ma kes it easier to re­
move the wheel bolts from the rim. Care
should be tak en when removing the reversible
blade .
CD Note
When removing or installing the wheel,
the rim could hit the brake rotor and dam­
age the rotor. Work carefu lly and have a
second person to help you.
(D Tips
-When mounting tires with unidirectional
tread design
make sure the tread pat ­
tern is pointed the right way
c::>page257. ..,.