Question on 2006 Jetta rear suspension "looseness"

Hello Folks,

I haven't been on here in a while. My old Jetta has been working that good.

Anyway, this is a strange one, and I just thought I'd reach out and get some feedback on it. A month or two ago, the car started to feel kinda loose in the rear end....not all the time or anything, just seemed like once in a while when hitting a bump while going around a turn, gradual curve, etc. Like a curved offramp with bumps or seams in the road, every time I'd hit one the rear of the car felt like it wiggled a bit...almost like the rear tires were half flat or something.

I went around the car yesterday, and found both rear tires absolutely bald. I mean bald like right through he wear bars and almost no sign of the tread left.

Anyway, they were Michelin Premier A/S tires 245/45-17 or whatever the usual size is, and the front tires were still fine, and looked the same as when I installed them 2-3 months ago. (They were well worn at the time, not new, but were worn evenly).

I stuck my factory 16" rims back on today with Continental Pure Contacts, probably 50% worn, and it seems like the rear end still wiggled a bit going over some bumps.

(I was trying to figure out if the bald tires were causing the weird handling feel, or if there was an issue with the car causing the weird handling and tire wear).

Car has almost exactly 170,000 miles on it. Rear control arms (new aftermarket) were installed by VW dealer a year or so ago when doing an alignment.

Shocks are original, and I haven't had an alignment since...car still drives straight...I didn't think I needed to bother.

Anything in the butt of a Mk5 Jetta that would cause the rear end to get sloppy, or do I just need new shocks and an alignment? It seems like too much of a coincidence that the car has ruined two rear tires so quickly.

Any thoughts? Am I insane...lol?

Alignment machines don't lie, you can certainly start there. I would not think bald tires would cause much issue you'd feel while driving unless it was wet out. Incorrect tire pressure could. Shock absorbers probably wouldn't hurt. Not sure why the control arms were replaced, but that would have been the time to replace the shocks.

I'd also check for broken springs or sway bar links. The springs break down inside the lower pocket, so you may need a mirror to see in there.

oilhammer said:

Not sure why the control arms were replaced?

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Alignment adjusters were seized solid on both L&R sides. They called me when it was on the alignment rack and they said they couldn't align it because they couldn't adjust the arms, so I told them to go ahead and replace them.

I'll take a look under there and see if I see anything obvious. I didn't really think much of it until I found that the two rear tires were completely worn out. That seemed odd to me...seeing as how the fronts looked just fine.

I'll take a poke around and if I don't see anything broken or loose, and I'll send her off for an alignment soon.

Thanks Oilhammer.

Well if the tires are kept rotated, they'll all wear evenly. You'd have to have something REALLY out of whack to smoke through a tire or tires within a normal service interval. Tire wear should never really sneak up on you. So you may indeed have something loose or out of whack back there.

Probably best to be safe and not drive it until you can at least get a general look around (or have it looked at).

The A5's suspension is generally pretty good, and usually hold up pretty well. In salty areas (like yours I assume?) the stuck adjusters could certainly be a problem, that makes sense the arms were replaced now that you say that.

oilhammer said:

Probably best to be safe and not drive it until you can at least get a general look around (or have it looked at).

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I'll check it out today and have a look around under there, and if nothing obvious I'll drop it off for a check up.

I usually keep pretty good eye on things, but I've been neglecting my tire rotations this summer. A friend turned in his 2012 Jetta TDI, and he gave me his 17" wheels with the four Michelins on them. I took the wheels to the VW closest to my work and had them checked/balanced before I installed them, and all seemed well with them at the time. I have since put maybe 8000-10,000 miles on them...just guessing.

I'm doing between 3000-3500 miles a month, so if I have any tire wear issues, they usually show up pretty quick. Having said that, I stuck this set on and kind of ignored them. I was planning on just wearing them out anyway, and then sticking my factory 16" wheels back on.

In any case, I'll have a look around and report back with what I find out. Thanks again.