Wobble/vibration after replacing front wheel bearings/hubs on 2014 S7

[Gekbi]

TL;DR - Replaced front bearings/hubs, and now the car wobbles/shakes intermittently.


I recently replaced both front wheel bearings and hubs on my 2014 Audi S7. Whereas before there was a constant metal-clunking noise (especially over 35mph), the car now wobbles/shakes to varying levels (accelerating reduces the wobble). Not sure how to go about tackling this issue, as I don't know where the problem lays. After replacing the bearings, the car threw a TPMS code (not just low tire pressure, but "TPMS SYSTEM MALFUNCTION"). None of the tires were low, so I checked out the install, and found one of the sensors that registers tire speed (screwed into the knuckle) was dirty; code went away after I cleaned sensor with lens wipe.

Thoughts/Considerations

Is it possible that the shop that pressed the bearing and hub misaligned the parts, causing the car to vibrate?

Perhaps one of the four screws that secures the hub/bearing to the knuckle is lose? I tightened them as much as I could, but accessing them was difficulty without taking out the entire assembly.

How likely is it that the axle splines didn't line-up with the grooves in the bearing assembly? I made sure that they slide in, and tightened the axle bolt to factory spec (160ft/tq + 180 degree turn).

Did I perhaps get bunk hubs from ECS Tuning? The "best" ones were out of stock, so I went with the brand they recommended (HT), which they purportedly use on in-house manufactured parts (e.g., per-assembled bearing/hub combo for certain model cars).


I'm really trying to avoid taking the car into the shop, as I'm quite familiar with car mechanics (clearly not the wheel bearing/hub, as this is my first time doing such a repair), and I really don't have the financial leniency to take-on that expense. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Valpo A7]

I just did a rear on my A7 and pulled and pressed my own bearings. Getting them crooked would be hard to do if the bearing was pressed fully onto the hub. The hub setup can be held in with 3 of the 4 bolts so I doubt it’s crooked either. If you got all 4 tight then that should be fine. The axle spline, if you got it all the way in then no way possible to have that crooked as well. Audi is stupid crazy with torques. 150 ft lbs is more than plenty. The extra 1/2 turn is over kill.

As far as the balance wobble goes. Lift the front end a spin the wheels looking for runout on the wheel and tire and make sure all that spins true. You can even take it to a tire shop and have them spin them on their machine. Inspect all the suspension for warm components and go from there.