2015 Genesis at 170k miles: Vibration at Any Speed

[Elly May]

I own a 2015 Genesis (purchased new) that has 170k miles on it. All service and repairs have been at the dealership (except for tires). At 165k miles, I was hearing a thumping sound in the front driver's side. The dealer said the front control arms need replacing for $998k. I took it to an independent certified Hyundai repair shop, and they showed me while the car was on a lift that the control arms are fine. They blamed bent wheels in the front and recommended 2 new wheels for $1,668. I went for a 3rd opinion at another certified Hyundai repair shop, and they said it was neither and having the tires rotated and balanced and having an alignment might be all it needs. Did that, and the thumping is gone, but now there's an annoying vibration in the front which can be felt in the steering wheel and the front in general. It is constant and doesn't get better or worse with higher or lower speeds. I had the 3rd opinion shop tweak the alignment, and they said there is no way to get the alignment perfect because of the way the front passenger side is engineered. 1st question: does that make sense? 2nd question: Has anyone else had this experience and found a solution? All 3 opinions said the tires are fine and the brakes are fine, so those are supposedly not the problem. Thanks for your advice.

 

[5.0KDM]

I'm pretty sure you can only adjust the toe on these cars. Check and see if your drive shaft coupler isn't shot over time the rubber loses it quality like a bushing will.

 

[carguy75]

I own a 2015 Genesis (purchased new) that has 170k miles on it. All service and repairs have been at the dealership (except for tires). At 165k miles, I was hearing a thumping sound in the front driver's side. The dealer said the front control arms need replacing for $998k. I took it to an independent certified Hyundai repair shop, and they showed me while the car was on a lift that the control arms are fine. They blamed bent wheels in the front and recommended 2 new wheels for $1,668. I went for a 3rd opinion at another certified Hyundai repair shop, and they said it was neither and having the tires rotated and balanced and having an alignment might be all it needs. Did that, and the thumping is gone, but now there's an annoying vibration in the front which can be felt in the steering wheel and the front in general. It is constant and doesn't get better or worse with higher or lower speeds. I had the 3rd opinion shop tweak the alignment, and they said there is no way to get the alignment perfect because of the way the front passenger side is engineered. 1st question: does that make sense? 2nd question: Has anyone else had this experience and found a solution? All 3 opinions said the tires are fine and the brakes are fine, so those are supposedly not the problem. Thanks for your advice.

My guess that the dealership was correct. The front control arm may have a bad rubber bushing that is causing the play or vibration.

 

[Elly May]

Check and see if your drive shaft coupler isn't shot over time the rubber loses it quality like a bushing will.

Thank you. I'll have someone check that.

 

[Elly May]

My guess that the dealership was correct. The front control arm may have a bad rubber bushing that is causing the play or vibration.

Thanks for this. I will ask them to check this specifically.

 

[arcman]

Thanks for this. I will ask them to check this specifically.

Alignment shouldn't have much effect on vibration. A bad bushing could amplify and poorly balanced tire. If you have vibration at all speeds, you either have a bad tire or it could be a bent wheel.

Were the tires 'Road Force' balanced? (This is a balancer that the tire spins against a rotating drum and part of the process is rotating the tire on the wheel to find its sweet spot.) The Genesis is very picky about tires and if they aren't perfectly round or can't get under 18lbs of road force that could be the problem. Poor balance usually won't show up until higher speeds, say 50mph or so.

All tires don't come out of the mold perfect. I bought a set of really cheap tires from Thailand. They rode fantastic, had tons of grip but anything above 60mph, they were awful. They balanced just fine on a spin balancer but we couldn't get one of them under 42lbs on the force balancer.

For starters, I would witness the tires spun on either the car or balancer to see if they are in any way out of round.

Your experience so far shows how inept or corrupt repair shops can be. Who do you trust?

 

[Elly May]

Alignment shouldn't have much effect on vibration. A bad bushing could amplify and poorly balanced tire. If you have vibration at all speeds, you either have a bad tire or it could be a bent wheel.

Were the tires 'Road Force' balanced? (This is a balancer that the tire spins against a rotating drum and part of the process is rotating the tire on the wheel to find its sweet spot.) The Genesis is very picky about tires and if they aren't perfectly round or can't get under 18lbs of road force that could be the problem. Poor balance usually won't show up until higher speeds, say 50mph or so.

All tires don't come out of the mold perfect. I bought a set of really cheap tires from Thailand. They rode fantastic, had tons of grip but anything above 60mph, they were awful. They balanced just fine on a spin balancer but we couldn't get one of them under 42lbs on the force balancer.

For starters, I would witness the tires spun on either the car or balancer to see if they are in any way out of round.

Your experience so far shows how inept or corrupt repair shops can be. Who do you trust?

Wonderful feedback. I really appreciate it. I had the tires balanced in July at a Discount Tire outlet where I bought the tires. They told me the tires were out of balance (I'd never been told that before) but they corrected them. They use a spin balancer but I don't know about a force balancer. I'll have to check that out. The tires were purchased new in 2022 and are Falken Pro 05 Sport A/S tires. Not sure if Genesis is okay with them or not. First time I purchased that brand.

One of the 3 opinions said I had 2 bent wheels. The dealer and the 3rd opinion didn't think they were a problem.

I don't trust the dealer at all, and now I don't trust my other 2 repair shops. I have previous threads out there describing problems with the dealer. Very frustrating. I wanted to take it to the Genesis dealer in Asheville next, but they are one of the ones that closed down when Genesis consolidated their dealer locations. I really love my car but it's becoming very difficult to own. Thank you again for your comments.

 

[arcman]

Wonderful feedback. I really appreciate it. I had the tires balanced in July at a Discount Tire outlet where I bought the tires. They told me the tires were out of balance (I'd never been told that before) but they corrected them. They use a spin balancer but I don't know about a force balancer. I'll have to check that out. The tires were purchased new in 2022 and are Falken Pro 05 Sport A/S tires. Not sure if Genesis is okay with them or not. First time I purchased that brand.

One of the 3 opinions said I had 2 bent wheels. The dealer and the 3rd opinion didn't think they were a problem.

I don't trust the dealer at all, and now I don't trust my other 2 repair shops. I have previous threads out there describing problems with the dealer. Very frustrating. I wanted to take it to the Genesis dealer in Asheville next, but they are one of the ones that closed down when Genesis consolidated their dealer locations. I really love my car but it's becoming very difficult to own. Thank you again for your comments.

I purchased my last set of tires from Discount. They have force balancers, but... their standard was around 35lbs, good chance that's what you got. It makes a difference. Discount went way out of their way to get my tires under 18lbs, rotating tires on the rim multiple times, all while I stood there in the shop watching. Can't say enough about them being helpful.

I started my tire journey at two different Tires Plus shops and both called the first set of tires defective without really trying. They were kinda right because I managed to get three in spec but the fourth wouldn't cooperate. A replacement was even worse so I tried a different brand.