Is this sign of bad alignment?

[375ponies]

Hi,

during drive test I noticed that it was pulling to the right and it wasn't due to road crown. So I told the dealer (not hyundai, they just specialize in used cars) to fix this before I get it and some time later they assured me that it was done. When I asked what was the problem they said that the car needed "same adjustments and an alignment". Great, I come to pick up the car and of course nothing was done, it was still pulling to the right.

I also noticed some vibrations on highway speeds so I did tire balancing today in some indie shop and asked to swap front tires just in case. Rear tires were badly imbalanced, fronts were better but still not perfect.

After balancing and swapping front tires it's almost perfect now, no obvious pulling and behaves really nice on highway.

So does this mean that I have 2 problems - my right front wheel is pulling to the right and my car is misaligned in the same direction? And now, since i swapped front tires, they balance each other? Because if my car was aligned properly shouldn't it pull to the left now?

Or is it something else?

 

[brfatal]

If your car was aligned it's tire wear.

 

[homeofstone]

Maybe this link an help. http://www.aa1car.com/library/tires2.htm

 

[375ponies]

I forgot to mention that tires are fresh, i think dealer replaced all of them. Some cheap chinese HiFly ones i think. So i have to wait a long time to see the wear pattern. After balancing nothing is vibrating, it's silky smooth on highway.

I guess i'll have to do the alignment. The reason why i'm asking if it's something alignment-related is because i don't want to touch anything right now cause it's not pulling And there is the question of money as well, right now I don't have lots of free cash.

 

[Mandride]

Re: Is this sign of bad alignment? Yes

Hi, I just spent a year working with Hyundai around an issue that I have had since the car was new in February 2011. Long Story but important. In researching this is a common problem with the car and really it is a lemon. But I love the car!

My wife would complain about it drifting to the right, not major but noticeable. I drive with my left hand so it wasn't too noticeable to me. I had the car aligned but it didn't improve it. First note for anyone, ask for a print out of the alignment. Look at the recommend specs and your cars camber.

Now the reason I say this. Also note I am a ASE certified Mechanic.

I continued driving my car. I noticed it getting more road noise and increasing vibrations. I found the inside of the left tire at 7,000 miles was wearing a small scalloping on the inside causing the noise. Note I had already had the car aligned at the dealership. First secret do everything with them so they have records. They will not acknowledge other companies work.

Net of this is the tire wear was coming from the alignment and the drift. When you have to always lean on the Steering wheel to keep it straight implies the tires are not tracking straight. therefore you are forcing it to drive straight.

What did I do. I took the car back to the dealership at 15,000 miles with the fact that I was very tired of the vibration from the tires and the pulling. They told me it is the tires. They are partially correct. The symptom is the tires and replacing them will fix the noise and the vibration for a short time. The root cause is the key issue.

Camber on the car is not adjustable without adjusting the entire sub-frame one way or the other. I had a special engineer fly in to perform this because the local mechanic couldn't do it. They adjust the car to try to correct the drift. It helped some but they took the car out of specs to a -1.1 setting that was outside of the specification completely. This was for right side camber. This still didn't stop the drift and they said I would have to buy some new tires. I decided to get some more miles first. At 25,000 I couldn't stand it anymore so I bought some brand new Michelin Pilots for 1,200 dollars. Guess what; the car still pulls. I took the car back to the dealership and they told me they couldn't fix it. I had to call customer service. Net of this is after the next 6 months almost not having a car anymore and three dealerships and three engineers flying in. I was never able to fix it. They then said it was because the new tire were too good. We put some tires from another genesis that didn't drive bad. "2012" and it still drove wrong. Tire Myth busted. It is the car. Dealership said they would replace my tires with a lesser grade tire for free and give me $300 for my trouble. Keep in mind it isn't the tires but I wanted my tires back because I went back to the dealership and traded my car for a 2013 R-Spec that drives straight. another interesting note though. The car drives straight but the right side camber on my 2013 is out of specs by 1 full degree! -1.5 with preferred at -.5

Time will tell as I will keep very close to this new car and tires. Dealer had put Black ASA wheels and continental Tires on it for looks. They were way out of balance and road bad so I had to get that fixed. Right now all is good.

 

[bmbutler]

Interesting post. Had my car back to dealer yesterday. After they did rotate and balance, my alignment was messed up. Told dealer car not drifting noticably to the left before this recent service. First said its the road - gosh, I absolute hate when they just bust out with that excuse! Told them, duh, I was driving a good distance on flat and level streets. I can tell if road is curved and not level.

They did an alignment yesterday. Showed me a sheet with green and red bars showing how it was really bad out of alignment and now fixed. Drove it home and surprise, still there. Going to wait a few days.

 

[Mandride]

So far even with the alignment issue the car still has it hasn't started wearing the tires out this time after another 1000 miles. I have 5,000 on my new Genny right now. The give away was the starting of a low level thumping and vibration in the ride. Good Luck! Ohh too mention on my 2013 they have told me they can not fix the alignment. I don't care if it continues to drive as nice as mine is right now and doesn't wear on the tires.

 

[bmbutler]

I took it back last week for its 3rd USB port. Had the techs re-look at the alignment since my steering wheel still was not centered. It is better, but they did say there is not much more they can do.

My main irritant is that for a $45k car (mine has everything) I don't expect my passenger seat to shake while driving on smooth road and I expect my steering wheel to be centered and alignment correct.

I still have a while on my lease, but these things will be on my mind when it comes to choosing my next car. Does the Genny ride beautifully? Yes. But these things bug this OCD brain! :0)

 

[Commander04]

I have a 2013 r-spec and since new there has been a steering wheel vibration at 65-70 mph. The car has been to the dealer 3 times they did a road force balance and an alignment which has reduced the vibration but not eliminated it. I drove two other r specs and they all had this issue. I reported this to Hyundai as well as National Hwy Safety since when going over expansion joints the steering wheels really shakes. Does anyone have the same problem with a fix?

 

[homeofstone]

I have a 2013 r-spec and since new there has been a steering wheel vibration at 65-70 mph. The car has been to the dealer 3 times they did a road force balance and an alignment which has reduced the vibration but not eliminated it. I drove two other r specs and they all had this issue. I reported this to Hyundai as well as National Hwy Safety since when going over expansion joints the steering wheels really shakes. Does anyone have the same problem with a fix?

The R-Spec comes with High Performance tires and 19" wheels. It will not glide over joints in the road. Take the car to your local tires shop that sells the brand of tires on the car and get them to check the tires carefully for run-out and balance. Make sure the tire dealer has all the up to date equipment and people with experience.

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[brfatal]

The R-Spec comes with High Performance tires and 19" wheels. It will not glide over joints in the road. Take the car to your local tires shop that sells the brand of tires on the car and get them to check the tires carefully for run-out and balance. Make sure the tire dealer has all the up to date equipment and people with experience.

Continental ProContacts are touring tires. They are far far from performance tires.

I've been having issues myself. I get vibration +45 mph. I've replaced one tires and rotated and no matter what I still get vibration (one pair is significantly worse than the other pair). I've had them balanced over half a dozen times. Wheels and tires are straight 2 dealerships say they tie rods have no play and neither have any idea what's wrong. They've even called Hyundai and have no idea. I'm going to replace all 4 tires shortly, and if it doesn't fix it, I'm gonna have a problem because I've already had my car in shops for 2-3 weeks trying to sort this.

 

[homeofstone]

Continental ProContacts are touring tires. They are far far from performance tires.

I've been having issues myself. I get vibration +45 mph. I've replaced one tires and rotated and no matter what I still get vibration (one pair is significantly worse than the other pair). I've had them balanced over half a dozen times. Wheels and tires are straight 2 dealerships say they tie rods have no play and neither have any idea what's wrong. They've even called Hyundai and have no idea. I'm going to replace all 4 tires shortly, and if it doesn't fix it, I'm gonna have a problem because I've already had my car in shops for 2-3 weeks trying to sort this.

My mistake, I have a friend that has a 2012 R-spec sedan that came new with Max performance Bridgestone SO 4 tires.

 

[shagnat]

The R-Spec comes with High Performance tires and 19" wheels. It will not glide over joints in the road. Take the car to your local tires shop that sells the brand of tires on the car and get them to check the tires carefully for run-out and balance. Make sure the tire dealer has all the up to date equipment and people with experience.

Do you check the manufacturer date of their equipment and ask for the resumes and references before letting them look at your car??????

 

[Commander04]

My R-Spec still has a steering wheel vibration after three trips to the dealership two in NC one in FL. I have driver two brand new R-Specs since one a 13 the other a14 and both presented the same steering wheel shake starting at 65 MPH. This is my third Genesis and the vibration is not due to firm suspension or 19" tires. The dealers have confirmed the issue but have been unable to resolve it. An email to Hyundai went unanswered as well as a call to their consumer line when they promised to get back to me in a day or so which was a month ago. My feeling is Hyundai knows they have an issue and are just stonewalling and trying to resolve it with fine tuning the balance of the tires.

It is a nice car but can only say no other cars that I have ever owned spent so much time in for repairs!

 

[homeofstone]

Do you check the manufacturer date of their equipment and ask for the resumes and references before letting them look at your car??????

I do ask about equipment and who is doing the work. I have told a service manager or two not to allow certain techs to work on my car and sometimes watch and make sure they don't, or I check the work order to see what tech worked on my car. Yes, I know its being an ass at times but I want it done right or not at all. And they have hell to pay if I get in the car after the service work and there is any dirt or grease anywhere in my car. I keep the interior looking like new, no trash or soil.

 

[shagnat]

I have a 2013 r-spec and since new there has been a steering wheel vibration at 65-70 mph. The car has been to the dealer 3 times they did a road force balance and an alignment which has reduced the vibration but not eliminated it. I drove two other r specs and they all had this issue. I reported this to Hyundai as well as National Hwy Safety since when going over expansion joints the steering wheels really shakes. Does anyone have the same problem with a fix?

I truly hate this for you guys who have this issue. I had an 08 Azera that had this issue and feel your pain. The Azera road like a tank, rattled like a tin can, and shook and vibrated and drifted exactly like you guys are saying your Genesis is doing.
I guess I got lucky (if you call it that) that's about the only issue I don't have with my Genny. It rides perfectly with zero drift, no vibration, nothing wrong at all!!!! It's such a relief after fighting that danged Azera to know I'm not constantly fighting the steering wheel to stay between the two white lines I'm supposed to be in.
Best of luck to you all. Hope something magical happens that corrects this issue for you.