Well I was browsing around the internet today.... Researching suspension options, etc.

I ran across a site that sells all the oem hyundai parts.

https://www.hyundaipartsonline.com/oe_parts_cat.html

Well... the new 640 struts sell for 115 dollars a piece. With suspension components that cheap no wonder the ride is crap.

They also have the original 040 part for the same price. If you search for the original 041 it shows as being superceded by 040.

The springs are 85 dollars a piece too. To me, a car junkie.. I think that explains a lot. Maybe all together with mounts and what not the whole front suspension costs 600 bucks oem. Springs and struts alone are only 400 dollars for the whole front end.

Price isn't all that important here...quality is. On the acura I had before this car I had Eibach Pro-kit springs all around that were $200 for the set of 4 and KYB AGX adjustable struts that were $65/ea. So for $460 I had just vastly improved my suspension setup and handling over an already decent stock ride.

I would kill to be able to run the same setup on the Azera but alas, neither one of these companies (like most others) carry any parts for the azzy. Personally, $400 for just the front end to replace a cr@ppy setup with the same cr@ppy setup sounds ridiculously expensive to me.

Just my $.02

That's what I mean.... Quality aftermarket stuff is usually cheaper. OEM crap should be outrageously expensive, especially when major components such as suspension are concerned. $115 for an oem strut just seems "cheap" to me. We already know they are poor quality.

I had KYB's and Intrax on my old mitsubishi. Maybe all together an $800 setup. Still the best suspension I've ever had. Quiet, handled like it was on rails, and not too harsh.

With the price what it is, and the good reports people with the 640's have had, I'm half tempted just to say F*** it and order them and install them myself. I still have a strut compressor from my previous suspension installs, and were only talking about $230 here. Hardly worth getting in a pissing match with the SM to get them replaced.

This post has been edited by boostedfc3s: Oct 6 2008, 07:15 PM

Also FYI... H&R does make sport springs for the azera. H&R is on par with eibach for quality.


About the same price as importing SMA lowering springs from Korea.

Interesting - that is really pretty cheap for OEM, esp. for the strut assembly. Eibach or Bilstein was the replacement shock abosrber of choice for my old BMWs, KYB or Bilstein on the Jags. But the OEMs on both kinds of cars go forever, you end up getting a bigger difference in ride quality and handling replacing bushings in the control arm, ball joints and steering rack tie rod ends. I just looked up OEM shock absorbers on the Jag and the OEM for the XJR fronts (which are the most expensive - heavier "sport" shocks) were about $300 apiece. I'm not completely convinced that $115 ea. means that the Hyundai parts are crappy or that the XJR's are 2.5X as good... it's just what the market will bear. E.g., "If you can afford a Jag, you can afford to pay us a premium for OEM stuff." (Not true, I might add...) For Hyundai, you bought the Hyundai, at least in part, because it's priced like the generic stuff. :)

This post has been edited by andyman32: Oct 7 2008, 05:54 AM

I have seen those and I have been tempted to buy them but without a suitable strut to go with them it seems like a waste. Plus I really don't want to lower the car...at least not that much. Maybe 3/4" tops. If I could find a good aftermarket strut like a KYB, Bilstein or Koni I would most likely do the H&R's though and live with the drop...just to get the handling under control.

I have 250 miles on the new L460's on my 07 Azera and getting worried already. The severe side to side wallowing is pretty much gone, but there is still considerable bouncing and front to back wallowing. I test drove a Genesis and MKS and neither had near as much bounce as my Azera, even though bounce or wallowing is a criticism of both.
Based on what I have read and my experiences, I wonder if "crappy" suspension is a trademark of Hyundai vehicles?

This post has been edited by Carolina Bob: Oct 7 2008, 03:15 PM

I like to push Thor through corners and he just seems fine... light body roll, no lean, very responsive to steering but relatively minimal feedback... overall very solidly built. Again, my most immediate point of reference is '96 and '97 Jags - all I've driven other than the Azera for the last 3 years - and before that, mid-'90s BMWs. Of all of them I think the Azera rides a little softer and I've said before that I note some (tolerable) clunk in the suspension, but highway ride and handling, and cornering, is all quite acceptable for a large sedan, and probably the handling is on par with or better than the Jags, even the XJR. It's not on rails like a BMW but it doesn't roll as much as my Vanden Plas or my Buicks did, and doesn't lean as much as the XJR - which also has a double-wishbone suspension.

Well, you know my standard disclaimer, Thor is 10 months old and only has 2300 miles on him... Soo-Dae (my wife's Azera) is a year old in a week or two, and has 4500 miles. I may just not be observing the same things as Azeras with 10,000+ miles on them.

This post has been edited by andyman32: Oct 7 2008, 05:06 PM

I have an 05 Accord that my son has been driving to work and school for the past 9 months. I had a chance to drive it today for the first time since January and now I'm really pi$$ed because the ride was pleasant and well dampened and the car felt connected to the road with no excessive bounce and wallow like my Azera and the jaring didn't transfer into the cabin and I didn't feel like a bobble head doll. How the he!! can the Azera's shocks and/or springs or whatever is causing it go so bad so quickly.

BTW, regional Hyundai guy tells me that it is the way the car was meant to handle and he denied my claim. I have appealed and it is supposedly elevated from the district Hyundai parts/service manager to a higher level. The s#itty s#ock saga continues.

:)
"I have 250 miles on the new L460's on my 07 Azera and getting worried already."

Not to be overly critical but I am. :P Make that part number L640.

As far as the rest of what you are saying, I am afraid that I must agree with you 100 percent.
Ours has over 1000 miles on the new 640 shocks and I thought it was just overly critical me,
but no, I guess that I'm not alone. Even the wife is complaining about the bouncy ride again!

"Front to back wallowing" pretty much sums it up. Maybe I need to install the matching
640 shocks (part number 55311-3L640) for the back also as tcarr925 has done? :puzzled:

Right now, I am disgusted. I will most likely wait until someone such as Bilstein produces some
quality shocks for the Azera. Until that time, I will simply live with it and endure the terrible ride. :crying:

:amen:

This post has been edited by snaglepus: Oct 7 2008, 11:48 PM

rats... so much for buying the 640's. If they are just as prone to wearing out prematurely. I'm sure if the springs weren't so damned soft the shocks wouldn't be overworked and wear out so quickly.

Is it July 09 yet so I can get rid of the flippin' car?

This post has been edited by boostedfc3s: Oct 7 2008, 11:56 PM

:)

Bare in mind that my front springs are no longer "so damned soft" because
I have had one coil removed ala the 'Mahout modification.'

Mine has only one thousand miles, and Bob doesn't have three hundred miles on his,
so it must be that Mando is simply not producing shocks of good quality. :innocent:

Oh well . . . :wacko:
I cannot get out of ours until sometime later than you because we bought it and didn't lease it. :whistling:

:P

So much for that idea then.... crap suspension components it is.

[QUOTE]"I have 250 miles on the new L460's on my 07 Azera and getting worried already."


As far as the rest of what you are saying, I am afraid that I must agree with you 100 percent.
Ours has over 1000 miles on the new 640 shocks and I thought it was just overly critical me,
but no, I guess that I'm not alone. Even the wife is complaining about the bouncy ride again!

"Front to back wallowing" pretty much sums it up. Maybe I need to install the matching
640 shocks (part number 55311-3L640[/QUOTE


[sigh]

Well s#it! I've been going round and round with Hyundai to get the 640's and now it doesn't seem worth the trouble if they are crap too.

Anybody have experience with coilovers?

Hi Snags, et. al.
I will say the ride is better if only due to the elimination (hopefully) of the side to side wallow, which was my main problem.
As noted in my post on the Genesis site, I confirmed for myself what Automobile Magazine and Car and Driver said about the Genesis ride. The overall Genesis ride is worse than my Azera and I have driven three of them. I'm beginning to believe that Hyundai is out for me and this includes the Santa Fe as a replacement for my RAV4.

I'm about ready to try. Problem is the ones I've found all use the stock upper mount unless you pay out the nose for the pillow ball mounts. And lets be honest, you don't need 300 bucks worth of adjustable upper mounts on a non track car. You set the camber once and call it good on a street car so it just ends up being a waste. Also judging from the rest of the suspension "quality" the stock upper mounts could be an issue with noise.