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50 Posts
I haven't been on here in a while but have some interesting info to share, I apologize if this has been covered before.
I rarely have my elantra out on the highway but in the last month have had to make several trips. The last trip was on snow and ice covered roads and I have to say I have never felt so uncomfortable behind the wheel of a car in my life. Going anything above 60km/h it felt like the car was fish tailing and was going to spin off the highway. It honestly felt like all 4 wheels where pointed in different directions, freakin scary! This car has never really felt quite right, even on dry highway roads it was constant corrections to keep it straight. Anyway after doing a quick internet search I found a few people describing the same condition. They had taken their cars back to hyundai and the dealers would say they need winter tires or the alignment is 'within spec'. I decided to take my car to a specialty alignment shop. That is all they do is alignments of cars, trucks, semis you name it. They told me they would perform a 4 wheel alignment. When I went back to pick it up the guy says he noticed that I have 2 new tires on the car and he wondered If they replaced worn out tires. I said no I had 2 punctures recently that could not be repaired why. He said this thing was way way out of wack and should by all rights be eating tires. The rear wheels had major negative camber and were also toed in more than a 1/4". To correct this required some shimming. The front also had negative camber and I can't remember what he said about toe. He said it was all really bad but sadly would have probably been within hyundai specs which he says are way,way to big.
Anyway I paid my $125 and took it out. Within a block I could already tell something was different. The steering wheel would return to centre with much more force than before, it really wants to straighten the car out when you let go. Also the overall steering feel is greatly changed. It feels tighter, sportier and more feedback so to speak. Best of all the thing goes straight as an arrow. No more constant corrections and the faster you go the steering feel becomes heavier and just seems like there is so much more feedback in a good way. I have not taken it out on an icy highway drive yet as our snow is all gone for now but I really feel that this was worth it. Another bonus is the road noise has been slightly reduced and also when driving over expansion joints the car does not skip to one side anymore. That annoyed the heck out of me. KYB shocks helped a tiny bit with that but this stopped it.
Anyway if you are having a similar problem and want to give this a try I would recommend a specialized alignment shop and not Walmart or your dealer. This is not your typical 4 wheel alignment job. I doubt either would even know how to do the alignment on the rear of these cars and they may just tell you its not possible but it is.
I should mention I also have meccatune lowering springs and kYB rear shocks. The springs caused some of the negative camber in the front (required more shimming to correct) but not the rear.
Anyway thought I would share, sorry for the long post.
I rarely have my elantra out on the highway but in the last month have had to make several trips. The last trip was on snow and ice covered roads and I have to say I have never felt so uncomfortable behind the wheel of a car in my life. Going anything above 60km/h it felt like the car was fish tailing and was going to spin off the highway. It honestly felt like all 4 wheels where pointed in different directions, freakin scary! This car has never really felt quite right, even on dry highway roads it was constant corrections to keep it straight. Anyway after doing a quick internet search I found a few people describing the same condition. They had taken their cars back to hyundai and the dealers would say they need winter tires or the alignment is 'within spec'. I decided to take my car to a specialty alignment shop. That is all they do is alignments of cars, trucks, semis you name it. They told me they would perform a 4 wheel alignment. When I went back to pick it up the guy says he noticed that I have 2 new tires on the car and he wondered If they replaced worn out tires. I said no I had 2 punctures recently that could not be repaired why. He said this thing was way way out of wack and should by all rights be eating tires. The rear wheels had major negative camber and were also toed in more than a 1/4". To correct this required some shimming. The front also had negative camber and I can't remember what he said about toe. He said it was all really bad but sadly would have probably been within hyundai specs which he says are way,way to big.
Anyway I paid my $125 and took it out. Within a block I could already tell something was different. The steering wheel would return to centre with much more force than before, it really wants to straighten the car out when you let go. Also the overall steering feel is greatly changed. It feels tighter, sportier and more feedback so to speak. Best of all the thing goes straight as an arrow. No more constant corrections and the faster you go the steering feel becomes heavier and just seems like there is so much more feedback in a good way. I have not taken it out on an icy highway drive yet as our snow is all gone for now but I really feel that this was worth it. Another bonus is the road noise has been slightly reduced and also when driving over expansion joints the car does not skip to one side anymore. That annoyed the heck out of me. KYB shocks helped a tiny bit with that but this stopped it.
Anyway if you are having a similar problem and want to give this a try I would recommend a specialized alignment shop and not Walmart or your dealer. This is not your typical 4 wheel alignment job. I doubt either would even know how to do the alignment on the rear of these cars and they may just tell you its not possible but it is.
I should mention I also have meccatune lowering springs and kYB rear shocks. The springs caused some of the negative camber in the front (required more shimming to correct) but not the rear.
Anyway thought I would share, sorry for the long post.
