Accent wheel alignment impossible?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Christopher Wong
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Christopher Wong

I (actually, my wife) just had new tires installed at Sears for my 2001
Accent. I also requested alignment service there. The printout that they
gave my wife puzzles me. It showed front camber, caster and SAI as out of
specified range. But from the scribbling on the paper, it looks like they
only set front and rear toes (which were within specified range). Other
sheets printed in big letters "The manufacturer does not specify front
CAMBER and CASTER adjustments" as well as a similar message for rear caster.
Best I can tell is that Sears Auto decided they could not adjust camber nor
caster, and only did unnecessary toe adjustments. That was a waste of $60.

Can a mechanic actually do a proper alignment service on an Accent, or is
Hyundai making this impossible?

Chris
 
sears is one of the worst places to go, i remeber their investigations yrs
ago for fraudulant work etc..
our accent had a full 4 wheel alignment b4... its a '99
 
To what model year Accent do you refer? Some allow neither caster nor
camber adjustment. Hyundai's advice should these be found outside of
allowed specifications?:"Replace bent or damaged parts"
--Patrick
 
To what model year Accent do you refer? Some allow neither caster nor
camber adjustment. Hyundai's advice should these be found outside of
allowed specifications?:"Replace bent or damaged parts"
Click to expand...

You're right, this Accent (2001) does not allow camber/caster adjustments.
Sears did the right thing in this case. I checked Hyundai's WebTech to
verify this. Since the basic warranty is still in effect, I'm taking it in
to my dealer for a look.

Chris
 
Christopher Wong said:
I (actually, my wife) just had new tires installed at Sears for my 2001
Accent. I also requested alignment service there. The printout that they
gave my wife puzzles me. It showed front camber, caster and SAI as out of
specified range. But from the scribbling on the paper, it looks like they
only set front and rear toes (which were within specified range). Other
sheets printed in big letters "The manufacturer does not specify front
CAMBER and CASTER adjustments" as well as a similar message for rear caster.
Best I can tell is that Sears Auto decided they could not adjust camber nor
caster, and only did unnecessary toe adjustments. That was a waste of $60.

Can a mechanic actually do a proper alignment service on an Accent, or is
Hyundai making this impossible?
Click to expand...

I thought I'd follow up on my original post to bring closure to the subject.
I brought the Accent in to my Hyundai dealer, explaining my experience with
Sears. I had to pay for another wheel alignment so they could see the
situation for themselves. They confirmed what Sears told me: that there was
an issue with front camber/caster alignment, and that it cannot be adjusted.
They then told me that the cure was to replace a bent front strut, and that
the basic 5/60K warranty does not cover this as it is considered a road
hazard damage (i.e., pot holes). Hmph. They could have told me this BEFORE
insisting I paid for a wheel alignment. I have no idea how much a new strut
costs, but it's probably way more than I want to spend right now.

That was a waste of another $60.

I'm quite certain the damage was not my doing, as I bought the car -- from
this same dealer -- in July. I suppose this is one of the hazards of buying
a used car: you also buy its pending repairs. And the other lesson is: no,
you cannot for the most part do a wheel alignment on an Accent.

Chris
 
Christopher said:
I have no idea how much a new strut
costs, but it's probably way more than I want to spend right now.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the OEM parts cost, but when I replaced the front
struts on my Excel, a PAIR of KYB struts was ~$125, which was
surprisingly cheap. Since the car is a few years old, you should
probably replace both struts, especially if you're going with
aftermarket parts.

If you have to pay to have struts installed, figure it will take ~1/2
hour each.

If you're going to do the job yourself, you'll need to buy, rent or
borrow a spring compressor. Some parts stores lend them at no charge if
you buy the parts from them.
 
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