Elantra wheel alignment - camber cannot be adjusted?

I had a wheel alignment done (Elantra GLS 2003) and learned that camber is less then optimal on all four wheels, but cannot be adjusted. I was also told there are after-market kits that make it possible to adjust camber, but they are expensive. This wasn't a pitch to sell the kits - the mechanic was just giving me information, but now I'm curious if it would be a good idea. I have the computer print-out of the before & after alignment specs, but I don't know if the degree of deviation is significant or not. Any thoughts about this?

Reply to
Victek
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Unless you're significantly out of spec (at least 50%) or having handling issues, it's probably not worth the expense. Camber will only affect tire wear in a minor way. Typical front camber kits involve smaller diameter strut to knuckle attaching bolts to enable play to move the top of the knuckle in or out. Typical rear camber kits involve placing a shim between the wheel hub and its mount to achieve the desired angle.

Reply to
hyundaitech

THX for that info. Cheap design/construction IMO. I'll avoid that model.

Reply to
Spam away

You are probably right about being cheap, unfortunately I,m told almost all cars including Japanese have deleted this adjustment. I suspect the build accuracy and alignment of structures is a lot more accurate than it was

30 -40 years ago which made more "adjustments" necessary.
Reply to
John

On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:12:36 GMT, Spam away cast forth these pearls of wisdom...:

Ease up on your opinion some. This is very common in today's front ends, where "out of spec" does not mean what it used to mean. Nobody really uses a camber adjustment anymore because this "out of spec" issue is of such little consequence as to be ignored. For those who do get really concerned about this kind of thing, enlarging (elongating) the holes in the strut where it mounts the steering knuckle can usually provide the few degrees of adjustment required to hit dead on. You'll never notice that in your driving or in your tire wear, but for some people, they just can't sleep at night when they hear "out of spec".

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Thanks to everyone for the helpful information.

Reply to
Victek

I had a similar run in at the Kia dealer (brother to Hyundai) where I was getting tires for life...... They said that they couldn't reach the 'in-spec' camber and I would have to buy those nice expensive camber bolts if I wanted to maintain my 'tires for life'. I told the guy in front of a packed waiting room that he had me 'by the balls and what else could I do but pay them?' Got it fixed and a month later the bastards closed their doors.................. 'Tires for life - of the dealer'..........................

Reply to
631grant

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