2011 Sonata left pull issue

Now that Hyundaitech is back, I have a question for him that I have been holding. What is your thoughts on the results of the strut/camber "fix" for the left pull problem. Many are reporting on another forum that its not correcting the problem. Apparently the new Kia Optima is having the same problem. Some are blaming the Hankook tires. I am holding off on even considering the new sonata until I hear it been positively corrected. I currently own two Sonata and previously owned a third.

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Wade

I know nothing of a strut/camber fix. Of couse, this doesn't mean it exists. There may be a field fix that technical assistance is instructing technicians to perform. I haven't had occasion to call them in regard to the pulling left.

We have had several Sonatas in our shop for pulling left, a few of which I've been involved with. On most, I've found no problem, meaning that I could take the car to a straight, smooth, and relatively flat roadway, point it straight ahead, and it would continue tracking straight ahead. I've also had a couple where the steering wheel wasn't properly centered, meaning that the wheels were turned slightly when the wheel was in the center position. Neither of these vehicles pulled in either direction. When they were pointed straight ahead (steering wheel not necessarily centered), they continued straight ahead.

As far as the tires, if they are causing a pull, swapping the positions of the front tires should correct or reverse the pull.

The electronic steering system on these vehicles will attempt to return the wheel to the center position. I've noticed that it doesn't do this with exact precision; there is a allowable tolerance which will in turn allow the vehicle to drift a little one way or the other if the wheel is allowed to center itself. If I recall correctly, I did work on one vehicle where the steering angle sensor was not calibrated properly, causing the system to center it off-center, if you understand what I mean.

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Thanks for the links; it looks like it's a TIRE issue, and I wonder if it is only Hankook. I have Kumho's on my Sonata. Here's is the "tire fix", from the other guy on the forum >>>

As I suspected the problem does not lie in the design or engineering of the car. I used to have a 1984 BMW 733i which i restored and added

18inch rims and tires to. I remember the instant difference in performce going from 15's to 18's. I felt every little nook and cranny in the road and the car responded to every little jerk and turn of the steering wheel. Day one the car performed unbelievably. Towards the end of the tires' life i remembered having pulling issues and vibrations. This got me thinking about the tires and wheels on the 2011 Sonata.

I did take my car to the dealer and they were basically clueless and just tried to zero and align everthing - unsuccesffully. When i contacted the service manager about the failure... he said that they wanted to install a new "special strut". This did not get me to excited, so I said, "I would do some research and bring the car in". Well I took a look around for success with the special strut... For the most part, people that took this option were commenting that they thought there was a "slight" improvement, but it was nothing to write home about as they still felt a "slight pull". Then I started researching tires pulling. I asked around with some of my mechanics about that. My primary mechanic said that it could be the tires as no two tires and wheels are equal. After about 6 hours of reading and studying I think I can now start a tire manufacturing business.... or if nothing else, write a book.

I took the car to the dealer and requested that give me 4 new tires to take to my mechanic so he could install using his Road Force Balaning system (RFB). They informed me that they had one of those machines and could do it at the dealer. (not everyone has these they are like

20,000 for the machine.) Anyway, before they removed the old tires, I had them test all 4. 2 of the 4 were reported by the machine to be defective showing the error code "Belt tension inconsistancy - RECOMMEND REPLACEMENT"... The dealer threw those two tires out and replaced them and installed all 4 tires using the full balancer system. The RFB tested the wheels and tires and identified which tires to match to specific wheels. The RFB then indicated to the technician where to place them on the car.

The car tracks perfectly down the road. On crown right roads it slooooowwly pulls right... on crown left roads it sloooooowly pulls left..... on flat roads or splitting the crown by putting the white line down the center of the car.. it tracks perfectly straight.

If you want to verify my research do a google search for "RADIAL PULL TIRES" or "RADIAL STEER TIRES". also try my favorite... "HANKOOK TIRES PULL ".... You will find all sorts of complaints with the tires....

All in all, I am thrilled with my 2011 SONATA LIMITED 2.0T now that this problem is resolved. if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Thanks Mike B.

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Wade

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