During the last snow event my daughter slid off of I75 and put my 03 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS back end first in a deep, deep ditch. Both back tires were blown. The tires have been replaced but the tire shop said they weren't able to align them properly because the back end is out of alignment. It is going over to a body shop for a frame alignment this afternoon. The tire shop says that the frame problem isn't serious. My husband is having cow fits. He says there is no such thing as a minor out of alignment problem and he wants to stick a for sale sign on it and get rid of it. I don't want another car pmt. plus I love this car. I'm going to the frame shop myself but I don't know what to ask about how serious this really is and I probably wouldn't understand it if they told me. Can any of you automotive gurus help me out here?
Car Frame Out of Alignment Question
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Oh boy is that link ever a life saver. Marriage saver too. oldsendbrdy I can't thank you enough.
I don't entirely agree with everything posted on that link. That being said, let me make you aware of a few things that I have seen in my experience.
First, it is hard to believe that the "frame" was out of alignment from the accident you described. In most cases, every wheel on a car has a certain amount of adjustment in it to align it. Most of these adjustments are elongated bolt holes. Sometimes, slightly larger holes are needed to make the alignment "perfect". I imagine that over 1/2 the cars on the road are not in "perfect" alignment. Will this cause cars to drive off the road or become uncontrollable? No. Over time you might notice minor uneven tire wear, but most times the tire requires replacement for overall wear before you notice the uneven wear. If you follow a tire rotation schedule, you'll get the maximum life out of your tires. Some alignment shops are either unwilling or untrained to "modify" those holes to get a "perfect" alignment and justify it by saying the "frame" is out of alignment.
Now, I have not seen your car and I am not the top expert in alignments. I am however giving advice that in no way benefits me or is a profit to me so I am being as truthful as I can be based on what I know. Let us know what the bodyshop says and the approx price. I'm pretty sure that once you get your car back, you and your car will continue to provide many happy years of operation.
Holland,
Sorry I didn't comment until just now, and I know that the vehicle has already been to the frame shop, but I wanted to pass along what my hubby had to say about this. He is a certified master mechanic and has worked on every type of vehicle for over 30 years.He said that as long as the frame shop you took it to was reputable that your problem is over and you should have no more problems, so tell your hubby to stick a sock in it, the truck is good to go ;0)
posted by justsimplyholly on Feb 10, 2008 at 08:45:21 pm #
It is still in the body shop, awaiting a tailgate part that we didn't notice was damaged. They have said the alignment problem looks pretty minor. It's a unibody so that is a different set of adjustments, but still no major problem. As far as the validity of the link information it was priceless to me. It kept my dearly beloved from sticking a for sale sign in it until he got the right information to act on. I get to keep my car.
We did decide to put 4 new tires on it, instead of two. One thing my DH does do is regular tire rotation. Keep's em inflated at the right psi too. Thanks tommy1.
This link, http://www.autoexinc.com/fr.htm#repair/faqs_frame.htm, seems to give some information. Are there any "shade tree" mechanics you trust to give you an answer? If these are reputable mechanics they should be able to give you a printed report (according to the above link) so that you have something to fall back on if you have to report it to the BBB.
posted by oldsendbrdy on Feb 08, 2008 at 12:49:02 pm #