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2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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jtellis
Novice
Aug 10, 2013, 5:29 PM
Post #1 of 10
(3800 views)
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2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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2005 Hyundai Elantra, 2.0 Liter, 92,000 miles.
I had new tires installed and an alignment done on this car about three weeks ago at Pepboys. It's my son's car so I didn't drive it until today and discovered it was pulling to the right. I took it back to Pepboys They put it on the rack and showed me that the right front tire had gouges out of it and all the tires were feathered and worn on the outside edge. They said my son had been driving very aggressively (which I couldn't argue with), sold me two new front tires at a pretty good discount and realigned it.
It now does not pull to the right, but the ride is extremely rough, much rougher than before I took it in, including as I was driving it to them. It rides like the suspension is very stiff. I took it back to them, but they said they didn't do anything to cause this and one or more of the struts must be stuck and need replacing. Strangely, they didn't offer to do it.
I have noticed that I can push the left front of the car up and down much farther than the right. Also, if is push down on the right front fender so that the car goes down (compressing the suspension) it doesn't spring back up immediately, but slowly comes back up. The left front does not do this, it comes right back up. Also, the back suspension does this as well but not as bad.
What could be causing this and how do I fix it?
I'm really worried about my son driving this car like this. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Aug 10, 2013, 6:37 PM
Post #2 of 10
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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Quote ">>What could be causing this and how do I fix it?<<"
So, 3 week old tires w an alignment and tires have gouges and are feathered already and was pulling and needed new tires AGAIN already!
Quote II ">>They said my son had been driving very aggressively (which I couldn't argue with)<<"
Seems like this has been thru hell. Plain ride is greatly the tires and properties they have but the jouncing it with unequal response certainly aggrevates it.
Seems near sure you will need new struts on this car which may or may not have been bad a few weeks ago by the sounds of things.
By your own words the car is being seriously abused. OK - fix the struts and recheck alignment again but I super strongly suggest YOU have a good talk with your son. Screw the car, that can be fixed.
The real fix is changing those driving habits before someone gets killed. Sorry if I misinterpreted what you just posted but this can't wait,
T
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jtellis
Novice
Aug 10, 2013, 8:06 PM
Post #3 of 10
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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Mr. Greenleaf,
Thank you for your reply, concern, and parental advice; however, I think my words were misinterpreted (or, more likely, I didn't express myself well enough). I do not believe my son abuses this car since he actually drives like an old lady (my apologies to the elder females out there) to the point of being annoying when I'm riding with him. I actually have spoken to my son many times about his driving, but mainly directed to how driving so far below the speed limit is also a problem. What I meant was I simply did not have the ammunition to argue with the Pepboys staff (all of which were standing around at the time) when they made this statement. I suspect a defective tire plus alignment problems the first time around but have no proof.
In fact, the re-alignment change was very minor. Only the rear toe was changed on both sides.
The bottom line of my post and question is this: I took the car in riding fairly smoothly but pulling to the right and got it back, after two new front tires and a realignment, not pulling to the right but riding like and old log wagon (as my dad would have said). The ride actually reminds me of the cut pickup trucks we used to make back in the 70s and 80s that had no shocks or struts at all. They had the axels directly attached to the frame with no dampers. That's what led me to try to check the struts.
I certainly agree with the statement that the car can be fixed. I'm simply trying to determine what needs to be done before I spend a bunch of money on it.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again,
John
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Aug 11, 2013, 3:01 AM
Post #4 of 10
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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Clearly John I was worried about what you might not see going on sparked by needing new tires in 3 weeks with visable damage. Defects - maybe? The shock part of the struts are not correct so a pair of new ones indicated by YOUR observations. That would ruin the ride, handling alone. The actual tire does as well. Some just don't ride well others so good at ride alone it can cover the car's defects.
IMO for whatever reason the situation is close to being back to square one as new struts means yet another alignment.
The "shock dampening" part of them would not be seen by an alignment machine. Was that like that at the first round of work remains unknown. A hard slam with pothole or bouncing off curbs could instantly cause good new things to fail.
I'm in MA. Many roads are in horrible shape with defects so bad they would damage cars and do.
What to do? Is the shop or techs missing something or at fault for the repeated problems. I really can't say that so if you are worried get another opinion.
My overwhelming experience with shops is that they do want to do the best work possible and have happy customers. Doesn't really matter if a dealer, chain or independent place it doesn't do anyone any good when work fails.
****************
Do pay attention as best you can about your son's driving. If that needs some adjustment work on that too.
Good luck. Here to help but should leave the parenting up to you!
Tom
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jtellis
Novice
Aug 11, 2013, 9:16 AM
Post #6 of 10
(3760 views)
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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Thanks for the responses.
Hammer Time: The story isn't changing, it's just a reflection of the storyteller's inability to tell the whole story in an attempt to not make the an already long post any longer.
I sincerely regret making the comment "which I couldn't argue with", bad grammar and all, since it obviously deflected the conversation away from the actual question that brought me to this forum in the first place.
Trying to nail it down to the essence of the question... I was trying to ask: Is there anything the shop could have done incorrectly, not done completely, or inadvertently left undone during the tire change/alignment process that could have resulted in an extremely rough ride? In particular, I was hoping there was something I could check and quickly fix that would at least improve the ride.
I was not looking for a personal critique or parenting advice since there are other forums for that sort of thing. I was looking for a technical discussion of the mechanical issue I am dealing with now, hopefully leading to a solution or at least a direction of investigation. Apparently, this was not the right forum for that discussion, so I'll search elsewhere.
Thanks again to all for taking the time to view my post and especially to those who took the time to respond.
John
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Aug 11, 2013, 9:47 AM
Post #8 of 10
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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That really isn't uncommon. We have it had happen on a few cars that where put up on the lift with the wheels hanging down and the struts extended. Infact, I changed the oil on my mother's Rav at work while she waited. Took the vehicle off the lift and the struts were locked up. The only fix is to replace both front struts.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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jtellis
Novice
Aug 11, 2013, 10:10 AM
Post #9 of 10
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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Hammer Time: I'm not getting it checked because I took it back to Pepboys after about 10 minutes after I left yesterday when I discovered the rough ride but they were not interested in checking out the strut, even though I asked them to. I think they were through with me. I'm looking for some place else now, but it's Sunday morning and here in Alabama the auto shops that are open on Sunday don't open until afternoon.
Please note that the rough ride was noticed when I pull out of Pepboys parking lot, i.e., I didn't have time or opportunity to hit a pot hole or curb.
My problem is personal, not mechanical? Hmmm, something to think about. Not really sure how a personal problem on my part could cause the car to ride extremely rough immediately after getting it from the shop, but I'll keep and open mind and see if I can sort than one out.
Thanks for your reply.
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jtellis
Novice
Aug 11, 2013, 10:13 AM
Post #10 of 10
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Re: 2005 Hyundai Elantra very rough ride
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Discretesignals: Thank you for the reply. That was very helpful and I really appreciate it.
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