Accent/Hyundai Alignments

[skierd]

In an attempt to abuse my mod powaz, I'm going to start an alignment blog here for my '98 accent. A good alignment can turn your car into a road shredding (albeit tire eating) machine, while a bad alignment can turn it into an evil handling monster, an understeering pig, or a scary mixture of both (something I experienced in my miata, before I aligned it, in her first snow storm). Next to quality tires, a good alignment is crucial to good handling and performance.

Unfortunately, Hyundai doesnt leave us much room from the factory. Stock settings for the X3 accents are as follows...
Front
Toe*: .12" out to .12" in
Camber: 0
Castor: 2°±30'


Rear
Toe*: 0 to 0.2" in
Camber: -.5 degrees
*note, from here on out both Toe and Camber will be expressed in degrees until I figure out the conversion to inches for my tire size as the Hunter machine reads in degrees

For other Hyundai's, the specs can be found on Webtech under Suspension Systems -> General -> Service Standards after selecting model and year.

When I picked up my X3 two weeks ago, I noticed it had a lot of push in the middle of a corner. Since it has over 100k on it anyway, and I’m new to the car I took her into my local National Tire and Battery (NTB) to have an alignment done. The reason I went there is that they offer alignment packages for 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years that allow you to come back anytime to have the car realigned (something I will be doing often). Not being sure how long it will take for me to abuse this service too much or how long I’ll own a Hyundai this time, I opted for the 1 year plan for ~$90.

One thing to remember… anytime you get an alignment, try to either sit in the car while the tech is making adjustments/taking readings or at least weight your seat appropriately. Without that weight, the suspension wont be loaded like it is on the road and the alignment will be off. It can get boring, but the results are worth it.

So I get her on the rack, and not to my surprise the alignment is off. My readings were:
Front
Toe: .2° toe in
Camber: -0.04°
Castor: 1.5°±30'


Rear
Toe: .2° toe in
Camber: - 0.3° degrees

No wonder it was pushing so badly… That toe-in is killing my steering response. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about camber or caster, as those are not adjustable from the factory. No matter, as I have a set of Ingall’s fastcam bolts on their way from Tire Rack, of the 2.0° variety.

After adjusting the toe front and rear, I ended up with these specs:
Front
Toe: 0
Camber: -0.01°L/R
Castor: 1.5°±30'


Rear
Toe: 0.05° n
Camber: - 0.04°L, - 0.09°R

Turn in is MUCH improved, as is steering response. Also, steering effort has been reduced (remember, manual steering). I’ll let y’all know how this works out for me at my autoX this weekend. Once I get my new tires/wheels mounted, the camber kit comes in, and I get my new poly suspension bushings in, I’ll have her realigned and we’ll go from there.

[skierd]

After the autoX on 2/5, I am very please with my toe settings. Turn in is crisp, no noticeable bad habits.

New alignment by the end of the month...

[Tugger5000]

They should be able to do an alignment with a strut bar installed, correct?

[skierd]

I dont see why not? All of the adjustments are in the wheel well.

[Tugger5000]

The top strut bolts on my previous car were involved in adjusting the alignment...

[Gimp]

I set my car to the following. I sat in the car when they set the final alignment.

Front
-1.7* Camber
0* Toe

Rear
-0.5* Camber
1/8" Toe Out

I ran it at an autocross school this past weekend, and it felt really good. With a nice hard charge into the corner you can easily and get the rear end to rotate and still stay very controlled. I haven't noticed any stability issues on the highway.

[Edited by Gimp on Mar 16, 2005 6:00 PM]

[J Van Hook]

Originally posted by skierd
[body]


One thing to remember… anytime you get an alignment, try to either sit in the car while the tech is making adjustments/taking readings or at least weight your seat appropriately. Without that weight, the suspension wont be loaded like it is on the road and the alignment will be off. It can get boring, but the results are worth it.
[/body]

everytime i get an alignment it still pulls a little to the left.. wow.. next time ill sit in it while he aligns it!!!! thanks man, very good write up!

[skierd]

Ok, time to update with my new alignment specs. I have had the car realigned and I have now the following setup:
Front
Toe: 0
Camber: -2.1°
Castor: 1.2°


Rear
Toe: 0
Camber: -1.2°

Castor has changed as a result of lowering the car via Eibach springs on stock struts. Camber has been changed via Ingalls camber kits, using the kit only in the upper bolt hole for the strut. Also, remember I also have the Whiteline 3-way adjustable rear sway bar, set to full stiff and only autocross on 205-60-13 Yokohama AO48R R comp tires. In other words, your results may vary.

With this new alignment, I've shaved 2+ seconds off of my autocross times, judging by my times vs my competitors. Before I was fighting for fourth and third, now I'm a solid second place car in my region and I run significantly closer to our top FSP cars. There is tons more grip in the front end and handling is again very neutral. Mid corner, more throttle introduced understeer, less brings slight understeer, and I can easily control the attitude of the car with the throttle. Transitional response is much improved, though still needs improvement, and it probably a bit reason why my car handles so much better. I'm also no longer wearing the outside edges of my tires, instead tire wear seems to be a bit more even if not more towards the inside.

[Edited by skierd on Jul 12, 2005 1:32 PM]

[skierd]

Just to note, I used this alignment at the Solo2 Nationals with my Hoosier R3S04's in 225/50/13 on 13x7 rims. Due to the fantastic levels of grip on the concrete in Topeka, I ended up severely overheating the outside edge of the tread and made the tires go away about halfway through the run. Because of this, I suggesting trying to find more camber if you're running on concrete, however these specs seem to be working well on asphalt.

[GregsterGSi]

You can adjust the front and rear camber via the strut/ knuckle

2 ways the Cam bolt which we know its like a common camber kit or you can use a grade 10 bolt that is no MORE then 1/8 smaller then the stock bolt.

A good alignment does help alot. I am a certified mechanic, My specialty is in suspension/ alignments.

As for sitting in the car it does help ALOT. BMW, Mercedes and VW require the following in the car while having an alignment done .

150 lbs driver, 150 passenger, 125 over the rear seat and 45lbs in the trunk. So I try no matter what car to have my customers sit in the car while im doing it.
If you guys have any questions feel free to ask.

[Edited by GregsterGSi on Jan 6, 2006 7:34 PM]