[constipated]

Has anyone noticed that the FD i30 has a tendency for the wheels to go out of alignment much more easily than any other car. I have now had my i30 for 80,000 kilometres and have had to do 4 wheel alignments so far because the car was drifting to one side. In my previous car which I had for 9 years, I probably only did a wheel alignment once or twice . On one occasion, I drove for about 20 metres on a flat tyre and that was enough to seriously affect the wheel alignment. Otherwise I have had my usual share of occasional potholes.

The last alignment was only about 9 months or 10,000 km ago and already I have had to have it redone because the car was starting to drift to the left. I have had to resort to buying a package whereby the tyre shop will perform wheel alignment every 10,000 kilometres up to 10 times for $150 in expectation of future problems.

Is there anything in this car which might mean that the alignment gets knocked out more easily than another model?

[rustynutz]

Never had that problem and I reckon we have some of the worse roads in Australia... 

Gave my i30 a wheel alignment when I replaced the original tyres at around 55,000k as the front tyres were scrubbing a bit on the inside but the alignment has never been touched since. Got 114,000k on the clock now...

It's quite normal for your car to want to pull to the left due to the camber built into our roads.

[constipated]

It's quite normal for your car to want to pull to the left due to the camber built into our roads.

More than just camber. Pulling even on flat roads or when camber is towards the right.  Matched by the wheel alignment report which shows it's significantly out of specifications.

[rustynutz]

Okay... 
Have all your alignments been performed by the same mob?
The reason I ask is, from experience from previous vehicles I've owned, some of these guys don't actually seem to have a clue and end up making things worse rather than better...

[Paolo5]

My FD managed 70,000km on the original tyres with the original (factory) wheel alignment without any tendency to drift off line.

This was on Central Coast NSW sh#t roads.

[Surferdude]

As a former rally driver and a 35 year tyre industry employee,  I advocate regular wheel alignments.
They should be done each time you fit new tyres and at least once during the tyres' life.
However, having said that, I rarely follow my own advice. I have 90000 klms up on my 2009 FD. IIt's had three alignment checks but only one adjustment. One checkwas when I hit a large pothole at about 80 kph. It was filled with water and invisible in pouring rain. The alignment was fine.
 I drive hard, if not illegally (these days), and SE Qld roads aren't renowned for their state of repair so something needs further investigation in your car.

[Asterix]

I don't think the front suspension is much different in construction or quality that most other brands so it must be because of bad roads and/or driving style.

I've done 130,000 km in mine now and only got an alignment when I bought it. No signs of uneven wear on either summer or winter tyres.

[beerman]

136,200 k in the wagon.

One alignment at 70 odd thousand, and it wasn't out by much.

Has to get the wife's done at 38k and will probably get it done again at 80. But she seems to think rolling slowly up the gutter to get into the driveway is silly.

[i30niko]

I have done 55,000KM and I must have done about 6 wheel alignments. I have taken it to Pedders who have put it up on a new machine and the specs are all fine, they said Hyundai's are very notorious with suspension design this has been Hyundai's Achilles heel for many years.

He did say though some front wheel drive cars such as the Golf top the list. It has to do with suspension geometry and there is not much you can do about it will pull on way or another. Mine pulls to the left even on a completely flat surface. It has annoyed me for a few years but I have learned to live with it, I guess if you want absolute geometry you get a rear-wheel drive, they don't tend to suffer from these problems due to the double wishbone geometry.

I remember all the way back to my 1998 Excel I had the same problem, so did my wife's 2000 Accent. Even the steering wheel is not centred, I have to have it turned to the left around 15 degrees for the car to go straight, when the steering wheel is dead centre, the car pulls to the right. Go figure....Apparently there is a way they can reset the power steering but I am not sure if that will help.

[CraigB]

I have done 55,000KM and I must have done about 6 wheel alignments. I have taken it to Pedders who have put it up on a new machine and the specs are all fine, they said Hyundai's are very notorious with suspension design this has been Hyundai's Achilles heel for many years.

He did say though some front wheel drive cars such as the Golf top the list. It has to do with suspension geometry and there is not much you can do about it will pull on way or another. Mine pulls to the left even on a completely flat surface. It has annoyed me for a few years but I have learned to live with it, I guess if you want absolute geometry you get a rear-wheel drive, they don't tend to suffer from these problems due to the double wishbone geometry.

I remember all the way back to my 1998 Excel I had the same problem, so did my wife's 2000 Accent. Even the steering wheel is not centred, I have to have it turned to the left around 15 degrees for the car to go straight, when the steering wheel is dead centre, the car pulls to the right. Go figure....Apparently there is a way they can reset the power steering but I am not sure if that will help.

I've had several front wheel drive cars over the years and never had any alignment issues with any of them, Pedders as usual are filling their customers head with rubbish if they were any good they would have centred your steering wheel before aligning the wheels as well

[Asterix]

I have done 55,000KM and I must have done about 6 wheel alignments. I have taken it to Pedders who have put it up on a new machine and the specs are all fine, they said Hyundai's are very notorious with suspension design this has been Hyundai's Achilles heel for many years.

He did say though some front wheel drive cars such as the Golf top the list. It has to do with suspension geometry and there is not much you can do about it will pull on way or another. Mine pulls to the left even on a completely flat surface. It has annoyed me for a few years but I have learned to live with it, I guess if you want absolute geometry you get a rear-wheel drive, they don't tend to suffer from these problems due to the double wishbone geometry.

I remember all the way back to my 1998 Excel I had the same problem, so did my wife's 2000 Accent. Even the steering wheel is not centred, I have to have it turned to the left around 15 degrees for the car to go straight, when the steering wheel is dead centre, the car pulls to the right. Go figure....Apparently there is a way they can reset the power steering but I am not sure if that will help.

First thing to do when doing an alignment is to center the steering wheel, then adjust.....

If there's something out of spec the car should also pull to the right if you take a spin in the right side of the road due to the road camber.... I often did that, together with the costumer, when costumers  complained about their car pulling to the side of the road. Some even complained that the car pulled if they let go of the steering wheel. 

I've only had FWD cars and have never had issues if alignment were done correct.

[Phil №❶]

IIRC I think ALL FWD cars do pull to one side under heavy acceleration.

What the heck is torque steer? (ABCs of Car Tech) - Roadshow

[tw2005]

In a lot of  cases the geometry is preset and not adjustable with only the tie-rod ends being adjustable so I don't believe wheel alignments on some vehicles are warranted. I never had my Magna aligned until recently when I had to replace the rack boots and never had an issue and has always had a slight bias left on cambered roads.

If the alignment is out of spec then except for toe you'd be looking at worn components like bushes. There's a slim chance is something went wrong at manufacture and it slipped pass QC the chassis may be out?

I'd be interested to know what the values are when they check your vehicle, what they are adjusting and what the corrected values are.

maybe a Second opinion, it may be perfectly in spec and you're getting milked.

From what i see of the i30 front end, it too has no adjustment other than toe.

There are however aftermarket camber bolts available to alow adjustment  and offset bushes also for the control arms.

I don't know who's in Sydney but in Brisbane I think Fulcrum would be a good place to start.

Had a old Liberty rebushed years ago and you just don't realise the gradual deterioration and change in these parts with age until you have them renewed. they did'nt baffle me with BS or try flogging other stuff.

I now with mine at 185000k it tracks ok but there are tears in the control arms bushings so at some stage I will do these.

[Surferdude]

Whilst Phil is right above, I don't think the OP says anything about hard acceleration.  Just normal driving.
Anyway, pretty sure both toe and castor re adjustable at the front on FD. The cars should not pull left on normal road camber, except maybe in Tully shire in NQ where the camber is 7 degrees to cope with the heavy rainfall. As someone suggested try driing on the wrong side of the road. If everything is OK the car should drift right at about the same rate as it drifts left on the left hand side of rhe road (Australia).

in the OPs case, I would like to see some of the wheel alignment setting figures before commenting further. I'd also consider a tyre problem. Google "conicity" rather thn have me write it all out. Also, if an uneven tyre wear pattern has developed and the tyre is still on the car, no matter what you do to the alignment the car will still pull.

Also consider the difference between "pulling" and "drifting". The latter is normal in sync with road camber but not obvious unles you take your hands off the wheel.

The link below has some interesting options. Super Pro is a division of Fulcrum Suspensions.  But if you go down that route, expect a slight increase in NVH, alomg with slightly improved steering responsiveness.

SuperPro Suspension Parts and Poly Bushings for HYUNDAI i30 FD - 2007-2012

[The Gonz]

Tire uniformity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia