XG350 woes

To All:

I have a 2004 XG350L with 52,000-mi. This car was purchased new (plastic was
still on the seats) in March 2004 from our local Hyundai dealer in Auburn,
Washington just outside of Seattle. The car has been well cared for and
perfectly maintained. Last week, I took it in to a local alignment shop -
all they do is alignments and front-end work. The car has been in before and
has had no problems. Recently, within the last five or six months, I've
notice a tendency for the car to drift around on the highway, requiring more
constant steering input to track straight. Whenever I hit any road
abrasions, ripples or small bumps, the steering wants to track the bump or
ripple away from a straight line - I can take my hands off the steering
wheel at low speeds (35 mph - 45 mph) and watch it move left and right. And
finally, there has been a tendency for the steering to pull slightly to the
right. So, I thought it was time for a 4-wheel alignment. The original tire
are always properly inflated to the cold temperature - I use an AccuTire
Digital Tire Gauge - and they are always rotated every 8,000 miles. When I
took the car in for it's alignment, the technician came into the waiting
room and said he could not perform the alignment because the lower
right-front ball joint was going bad. The other three were in great shape. I
asked how that could be and he said that it could be a factory defect. So, I
thanked him for his time and took it to another shop for a second opinion -
same deal. Now, how can this happen? My wife and I are not hot rodders and
we are very careful about how we drive. Most of the mileage is highway
miles. Does anybody have any thoughts? The car is still under factory
warranty.
--

Carl


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Jackson: Carl & Karen
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because parts wear out

 

Ball joints are extremely simple friction-based devices, packed with oil
and sealed with a rubber dust boot. Improper installation of the dust
boot at the factory, 'trash' in the lubricant they packed it with, or a
minor abrasion against the dust boot can compromise it

Either way - its under the factory warranty, have it replaced. It
should not require a re-alignment after the balljoint is reinstalled.
If there is any pulling after the part is installed rotate the tires.
The 'play' in the front end most likely has caused some abnormal tire wear.

JS

 

Ball joints are a wear item. They wear. I don't know if they are covered
by warranty but it would be worth a check. 52,000 miles is quite a bit on
the low side but I don't know what kind of roads you drive on. Or... as the
first mechanic said, the failed ball joint could simply be a bad joint right
out of the box.

 

Stuff happens. Take it to the dealer and tell them what the shops told
you. If it's bad, they should be willing to replace it under warranty.

 

A well aimed pot hole can take out a ball joint. My wife actually missed one
the other day, and I was thrilled.