[kevinforbes]

Hi,

Just like the threads below, we are having negative camber and rear suspension issues with our 2011 SX. The tire wear (worn to the cords) was identified when getting an oil change and we immediately brought it to our Kia dealer to check it out.

They have had the car for a week now as they were unable to align the wheels and have finally figured out that the rear suspension cradle had to be "pulled" 3/16ths of an inch after sending it to their body shop. Now that they have "pulled" the cradle, they are confident that they will be able to align it but we await confirmation.

It has been suggested by the service manager that Kia Canada will not pay for any of this since we are 2 months/1000kms past the warranty period. They are honest that it's possible it could be a factory defect or could be related to us sliding into a snow bank at 10km an hour 6 months ago (impact was front drivers side so I don't see how this would rattle the rear suspension) and have recommended that we contact our insurance company to see if we can get this all paid for through them which I am hesitant to do.

So my questions are:
1 - has anyone experienced similar issues regarding warranty claims? any tips for fighting this?
2 - what does "pulling" the cradle mean? are they elongating it, or just re-positioning?
3 - is there really any chance that sliding slowly down an icy driveway into a small snowbank can throw off steel rear suspension components by that much?
4 - is insurance actually a viable route, 6 months after it happened?

We are currently on the hook for several hours of service work/investigation as well as 4 new tires and obviously wasn't expecting this 14 months in.

thank you,
Kevin

http://www.kia-forums.com/3g-2011-sportage/77052-negative-camber-eating-tires.html
http://www.kia-forums.com/3g-2011-sportage/80422-2011-sportage-tilted-rear-tires.html

 

[2x Sportage]

A local shop with a laser alignment rack did a four wheel alignment. All four wheel were easily brought into spec. I asked them to take the rear camber to 0 but they said factory specs are -1. In other words, Kia designed the rear tires to have negative camber. Also, the rear tire wear was caused by toe out NOT negative camber.

 

[Viking 450]

Unable to bring left rear camber in spec.

Just had a four wheel alignment done because of inside tire wear on the left rear. The adjustment was taken to the limit and it is still out of spec by .6. My dealer is researching the problem.