3.3TT If you have front struts or upgrading yours, sell me your o.e.m. strtus

[I Stung U]

The left hand rear wheels toe cannot be be adjusted straight according to a specialist suspension shop and Kia couldn't align it positvely. I was told this was just in the design or lack of it. 3 years of driving it hasn't been a major issue. Its endemic to the vehicle so others have found out to.

my rear left is aligned and in the green, but my right side rear is not in toe and apparently it's out .25" which is a bit too much and can tear out the tires.. My wife is only driving in town 5-6 minutes to work and I am taking her car to reduce any tire damage.
Do you have any evidence about this rear tow problem in general that I can use to show Kia here and have the pay for any tire costs or other damage that could happen if when we try to align again, it can't be ?
They asked me if I hit any curbs with the right rear, cause of this.. which i did not. shouldn't they already be aware of this themselves ? or are they likely, but hiding it ?

 

[Ozstung]

I wonder if you guys being lh drive means the opposite to my toe issue and vice versa. You could take it to an independent suspension specialist and see what he says.

 

[I Stung U]

The left hand rear wheels toe cannot be be adjusted straight according to a specialist suspension shop and Kia couldn't align it positvely. I was told this was just in the design or lack of it. 3 years of driving it hasn't been a major issue. Its endemic to the vehicle so others have found out to.

so, has this cause the rear tires to be worn down terribly off angle and need changing in half of their tire life ?
or has the rear tire torn or anything bad happen ?

So, an update on my end.. Not a final solution yet, but after the above things I've looked in to and like BLK UFO similar situation, I decided to order the strut and a strut mount, just in case.. and try that.
but my mechanic never took anything off, nor did anyone else really (except the wheel for a better look) but didn't remove strut or any real indepth investigations..
anyways, the strut arrived Mon. and only today my mechanic could take my car in.. When he started to unbolt the clamp or whatver the part that the strut sits on (part of the spindle, I assume), just as it loosed a bit, the strut kinda shifted and seemed to have re-positioned into that brace/bracket,.. and the Disc brake noticeably tilted outward a wee bit.. So my mechanic said he's never had that happened before..
So, he said, lets not change the strut then, as that shift seemed to re-align the assembly , etc... so we put the wheel back on and took a look and lowered it and looked and it seemed to fix the off camber thing.. to my eye, it still looks a wee wee bit off, compared to the right side, but for sure better.
So he now says, go try the alignment again (he doesn't do that) and if gets aligned fine, then that's it, no need to change the strut, it's likely not bent and was just not sitting in the brace properly from the curb hit.
He still didn't take strut off to compare to the new one, as it's more work and the strut doing what it did, seems that the strut just got jerked out of proper position in the clamp... Driving it, it still pulls to the right, but alignment still needs to be done, even if the camber thing is better.

Anyways, on Monday the alignment guy will try again and I'll report back if it was just an odd connection shift of the strut or if still a problem to get it in the green for alignment.
If not, we'll take off the strut and check if it's bent too.. Kinda wish he did that now anyways.. should have pushed for it... but didn't want to be too pushy. He is a good friend and so far (after 3 times on the hoist) doesn't want any money for his time, since we just kinda checked things and not fixed anything yet.

Funny thing, I did ask him before, can the strut just be out of position in the brace thing etc. but he's never seen that before, so said not likely.. it would more likely push and bend the strut... first for him to see that.
And first alignment guy, my mechanic, Kia mechanic, and a supposedly steering and suspension place, all did not consider to inspect this little thing first... WTF ?

I hope this is it and I can save $$ after I find a buyer for the new strut and mount. but when will that be ? I don't wish anyone to be in need of one. It's special order and not sure if I can return the parts if not used.

I'll update Monday evening if that did the trick or not.

 

[I Stung U]

o.k. So the alignment guy today was able to align both rear in to the Green zone, so great.
The two front still are just outside the green, in the red. Oddly the front right (which I did not hit), is off camber as well..
Kia got it in the Green, but this guys machine could not. I don't know whats up, but only by .1 Degree.

But, the left side, though not in the green, is much better now, only by .2 Degree. with just the strut being re-positioned as per above post. And it's only a wee bit outside the green and the alignment guy and my mechanic say, it's so little, no worries as any off angle tire tread loss will be very little from what it should be, and not to bother changing the strut.
Still not 100% of my strut is bent or not. At the moment, we suspect it's not.. Camber can go off with bumps and pot holes (not sure if I've ever went over any bad ones that i recall).

The steering wheel is now able to be held level and the car goes straight, so all good there.
All that running around and getting 2-3rd opinions and no Fckrs noticed the strut is just been shifted out of position in the clamp/lower mount area.

So I'm leaving it as it is and will be putting my new strut and strut mount for sale, in case someone really does need one, for the drivers front.