GTO front suspension

**Herder** · 06-06-2007, 10:31 AM

I'd like to hear from anyone that has had to prematurely replace the front tires on a new GTO, due to tires rubbing. Specifically, anyone that has won a small claim case. GM has a design flaw that is dangerous and my dealership is uninterested in researching.

**PatrizioD** · 11-08-2007, 10:28 PM

Hey man, havent experienced the problem yet, but ive researched it heavily. Apparently when they manufactured the GTO in Australia, it came with 233mm wide from tires. You know us Yanks, bigger is better, so we slapped 245mm wides on it. 245-233=12. 12mm-1.2cm, which is barely under half an inch. This causes the front tires to peel. Im thinking that just swapping out the front wheels with ::thinner?:: ones would help. Also, the 2006 GTO had redesigned front suspension, but THAT started to get complaints. Simplest solution... new front end suspension.

BTW, Im looking for suggestions. I want a LS2 GTO M6. Any reason why I should pay $XXXX more for an 06 instead of an 05? Besides exterior paint colors, illuminated steering wheel radio controls, and faster moving power seats, does anyone know any differences??

Muscle On....

**Sarge** · 11-09-2007, 02:34 AM

Pontiac replace my 245's with 235's and gave me some new specs for the alignment. More positive camber. Fixed it right up and no cost.

**05 Silver/Red A4 GTO** · 11-09-2007, 08:07 AM

All we did was put Noltec adjustable strut mounts up top and slotted the top hole on the lower part of the strut assembly and now I have adjustability up front - no rub issues at all and better alignment capabilities.

**Tide** · 11-13-2007, 08:19 AM

Local Pontiac dealer replaced mine (and fixed the issue) with no worries. There's more than enough documentation out there to support it. Sounds like your dealer is being cheap.

How many miles on your car?

**05 Silver/Red A4 GTO** · 11-13-2007, 08:27 AM

22,500 miles; all the dealers in Houston act that way.

**Sarge** · 11-13-2007, 01:13 PM

Call Ancira Pontiac in Boerne, Texas. Ask for Sean.

**surfinjoe** · 11-14-2007, 11:34 AM

Sarge - what camber specs. did they give you? My '04 looks like it is toe'd in as the front tires have bad wear on the inner sides of the tires. Also I get a nasty wheel shake from 70+ MPH. Not sure what is going on, but I would like to have your camber specs. before I take her in for an alignment.

**PatrizioD** · 11-27-2007, 10:18 PM

I finally bought a GTO... 2006 Black M6, and this is my biggest concern. This may be a stupid question, but I'll ask anyways. Can I put 235's on the stock front wheels? Mine came with 245's, sooooo... I dont know if it requires a smaller rim. Ive also seen reports that say the suspension was redesigned for '06, but there have still been over 100 complaints of '06 owners of (get this) front suspension failure. Cant this be fixed nice and easy, with just a new wheels/tire set for the front?

**gagoat** · 11-27-2007, 10:59 PM

get a 4 wheel alinement and buy some dz101s
I think the tires are a fault my self spinning them gets them hot and they come a part
to far away from egde of tires. if you look at the tires closely wear is almost one inch away from the egde 26k is good out of Z rated tires in my case i did some burnouts then rotated the tires and thats when they came apart the cars are set so tight the rear wheels lean way in tow or camber dont remeber now is way out

**blk-ws6** · 11-28-2007, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by PatrizioD

I finally bought a GTO... 2006 Black M6, and this is my biggest concern. This may be a stupid question, but I'll ask anyways. Can I put 235's on the stock front wheels? Mine came with 245's, sooooo... I dont know if it requires a smaller rim. Ive also seen reports that say the suspension was redesigned for '06, but there have still been over 100 complaints of '06 owners of (get this) front suspension failure. Cant this be fixed nice and easy, with just a new wheels/tire set for the front?

my dads gto was an 06 and he had suspension problems and knows a couple people that do to. it rode like crap on certain days and when you would go over a bump slow it would rattle. one time i pulled it out of the garage and turned the wheel and from in the car it sounded like somthin fell off the car and i had to get out and check but nothing fell. my dad finally got rid of his over this weekend and got a cadillac. he is talking about getting another gto though and modding it for a weekend car.

**GoatRider** · 12-16-2007, 06:23 PM

I had an 05 GTO and sold it because my wife didn't like the noise: JBA headers and catted midpipes with GHL catback. Now I bought an 04 GTO Yellowjacket with 5K miles on it and had a Pedder's dealer (Anthem Motors in Phoenix) put on track suspension which includes coilovers on the front adjusted 1/2" lower and 1/2" lower coils and shocks on the back.

Tire clearance is no problem on the front end, because it has about a pencil width of clearance on both sides between the coilovers and the tires which are stock 17 inchers. Turning corners at high speed is too easy because of the way the car tracks the road. Unbelieable!

Although the car is stock, it seems to have more power with the Pedder's suspension. I can't explain it, but I can feel it.

Regards.

**PatrizioD** · 12-16-2007, 06:29 PM

Pedder's, eh? Sounds good to me, even though Ive never heard of them. Then again, Im just 23 and the extent of my musclecar knowledge is quite limited. Side note, its increased tenfold through my visits to LS1.com...
How much a setup like that run? Ive got an 06 with the stock 17's (Thinkin about chroming them) and Id like to do at least a little bit of modding. Moneys tight right now, but I still want to do something sweet, like dropping it a little lower... Before I got the car I was considering Airbags, now Im not so sure about that particular route...

**GoatRider** · 12-16-2007, 07:28 PM

PatrizioD,

Here is the link to Pedder: www.pedderusa.com/Solution.GTO.htm

The webpage shows different suspension parts packages. For example, there is a package for the drag strip costing about $1,000. The castor and camber bushings in this package will allow a Pedder dealer to make the perfect alignment needed for drag strip performance.

My package was more expensive: $2,600 for the shocks, coils, alignment, camber bushings and install which took 8-10 hours for Anthem Motors to do. Although the front shocks or coilovers alone cost me about $1,000, these coilovers are race track shocks. My car handles like a race car now.

One permanent benefit of these parts is that I can now go over speed bumps or road bumps without feeling a "thump."

On acceleration, the car is rock level making the need to buy a strut tower bar useless.

Best Regards.

**surfinjoe** · 01-15-2008, 07:39 AM

Has anyone experienced any wheel shake at 60 mph+?

**Sarge** · 01-15-2008, 03:56 PM

Check out your radius rod bushings....

**Sarge** · 01-15-2008, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by surfinjoe

Sarge - what camber specs. did they give you? My '04 looks like it is toe'd in as the front tires have bad wear on the inner sides of the tires. Also I get a nasty wheel shake from 70+ MPH. Not sure what is going on, but I would like to have your camber specs. before I take her in for an alignment.

Sure....we used these.....
http://www.peddersusa.com/images/PDF...nt%20Specs.pdf