joined the darkside today

**dpinson** · 01-22-2011, 05:55 PM

I am now the proud owner of an 06 Gto. Anything special I should know.

The car really suprised me Ive always heard they were heavy sleds but it moves well .

Id say it was every bit as quick as my stock f-body.

Any way any advice on things to watch for or change would be greatly appreciated. I know the f-bodies had the batteries that rotted your car so I was just wondering if there was something like that to check.

Proud to be a pontiac guy now also even if I have to get the camaro out when I wanna go fast. lol!

**PartsGedder** · 01-22-2011, 08:21 PM

Congratulations on the GTO!

Keep an eye on the inner edges of the tires for wear indicating worn upper strut mounts and worn front radius rod bushings. The tire can actually rub the weld on the strut under the spring seat if the upper mounts fail. If they were replaced recently, you should be good to go. If not, keep and eye on them.

The rotor hats are prone to warping. Be careful torquing the lug nuts. Torque them in steps 70 - 80 then 100 lb ft. Rust and crud can build up on the rotor hats, so pull them off and clean them up, then rotate them 3 lugs over and re-install. Then put the rim on 2 lug position over from that, then torque accordingly. This can help reduce some wobble in the wheel.

If the steering wheel wobbles under braking and the rotors are good, then check the front radius rod bushes. This is the bush that holds the radius rod arm that helps stabilize the front lower control arm. When the radius rod bush gets weak, it allows the radius rod arm to move, which lets the LCA move fore and aft. This movement can result in a little wobble in the steering wheel. Both radius rod bushes can be changed in the driveway on jack stands in an hour.

Enjoy the car, they are fun as heck to drive.

**BadAZ** · 01-22-2011, 10:39 PM

The Coil cover on the driver side has been known to rub through the fuel line causing a fire hazard. The glove box support can rub through a wiring harness to the body control module. PM me for more details on the above problems. The only place I know to have found a good write up on them is another forum.

**BadAZ** · 01-22-2011, 10:40 PM

Working from my iPhone so I can't edit but I meant to say, enjoy they car. They're a freaking awesome car to drive and you're going to love it.

**cammed goat** · 01-23-2011, 07:22 AM

Welcome to Goat Nation.

As for the fuel rail cover rubbing through the fiel line, I took a 2 inch piece of heater hose and wrapped it over the fuel line and zip-tied the hose to keep it from moving. No fuel line issues in the almost 3 years of owning mine.

**BadAZ** · 01-23-2011, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by cammed goat

Welcome to Goat Nation.

As for the fuel rail cover rubbing through the fiel line, I took a 2 inch piece of heater hose and wrapped it over the fuel line and zip-tied the hose to keep it from moving. No fuel line issues in the almost 3 years of owning mine.

yep... same way I fixed mine. Great minds think alike right? lol

**cammed goat** · 01-24-2011, 04:56 PM

**superman63** · 01-24-2011, 05:57 PM

I have a 06 GTO spice red M6 and I love mine it is really fun to drive. I just bought a 02 T/A WS6 and it is also a fun car to drive.... I havent had any real problems with my GTO I think you will really enjoy Pontiac nation. I think my GTO is faster feeling to me but the T/A is strong...

**pmolina0436** · 01-28-2011, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by PartsGedder

Congratulations on the GTO!

Keep an eye on the inner edges of the tires for wear indicating worn upper strut mounts and worn front radius rod bushings. The tire can actually rub the weld on the strut under the spring seat if the upper mounts fail. If they were replaced recently, you should be good to go. If not, keep and eye on them.

The rotor hats are prone to warping. Be careful torquing the lug nuts. Torque them in steps 70 - 80 then 100 lb ft. Rust and crud can build up on the rotor hats, so pull them off and clean them up, then rotate them 3 lugs over and re-install. Then put the rim on 2 lug position over from that, then torque accordingly. This can help reduce some wobble in the wheel.

If the steering wheel wobbles under braking and the rotors are good, then check the front radius rod bushes. This is the bush that holds the radius rod arm that helps stabilize the front lower control arm. When the radius rod bush gets weak, it allows the radius rod arm to move, which lets the LCA move fore and aft. This movement can result in a little wobble in the steering wheel. Both radius rod bushes can be changed in the driveway on jack stands in an hour.

Enjoy the car, they are fun as heck to drive.

"Keep an eye on the inner edges of the tires for wear indicating worn upper strut mounts"

My car seems to have alot of inner wear in the tire..What the fix to this problem? new stuts or is it some kind of bushing??

Inner wear still occurs after alignment!

**TLS_Addict** · 01-28-2011, 05:34 PM

OP, another thing to look out for is the rear. At 37k my 04 6-speed was having a lot of slop in the rear. Also, the rear springs are weak (thank GM for keeping the car cheap!) and they tend to sag due to being strapped down for so long on the boat ride over here, well that coupled with them being cheap.

If you want to help the wheel hop get some drag bags. Run about 15lbs+ pressure and you will have issues. I ran them in my GTO and they helped raise the rear and get rid of a lot of the wheel hop.

Enjoy the car.

Congrats.

Originally Posted by pmolina0436

"Keep an eye on the inner edges of the tires for wear indicating worn upper strut mounts"

My car seems to have alot of inner wear in the tire..What the fix to this problem? new stuts or is it some kind of bushing??

Inner wear still occurs after alignment!

Bushings collapsed, crushed actually.

**PartsGedder** · 01-31-2011, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by pmolina0436

"Keep an eye on the inner edges of the tires for wear indicating worn upper strut mounts"

My car seems to have alot of inner wear in the tire..What the fix to this problem? new stuts or is it some kind of bushing??

Inner wear still occurs after alignment!

TLS Addict is on point. The upper strut mounts are made of rubber. With time and usage, the rubber fails and the upper mounts get weak and allow the top of the strut to migrate and change the camber on the front tire. The alignment can be adjusted to fix the camber issue on the alignment rack. The problem is you drive the car on the road, nit the rack. The mounts will allow the alignment to change when driving. Changing the upper mounts puts the strut top back into position and allows the alignment to be set and holds it there. Pedders PN 5851, one for each strut.

The front radius rod bushes Pedders PN EP9166 keep the lower control arm in position and keeps the castor from changing under braking and cornering. Castor is where the wheel rides on the foot print of the tire. I guess think balls of your feet or on your heels. Castor changes under braking and cornering can make it feel like the rotors are warped. The shaking is the tire changing alignment and scrubbing. Firm up the front mounts and the castor stays more precise and changes much less.

Combine worn upper mounts and the worn radius rod bushes in the same car and tires will wear pretty quickly. Re-setting the alignment to OE spec with worn parts is good on the rack, but not much good on the road.

Both are a DIY project with hand tools in the driveway on jack stands.

Dan

**JonB** · 02-04-2011, 08:28 PM

Check your fuel line under the fuel rail cover. In the back on the drivers side, the FRC rub on the fuel line and have cause a more than a few GTOs to literally go up in flames. Welcome to the herd.

**pmolina0436** · 02-14-2011, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by PartsGedder

TLS Addict is on point. The upper strut mounts are made of rubber. With time and usage, the rubber fails and the upper mounts get weak and allow the top of the strut to migrate and change the camber on the front tire. The alignment can be adjusted to fix the camber issue on the alignment rack. The problem is you drive the car on the road, nit the rack. The mounts will allow the alignment to change when driving. Changing the upper mounts puts the strut top back into position and allows the alignment to be set and holds it there. Pedders PN 5851, one for each strut.

The front radius rod bushes Pedders PN EP9166 keep the lower control arm in position and keeps the castor from changing under braking and cornering. Castor is where the wheel rides on the foot print of the tire. I guess think balls of your feet or on your heels. Castor changes under braking and cornering can make it feel like the rotors are warped. The shaking is the tire changing alignment and scrubbing. Firm up the front mounts and the castor stays more precise and changes much less.

Combine worn upper mounts and the worn radius rod bushes in the same car and tires will wear pretty quickly. Re-setting the alignment to OE spec with worn parts is good on the rack, but not much good on the road.

Both are a DIY project with hand tools in the driveway on jack stands.

Dan

I went to check up on my alighment and they told me i needed camber bolts or something. Is that cause of the bushing? and if so..What should I get.. The hole NEW strut..or should I get the bushing with the camber bolts!!??

**PartsGedder** · 02-14-2011, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by pmolina0436

I went to check up on my alighment and they told me i needed camber bolts or something. Is that cause of the bushing? and if so..What should I get.. The hole NEW strut..or should I get the bushing with the camber bolts!!??

In the front,there are 2 screws (one left side, one right side) in the knuckle that help adjust camber. The clevis bolts are loosened and the camber screw is screwed in or out to position the strut, then the clevis bolts are tightened. If the clevis bolts are not loosened, you'll push the small block on the strut so hard it will bend and eventually puncture the strut.

If the upper strut mount is shot, it needs to be replaced. You can adjust the alignment with the bad mount, but it will still wander under load and cornering.

If the strut is good, it does not need to be replaced. However, the strut needs to be removed in order to replace the mount. If you want to replace or upgrade in the near future, now is the time to replace the struts, mounts and strut bearings.

The rear can be fitted with a set of camber bushes in the outer position of the lower control arm. The ferule where the bolt is run though is eccentric and as it is rotated, it moves the arm in or out adjusting the camber.

**TLS_Addict** · 02-14-2011, 06:48 PM

I had my strut rub issues fixed under warranty and then about 15k miles later they were starting to go.......then they were gone. Got rid of the car.

If not for the strut rub issues, cheap ass rear springs, and the JUNK rear gears I would have kept the car because it was paid off but at 37k it was going to need some attention and no way shape or form would I put 4-5k worth of upgrades in to a GTO when I could get a C5 for the difference. I think the rear was due to people not putting them together well from the factory.