While driving the vehicle the front suspension shakes and clunks while driving at any speed. Both ball joins have tears in the rubber boots which I'm sure causes water and road debre to enter ball joint and corrode. This is a huge safety concern for me and when a ball joint lets go it can be fatal sending the car in any unchosen direction. Please note this is happening to every single pontiac g8 owner I've come across. This is life threatening, ball joint lets go on the highway and the car will go into a roll. Thank you for your time and consideration
Pontiac G8 ball joint problems
24 of the 216 owner complaints about the Pontiac G8 describe ball joint or control arm failure, most of them for the 2009 model year.
- owner complaints
- 24
- worst model year
- 2009
- typical mileage
- 38,500
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 pontiac g8. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle pulled to the left and vibrated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the sway bar, tie rod, and hob needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 146,000. Updated 07/27/16
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 pontiac g8. While driving at 55 MPH, the contact heard a noise coming from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the front passenger's side ball joints and control arm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 52,000.
While making a some what sharp turn to the left on a freeway at approx 60 miles per hour (legal speed for situation) noted vibration in right front suspension. It felt like the tire was attempting to come off the rim.. I backed off and the problem dissipated. I took the car to the dealership and it was determined that the right front rear lower support arm had severe play in the ball joint. The same issue is present with less wear in the front left lower control arm. The play has caused premature wear in the right front tire. Tires have been rotated regularly at the dealership at suggested 5,000 mile time frame. The dealership did not detect any problem in the suspension during any of the scheduled maintenances. Considering the mileage on the car there is unreasonable wear occurring in suspension part creating a dangerous situation.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 pontiac g8. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle wandered out of the lane. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated the failure was contributed to the front lower control arm and loose ball joints. The vehicle had not been repaired. The vehicle was also taken to a dealer who was unable to duplicate a problem. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
This car clearly has lca (lower control arm) issues. I had mine replaced 10k miles ago. They are noisy again. With just a little research you will find that around 80% of g8 owners have front end suspension issues. Why isn't gm recalling this?
The car shakes when turning slightly to the left at approximately 50 MPH. I came to find out from a garage that the lf control arm needs to be replaced. You can actually wiggle the tire from left to right when it is up on a jack. Two years ago, the right side had the same problem and was replaced.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 pontiac g8. The contact stated that the ball joints and the suspension was wearing. The ball joints were causing excessive wear on the front tires. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that they needed to replace both the lower control arm struts and the rods. There were no recalls for the failure. The manufacturer was notified who offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 37,500.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 pontiac g8. The contact was driving 15 MPH when an abnormal clunking sound emitted from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the contact was advised that both lower ball joints were corroded. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 22,700 and the current mileage was 22,800.
I recently encountered a clunking/knocking noise in the front drivers side of the vehicle when going over small bumps, as well as severe shaking/vibration when braking and steering. This made it difficult to control the vehicle, especially at higher speeds and on freeway curves. Since the vehicle is no longer under warranty, I took the vehicle to a trusted local mechanic. They informed me that the front lower control arms needed replacement. After doing some additional research, it appears there were both a service bulletin and a customer satisfaction campaign for issues with the g8 suspension, specifically the lower control arms. These issues included problems with the rubber boot over the front end lower control arm ball joint, which may become dislodged or torn compromising the seal. Moisture inside the ball joint seal could cause corrosion, shortening the service life of the lower control arm. My local mechanic completed the repairs and also did a front-end alignment. They supplied me with the defective lower control arms, which showed evidence of the torn rubber boot on both arms and corrosion. After contacting with gms customer service, they are not even interested in discussing further because I did not take it to a dealership (who charge over $1,000 for these repairs). I even offered to send them the defective parts, but they weren't interested. They used the excuse that the recall only included certain VIN's and mine wasn't included, yet I had the same exact part failure and symptoms as other vehicles included in the recall.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Pontiac G8 ball joint
Which Pontiac G8 years have ball joint or control arm failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2009 (15 complaints) and 2008 (9 complaints).
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