I purchased a used 04 pontiac gto. I noticed the car tires were very noisy. After close inspection of the tires, I discovered the passenger front tire was worn almost bald with severe cupping. I bought new tires and was told the inside of the previous tires had wear on the inside of the tire- apparently from rubbing against the bottom of the strut. I was told that I should do something about the strut replacement on the car or this condition could result in an accident. U began to research this issue and found that it was inherent in this car and that the simplest remedy was to have a pedders certified mechanic install a kit of bushings made specifically for the problem. This kit replaced defective oem bushings that has disintegrated at less than 16k miles. In my case, both oem shocks and struts were literally shot at 18k miles and had to be replaced. However, because of the size tire the manufacturer put on the car to handle the hefty weight of the vehicle, the tire sits less than a pencil width from the strut so on impacted surface contact, the inside of the tire rubs on the strut and will eventually shred the tire. My cars rear springs are shot from excessive compression tied-down in shipping from australia to america so the complete fix job will cost me 3 thousand dollars - gm knew about the engineering flaw in the match of tires and suspension with parts that would bust in short time and they also knew about springs being weakened in shipment but sold these cars without warning to the customer or any recall or service bulletin. I believe that gm should pay the 3k to get the corrective suspension configuration on my car and reimburse me for the 1100. I replacement struts (temp fix) and pedders strut-rub bushing replacement kit. No one is safe in this car or any gto. I can provide eyewitness testimony/affidavits from the shop that performed the repair.
2004 Pontiac Gto suspension complaints
Page 2 of 7: complaints 11 to 40 of 169, newest first, as owners wrote them.
No failure but the tires on my 2004 pontiac gto are wearing excessively due to bad bushings and rear springs.
2004 pontiac gto tire cut by strut rub.
I own a 2004 pontiac gto and recently took all of the wheels off to paint the brake calipers and I noticed that my tires were rubbing on the struts really bad, and im about to have a few blowouts. I've been reading alot on the internet that this is a huge problem with the gto's. Is there anything that can be done before I have an accident?
My 2004 gto exhibits a common problem in these cars: the front struts rub on the inside tire sidewalls. This occurred in my vehicle at only 9100 miles, and the dealer had the car twice but failed to find anything wrong. They claimed this was "normal". I fail to see how this is normal - these cars should be recalled.
Severe front tire wear due to rubbing on the strut housing.
I have a 2004 pontiac gto and the inner wall of the tires are rubbing on the strut just below the front coil perch near the bottom of the spring. There have been numerous reports of this and have also been deaths because of this issue. My car is out of warranty, but never had these replaced and I am afraid of it being a huge safety concern, but cannot afford to fix it myself. The problem is a result of premature failure of suspension components (the front strut top bushings).
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 pontiac gto. While placing air in the front driver's side tire, the contact noticed that air was escaping. Upon further inspection, she observed that the strut failed and punctured the tire. Through online research, the contact found a service bulletin, which stated that the struts were shredding the tires in the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer and has not been repaired. The contact is in the process of notifying the manufacturer. The failure and current mileages were 45,000. Updated 03-04-09
2 tires on the right rear have been shredded on the inside edge (perimeter) of the tire. The first time was blamed on alignment. I have since learned there is a design problem with my 2004 gto.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 pontiac gto. Ever since the vehicle was purchased three weeks ago, the front struts have been striking the inside of the tires. As a result, the sidewalls have become worn. The dealer could not find any failures because new tires had just been placed on the vehicle. Through research on the federal safety agency website, the contact has found complaints and investigations for this same failure, and believes a recall should be issued. The current and failure mileages were 18,000.
2004 pontiac gto on dec 27, 2006 (31,802 miles), vehicle suffered catastrophic failure of front tires as a result of rubbing against strut tower. Vehicle serviced (and supposedly fixed) by mcconnell pontiac. On oct 20, 2008 (56,800 miles), the vehicle again suffered catastrophic failure of front tires as a result of the failure of strut bushings, causing the tires to rub against the strut towers. Blowout of passenger side front tire occurred on interstate 10 approx mile marker 24 on the I-10 bayway bridge. Inspection of driver side front tire yielded catastrophic failure of interior sidewall.
I have a 2004 pontiac gto and I just found out that I possibly need to replace the front struts! The car only has about 56,000 miles on it and I do not think that a car of its age should need struts! Is there any other individuals complaining about a similar issue? If so is gm going to do anything about it? I don't think that I should need to replace struts on a 2004 car with 56,000 miles on it!
Tire blowout due to rubbing strut housing premature wear of inside tread of tire. Replaced front struts and mounts replace radius rod bushings, frontend alignment.
I guess I was just wondering after reading so many people with complaints about the 2004-2006 pontiac gto with the same 3 problems, struts, steering column, and ignition problems, that nothing is being done to take care of this potentially deadly safety issue. Please can you help me understand that if you have 2004-2006 with all the same issues that should have long ago raised alot of attention still has not done anything about this.
I have a 2004 pontiac gto that experienced a sudden tire separation while driving on a freeway. Upon taking it to a national tire chain dealer we were able to determine that the tire separated due to excessive wear on the inside corner due to rubbing against the strut tower. The separation did not cause a blow out but did create minimal damage to the underside of the vehicle and inside of the wheel well. Further investigation showed that the other front tire was imminent for the same failure. I was lucky, the posted speed is 70 MPH, and I was going nearly that fast when the tire separated.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 pontiac gto. The contact stated that the vehicle was manufactured in australia, and that they should never have been allowed to ship the 2004 defective models to the united stated. He is experiencing suspension failure, in which the vehicle does not drive in a straight line. The vehicle veers from left to right. The contact must use both hands to drive the vehicle. He stated that the suspension and motor were changed. The motor was changed because it was very difficult to shift and it would slip and make noise. There was also transmission failure with the vehicle. While driving over a minor bump at any speed, the vehicle would break down. He also stated that the vehicle had piston slap. When the vehicle was idling, he could hear a ticking noise. The noise was caused by the piston striking the top of the motor head. When the vehicle was taken to the dealer with these concerns, the contact was informed that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. The mileage when the vehicle was traded in was 3,600. Updated 07/29/08 *bf updated 07/29/08.
The inside of both of my front tires were rubbing the strut housing. The tires had tread on the outside, and unless I reached my hand inside and felt the inside tread, the excessive, uneven wear was not apparent. This rubbing caused a blowout at 70 MPH, and if not for the tow truck driver pointing out that the other tire was just as bad, I would not have known at all. When I brought this problem to the attention of the dealership that replaced my tires, the said it was an alignment issue. I had another blowout this month (may 2008) caused by the same issue. After the dealership failed a second time to look into this problem or suggest repairs, I did some of my own research and found out that this is a common problem among pontiac gtos.
I recently purchased a 2004 pontiac gto and the vehicle has the common problem of the front tires rubbing on the front struts and wearing unevenly. I returned the vehicle back to morrissey pontiac in rockville centre, ny where I purchased the vehicle and they told me there is nothing wrong with it and refuse to fix it. The vehicle was not involved in any accidents yet but the tires have excessive wear.
Both front tires were worn to the belts at approx. 16,000 miles. One tire had the tread separate while driving on the highway. Has had two sets of tires on the front with the same problem in less than 40,000 miles. Taken to dealer twice only to be told this was normal condition for these cars.
Last night, for the second time, the inside of my front left tire shredded while on the highway traveling at around 70mph. Both times this has happened, I was fortunate not to lose control of the vehicle. In researching the problem, I find that there are class action lawsuits already happening relating to a design flaw on my 2004 pontiac gto that causes the front tires to rub against the suspension struts. I have had to replace two sets of tires because of this problem, and the resale value of the gto is also affected negatively.
I own a 2004 pontiac gto that is tearing up the front tires and makes a popping noise when driving. I have been trying to get it fixed and have not been able to find out the problem till I was told about the safety problems. I asked dealers about the noise and the tires and was told they did not know what the problem was. I was never told about this or did I get a letter in the mail about a safety problem. It really makes me mad to think that it was not made public to people of the problem.
Tires rubbing strut causing premature tire wear. Had alignment under warranty after gm replaced tires due to excessive vibration at 15000. Was advised by gm that was alignment issue and took it to another manufactures dealer for alignment was advised in spec....
2004 pontiac gto front tire contact with suspension strut and severe steering wheel vibration excessive tire wear in inner side.
I was on the internet and I came across defects on the 2004-2006 gtos and since I have one I investigated. The complaints were that the stock size tires were rubbing on the struts in front of the vehicle. So, I have a 2004 gto with only 7,800 miles on it. I went out turned said vehicle on turned the wheel almost till it would stop and peeked under the car and low and behold contact with strut;on both sides. Called gm in detroit, they had no idea of the problem. Ignored me. Did not return my phone calls, they said they would. Took vechicle to dealership to fix car. Dealer said everything looked good except the camber in front of car. Dealer fixed camber, made me pay $100. Dollars. I call gm 10 times in detroit, have not received call back from my representitive. Also spent $400.00 on two new 235/45 for the front; because even after they "fixed it" the stock tires wre stll 1/4 inch away from the strut. So it has cost me $500.00 to hopefully fix the car I do not even own.
My tires on my 2004 gto were wearing prematurely with only 27,000 miles on it. When I was washing my car I notice my front passenger tire had wires sticking out from the inside of the tire. It looked like it was wearing on something from the inside. After seeing this front tire I could no longer drive the vehicle until replacing all the tires. When I did bring my car to the pontiac dealer I was told it was to do with an alignment at my cost. I was told that there was no recall or warranty that covered this. I was charged for the tires a cam kit for the front caster to fix the alignment as well as labor. After reading about this problem from others I have to say I can't wait till my lease ends with this car. I feel this is something that pontiac should reimburse me for.
Took front passenger tire off to replace and noticed that the inside of the tire was chewed up from rubbing on the strut. Tire was at the point of coming apart, the steal belts were exposed. The rest of the tire was fine except for the inside of the tire against the strut. There are ware marks on the strut itself.
I own a 2004 pontiac gto. The cars strut rub has wore a angle on the outer edge of the tire and has caused a chunk of tire to peel back and expose the metal wires. I have seen other peoples cars that are way worse. They have metal wires a inch wide exposed all the way around the tire. And have caused some people I know to have blow outs.
Own a 2004 pontiac gto. Took my car in for a noise in the front end area. Everytime I went around a corner slowly I could hear a rubbing noise. And sometimes when I would back out of the parking space I hear a loud grinding noise and the steering wheel would jump out of my hands. I took the car in to my gmac dealers service department to have a look. The mechanic told me that the strut was rubbing on my tires. We looked at the tires on my front end and there were groove marks all along the radius of the tire. Some chunks of tire were taken out and some of the steel belts were showing through. He told me I was lucky to catch this when I did or I could have had a blow out at any time. I had to replace all four tires because they had been rotated a couple of times all ready. The back tires weren't as bad as the front but of course you can't just get two new ones. This tire purchase came out of my pocket because the mechanics told me there was nothing they could do. I have pictures of my struts and you can clearly see where they were rubbing on my tire. *jb updated 10/10/07
I have a 2004 pontiac gto with 47k miles on it now. December 2006 I was driving home from an out of town trip 4 hours away from home. I noticed that the front end was riding kind of low. I pulled over and checked the tires for a puncture but I did not see one. So I pulled over to the first gas station to get air. The tires looked like there was enough tread so I thought nothing of it. When I go home I pulled into the driveway and cut the wheels as far to the left as possible. I went inside an did not pay attention to the tires. When I came back out I noticed both tires on the front of the car had worn down to the belts on the inside tread only. I could not see the wear by just looking at the outside of the tires. I was lucky I did not have a blow out. I went to the tire dealer early the next morning and got new tires put on the front. They only had about 10k miles on them. I thought the tires may be defective and the manager at the tire store said they were rubbing against the strut on the car. I figured if gm had meant these tires to go on this car than maybe it is just in need of an alignment, so I had that done. That was 8 months ago and I check the tread all the time looking for any pre-mature wear. Then I see the channel 5 cleveland story on the internet just looking for recall information on my car. I have had numerous problems lately. I learned that I am not the only one with this problem so I decided to complain about the defect. I wish gm would just tell everyone what a better tire size would be rather than risk bad publicity. I also have to replace my rear tires as they wear in the middle. I think this may be another problem. *jb updated 02-28-08 *bf updated
Car is 2004 pontiac gto. Noted that steering wheel was shaking rather violently and upon closer inspection of front tires, noted abnormal and acute wear of drive side front tire resulting in tire rubbing against strut of vehicle.
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