I own a 2004 pontiac gto with the factory 17' wheels and 245-45-17 tires. In auss where they are made and sold as a holden monaro they come with 235-45-17 tires.. But gm changed the tire size and never checked to see if it made contact with the strut. There has been a common problem with the tires coming into contact with the strut and wearing the paint off the strut and wearing the inside edge of the tire down to the point of the tires blowing out. I noticed that my front tires were rubbing on the struts at 18k miles and took it in, and after a couple of calls.. The gm rep. Won't cover it and blames me for the problem and says they never heard of this problem before.. Even after they called pontiac tech asst they knew about this problem and how to fix it. This needs to get fixed asap before someone gets killed.
2004 Pontiac Gto suspension complaints
Page 6 of 7: complaints 131 to 160 of 169, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Reference claim oid#10116796. My specific problem: I noticed strut rub on my front struts when I rotated my tires in march of 2005 (3 months after buying it). My selling dealer, covington pontiac in silver spring, md corrected the strut rub but never told me what they did. I had little or no problems after this until replacing the original bfg kdws with the same size 245/45/17 pirelli p-zero neros in january 2006 at 19,500 miles. Even though the pirellis were the same exact size as the oem tires, manufacturing differences evidently made them slightly bigger and they again rubbed the strut. Well, since 2005 and many complaints pontiac has come up with revised alignment specs which have dealers increase clearance between the strut and the tire by putting as much positive camber in as they can. After putting on my new tires, another pontiac dealer, boyle pontiac, set my alignment to the new pontiac specs per pontiac technical assistance center's suggestion in jan 06. My wheels are at maximum positive camber and now only slightly rub if at all, however I have no more adjustment left in my suspension and I am not convinced maximum positive camber is all that good for my tires or the car itself. What happens when the next set of tires I buy in the same oem size, end up being slightly bigger. I am out of adjustment. It is ridiculous to limit my choice of tires to one manufacturer and one type of tire or have tires that turn at thousands of rpms at highway speeds to rub anything. (and there is no guarantee that the next set of tires wont be bigger than my original even if oem tires are used.)
I leased a 2004 pontiac gto. The automobile had premature tire wear on the insides of the tire. The car has lots of vibrations while traveling at all speeds. I replaced the tires for the third time through goodyear and it still has vibrations. I took to dealer today and car has a service bulletin for vibrations the struts are causing problems. The struts are also rubbing on the tires causing the premature wear however the pontiac does not wish to recognize this problem. This is also a safety concern which could lead to a blow out. Buyer beware!
After I had put 20,000 miles on my car I could hear a rubbing noise from the front wheel. Upon closer inspection I noticed the inside of the tire was rubbing against the struts on both front wheels. Since I had the tires rotated on a regular basis all four wheels had the wear on the inside. Since the tires were bubbling out on the inside wall of the front tires I purchased new tires. The new tires were still rubbing the struts. I took it to the first dealership and they suggested grinding down the struts. The next dealership I took it to changed the camber in my alignment. It now has 1/8 inch clearance and when I hit bumps or when I turn the wheel sharply it still rubs. I have taken it back to the dealership and they claim it is within specifications for the car. The dealership will not address the problem as if it doesn't exist.
At 14,000 miles, I noticed uneven wear on the right front tire. Upon removal of the right front tire, I observed wear marks and rubber fragments on the strut. The tire still has a lot of tread left excluding the abnormal wear which has worn bald. Unchecked, this could lead to a disaster. This does not seem like it would be a difficult fix, yet many people seem to have gotten nowhere with the dealership. Most likely, changing the tire size will fix the problem. This should be performed under warranty.
I reference claim odi#10116796. I am having this same problem. The front tires of my 2004 pontiac gto are rubbing against the struts causing extreme/excessive wear on the innermost tread. It is nearly impossible to see until you jack the car up because the vehicle sits so low and the tires are so wide, so I did not notice it, my mechanic did. Now, my dealership is giving me the run around and trying to tell me they aren't going to replace the tires even though they are covered for 36,000 miles (there's only 12,500 miles on the car now). Their service manager even went so far as to try to tell me that I abuse my vehicle and drive aggressively and that's what caused the wear. He also lied right to me and said that I had to call pontiac and have them call him with an authorization number (which pontiac then told me was not the procedure), and he told me he had already contacted his district rep when indeed he had not.
Vehicle was involved in a 1 car accident. For no known reason the vehicle went out of control while pulling out of a parking lot. Upon removal of the damaged front fender it was determined that the tires on this vehicle were bald on the inside of the tire. This damage to the tires it was ultimately caused the accident. This defect is what is know as strut rub and is caused because of a design flaw in the particular vehicle. Pontiac 2004, gto in addition to this issue my vehicle has had number issues with the shifter. It has been looked at by the dealer 6 to 7 times and shifter was replaced once. Within a couple of weeks the shifter starts rattling again. This vehicle is definitely a lemon and should be recalled. Gm refuses to buy back the vehicle because it was in an accident, even though the accident was caused by the defect in the suspension on this vehicle. Also, even though this vehicle is still under warranty, the manufacturer states that there is nothing wrong with the vehicle and has instructed us to drive it. There are numerous occurrences documented on various web sites, such as gto forum. I would be more than happy to print out this information for your review!!!
I reference claim odi#0116796. I am having the same problem, my tires are rubbing on my front struts. Tires are ruined. Rotated tires still have problem.
I have a 2004 pontiac gto. I replaced the tires at 35,000 miles due to separation of tread and exposed cords. It was on the inside edge of the tires, not visible without looking beneath the car at the inside of tire. A tire was going flat which is why I took it in. They showed the wear and I got new tires figuring it was normal wear. However, after looking at gtoforum.com, I saw pictures of tires just like mine, and the owner of that car said his tires were rubbing along the strut. Others on the website complained about this as well. It seems to be a common problem that needs addressed. These are fast cars, and if an unsuspecting driver is driving triple digit speeds (whether at a track or not, it doesn't matter) the results could be disastrous. On gtoforum.com they were saying an alignment will correct this, but it seems this car would be needing frequent alignments then.
I have a 2004 pontiac gto which was purchased in august of 2004. Within a few thousand miles, the steering of the car began to pull to the right and the car wanted to follow ruts in the pavement more so than it did when new. During a routine oil change, my mechanic noted that the passenger-side front tire was wearing unevenly and had some chunks of rubber missing. I took the car into the dealer to have the alignment checked. The dealer noted that the alignment was within spec and just rotated the tires. The tire rotation helped the pulling and rut following for a short period of time. I had the tires rotated on a regular basis during regular oil changes. Fast forward to january 2006, I noticed that the inside edge of the passenger side front tire was completely worn through to the steel belts during a self performed oil change.. Upon further inspection, the passenger side rear tire also showed uneven wear (later surmised to have happened while on the front). At this point the car has only 17,000 miles on it. I replaced all four tires at 17,170 miles to the tune of $826.84. The alignment was checked and was slightly out of spec, but not enough to cause the kind of wear that was experienced. The tire shop that replaced noted that the right front tire had been rubbing on the strut tower. Through www.mycarstats.com, I have discovered numerous other consumer complaints about this same problem. This is a potentially serious problem that is due to pontiac specifying wider tires on this vehicle than does holden, the australian manufacturer of the gto.
Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked, it was apparent there was excessive wear on the inside of the passenger side front tire. The dealership replaced the front tires. This did not correct the wear problem. The vehicle has been aligned four times, but the tire is rubbing on the strut, which has not been repaired.
Right front (passenger) tire inner shoulder wearing excessively fast due to rubbing on the right front suspension strut tower. Excessive wear resulting in premature tire failure / blowout on highway. Replaced right front tire and performed alignment, adjusting camber to the extreme positive end of spec range. Tire / suspension interference reduced, but still clearance is still dangerously tight.
I reference claim odi#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut and are completely bald. If I wouldn't have caught it by accident a blow out would have surely occurred.
I reference claim odi#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut." just purchased 4 new tires at 675 dollars and changed size to 235/45/17 to correct this problem from the oem 245/45/17 size . I want reimbursement from gm for these tires.
I reference claim odi#10116796, I am having the same problem, my tires are rubbing on my front struts. Had I not heard from another gto owner of this problem I would have not checked to see if there was an issue with my car. Not checking would have resulted in a tire blow out with possible injury to my family or myself.
2004 gto front sidewall of tire is rubbing a hard metal object (strut).
Dt*: the contact stated the tire were worn smooth. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for inspection where it was discovered the wear was caused by defective front strut towers. The towers were making contact with the side wall of the tire resulting in the premature wear. The dealer was able to determine the cause of the problem, however no clear remedy was determined. Updated 03/28/06.
I noticed unusual wear on the passenger front tire, inside edge. Evidently the factory struts rub on the inside edge of the tire, eventually causing failure of the tires. Took the care to alan young pontiac in north richland hills. A service writer and an individual from the parts department both looked at the wear and stated that it was a common problem with the 2004 pontiac gto due to design problems. They stated there was no recourse through gm.
My 2004 gto is now 13 months old and has 12,000 miles on it. I just suffered a failure of the passenger front tire due to excessive rubbing against the suspension strut. The dealer said they is nothing they can do about it. These are the original tires and no modifications have been made to the vehicle. After replacing both of the very expensive front tires, I am already experiencing wear on the inside wall of the new tires, after only a few hundred miles. I believe this is a design flaw, but pontiac will do nothing about it.
My factory-installed tires wear against the strut, especially on the passenger side. This has caused the dealer to recommend that I replace the tires with only 9,000 miles on the vehicle. Gm refuses to do anything at all about this problem, and expects me to replace the tires as needed.
I own a 2004 pontiac gto and the front tires are rubbing the strut tower and they rubbed the inside tread bald. I have 18000 miles on my car now it I noticed it when the car had 7000 miles on it. I have went to the dealership I bought the car from and they said I would have to talk to gm about the problem. So I called gm and fought with them for awhile and they haven't done anything to fix or replace my vehicle. I got a hold of the better business bureau when I notice the rubbing and they documented the issue now I have an appointment on november 16 with the better business bureau for them to listen to my case and be given any more information I have on my problem. Also my back tires are going bald now too, I've had a four wheel alignment on the car and they are still wearing unusual.
I bought a 2004 pontiac gto in december and from the day I bought it until now I have noticed that the front wheels had a negative camber to them. The problem I am having I started to notice the affects in april or may. The problem is the front tires are rubbing against the front struts. I took the car to the dealership I bought it from vaughn motors in ottumwa, iowa. I took the car into them in mid july the car had 19,700 miles on it I took it in to have it looked at since I had to replace a set of tires due to the insides of the tires wearing down to the cords, the service department told me there was no problem with my car and they sent me down the road with no work done to the car to fix the problem, on the service report they wrote up for me it states "noted rub marks on struts from tire sidewall deflection no bulletins from pontiac at this time". I now have 23,033 miles on the car and the tires that are on the front of the car are again wore down to the cords. I called pontiac customer service and they told me to have the car taken to vaughn motors, car had to be towed since the tires are shot. Dealer had the car for a few hours and said they had to adjust the camber cause it was too negative and that they would not be replacing any tires. Dealer then stated to me that there were no rub marks on the strut and the tires where like that because I was not rotating them enough. I rotated the tires around every 4,000 miles gto manual states to rotate every 6,000. I called pontiac back and requested they have the car fixed the right was and have the tires replaced. Car is still at the dealership until pontiac gives me there decision. There is a case opened by a person I know with the same type of car and the same problem the case # is 10116796.
I reference claim oid#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front struts. I own an 2004 pontiac gto.
I reference claim odi#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut.
I reference claim odi#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front struts. Dealership has said that pontiac has admitted the problem but says there is no fix.
I reference claim odi#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut. History: the 2004-2005 pontiac gto is an imported version of the australian holden monaro. The holden monaro comes from the factory with 235/45r17 tires, tires that are generally 235mm (9.25") wide. However, when pontiac spec'd the gto for the us, they finally decided on a wider 10mm tire; a 245/45r17 bf goodrich g-force kdws tire. No changes were made to the suspension of the vehicle for us import though. Current problem: the larger tire causes rubbing on the front strut, namely and more commonly the passenger side strut. This is evidenced by a rubbing mark on the strut body and many times wear marks on the tires themselves. After purchasing the car and driving it, I noticed rub marks on the strut but the dealer was unaware of the strut rub problem at the time and claimed it was normal. They did not recommend any action to be taken. Recently, I noticed the tread on my front passenger side was wearing unusually (inside was wearing quickly) and I assumed it was due to an alignment problem. I had planned on getting new tires and an alignment to remedy this problem but on august 13th, a section of the tire came loose and was making a "thwap" noise due to some of the tire hitting the car. I arrived home shortly after and took the wheel off to put on a spare tire. When I took the wheel off, I noticed the rub marks on the strut had actually gotten deeper. I realized that the unusual tire wear was due to the tire actually rubbing on the strut. I took some pictures of the tire and some of the strut where the tire was rubbing. Here are the links for the pictures. Http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/jlee72/dscf0880.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/jlee72/dscf0881.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/jlee72/dscf0282.jpg.
Dt: the contact owns a 2004 pontiac gto. The vehicle will begin to shake in the front end at about 60 MPH. The dealership has been unable to address what the cause of the problem was. Dealership stated there was an error to the car, and there was no solution for problem. It was inherent to the car. This last statement was from repair invoice. The dealership statesdthey test drove the vehicle and a slight vibration appeared at 60 MPH. Thiswas an inherent in this vehicle. Gm was aware and no solution was available.
Stock tires are rubbing against the strut on both sides of the front and is causeing the tires to wear on the inner edge fast then normal my tire has the steel belts showing and if I did not find this problem out it could of been life threating to have a blow out on the front, the dealer and I have contacted pontiac direct and they came up with taking the stock wheels off a different gto and doing a alignment b/c the tires I had to purchase due to my budget were of a different brand but still the same stock size 245/45/17 their machine cannot align with the tires I currently have and they want to charge me $130.00 usd for having to take the wheels off a different gto and doing the alignment that was not correct from factory which resulting in irregular tire wear. I just noticed this incident 07/05/04 when I took my car in for new tires and the tec showed me the tire but this has had to going on for some time now the wear through the tire like that.
Reference claim oid#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut." and add anything else neded. I used the component discriptors of "suspension: front" and "suspension: front, macpherson strut".
I reference claim oid#10116796. I am having this same problem. My tires are rubbing on my front strut. The dealership is recommending an alignment that comes at my expense. I do not feel I should have to pay for the design inadequacies of my vehicle. My tires are now also worn prematurely on the inside
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