2004 Pontiac Gto: tire blowout or tread separation

Filed Jun 16, 2010 · Suspension, Tires · 44,985 miles · GA

2004 pontiac gto tire blow out we purchased our 2004 pontiac gto new, and have had issues with rubbing sounds and vibrations since it was new. The car currently has 45,000 miles and we had a blow out. Apparently the tires on 2004 gto's rub the spring pocket of the strut causing the inner side wall of the tires to fail prematurely. It is impossible to see the wear unless the tire is removed from the vehicle. Pontiac has replaced the tires once under warranty due to this issue, but when I returned to gm to announce that the previous "fix" did not work - they dismissed me stating the vehicle was out of warranty. This is our third set of tires within 45,000 miles and my wife feels that the car is unsafe to drive because of her blowout experience. I need gm to come up with a solution to this problem. I have researched and spoken to many gto owners only to find that they all have the same issue, and some dealers have retrofitted gto's with the appropriate 18" wheel and tire combination, but carl black in roswell ga and the district manager "rod" will do nothing to help us. Please - can you help?

Filed May 21, 2010 · Brakes, Suspension · 32,754 miles · WA

1. My wife was complaining of a squeaking sound whenever she put on the brakes. When researching brake pads and rotors online I noticed numerous complaints for 2004 and 2005 gto's regarding tires rubbing on the front struts. Since I was going to remove the tires to get a better look at the brake pads I also checked for the tire rub problem. Sure enough the right side tire and strut both showed signs of wear. The tires inside tread was worn and there were areas on the tires where small cracks had started and one 3 inch long crack through the sidewall. Left side tire tread was not worn yet there was evidence of tire rub on the strut. 2. Since I was fortunate enough to run across the information online, I will be able to avoid a failure. The failure if I were to let it go would most certainly be eather a gradual loss of air pressure or if running freeway speeds a sudden blowout. Simply replacing the tires (with oem replacements) and adjusting the front end alignment will not prevent the problem from occurring again. 3. I'm currently in the process of researching options to correct the problem. We purchased the car used but with very low miles and got an extended warranty. Since other items contribute to the tire rub such as premature failure of bushings and brearngs I hope to get at least those replaced since they are covered. A formal recall has not yet been required, so any replacement parts would be the same as those that failed in the firstplace. I'm strongly looking at installing an aftermarket kit designed to correct all the problems.

Filed Apr 25, 2010 · Suspension, Wheels · MD

Near miss - at least thus far. . . 2004 pontiac gto found both front tires to be worn through on inside of tire such that cord was showing through. Lucky I found the wear as it was on the far inside of a very wide tire with low clearances all around. Fortunately I parked the car the other day with the tires turned all the way one direction, which is why it was spotted before a blow out on the interstate. I had the tires replaced at 20k miles with similar wear and was told it was an alignment issue. So I bought the new tires and had all the wheels aligned. After approximately 20k more mile the tires are in a worse condition than the previous ones. Looks like the struts may be wearing the tires. This is a clear case of a design flaw if there ever was one, which is why I feel I must report it. I will probably try to have shorter tires (either width or height) installed to correct it. Shame I am having to pay for this problem again, but I am thankful that I found the problem before someone got hurt.

Filed Feb 26, 2010 · Suspension · 35,000 miles · OH

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 pontiac gto. While driving 65 MPH the struts began to rub on the rear driver side tire causing the tire to blow out. The contact replaced the tire and drove the vehicle to a dealer regarding the struts. The dealer refused to look at the vehicle but acknowledged that the struts were a concern. The contact called the manufacturer to have another dealer diagnose the failure. The contact stated that the blow out could have caused a crash to occur. The failure mileage was 35,000.

Filed Feb 13, 2010 · Suspension, Tires · WA

2004 pontiac gto, both front struts gouged front tires to the point steel belts were showing. 44,000 miles on car. Almost had a blow out!

Filed Apr 28, 2009 · Suspension, Tires · 71,000 miles · KS

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?

Filed Oct 22, 2008 · Suspension · 56,800 miles · AL

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.

Filed Sep 5, 2008 · Suspension · 50,098 miles · TX

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.

Filed Jun 30, 2008 · Suspension · 40,300 miles · AL

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.

Filed May 23, 2008 · Suspension · 29,500 miles · TX

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.

Filed Mar 7, 2008 · Suspension · 16,000 miles · OK

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.

Filed Oct 7, 2007 · Steering, Tires · 21,490 miles · IL

Problem with steering control and slow air leak out of front right tire, LED me to bring my car to just tires in december 2005. The technicians removed the front right tire and found that the inner wall of the tire was shredded. I then took my car to the pontiac dealer and paid over $700 for a faulty tire rod arm. On october 7, 2007 while driving 65 MPH down a busy interstate, the steering became unsteady as a loud rumbling noise commenced. About 15 seconds later the rear passenger side tire exploded and I was driving on the rim with limited control of the car, trying to pull off to the side of the road. As I put a spare tire on the car, there was shredded rubber wrapped around the axle and brake linkage that was difficult to remove. With the spare tire in place, I slowly drove 8-10 miles to my local pontiac dealer where I parked my car until the next business day, so I could cancel my lease early.