[Sirrotica]

The reason for strut rub was twofold, first the GTO used a tire one size wider than the Holden cars did so there was less clearance to begin with. Secondly the Holdens never made a trip across the sea tied down on ships and then on the car convoys to the dealers with spacers in the front springs. The cars that stayed in Oz never had these problems. Removing play from the front suspension put all the suspension load on the rubber strut bushing/bearing and pounded them out before you even took delivery of the car. After shipping the cars like this for 2 years late 2005 they quit doing this and also changed the alignment specs so there was more initial clearance. 2006 cars usually didn't exhibit the problem like the earlier cars did because of the 2 changes made.

The rubber front end bushings used in the Holden design are quite soft and compliant and the front strut bushings are hollow and filled with a liquid. They do a great job of isolating the vibration from the body but are quite prone to premature failure. The upper strut bushing/bearing compresses and the front strut bushing ruptures letting the fluid inside escape. These 2 problems combined will cause rapid tire wear even when the car is within alignment specs static sitting on a alignment machine, going down the road the suspension is able to travel outside the specs and when the brakes are applied the suspension toes the tires out causing the inside edge to wear rapidly.

The aftermarket has made bushings less compliant and able to wear better than the OE ones that will solve the alignment/tire wear problems, however some are so stiff in construction materials they also induce a shimmy transmitted to the steering wheel. The materials must be somewhat compliant to hit a middle ground and not transfer the undesirable harmonics. This was an Achilles heel in the GTO front end, and can be taken care of with aftermarket replacements or the OE parts can be used with a life of usually less than 30,000 miles.