2006 GT Poor Handling

[jayguliano]

I recently purchased a 2006 GT Turbo for my wife with the autostick transission. It is a great car but the handling is scary. It feels like you are going to loose it around turns. Her last car was a turbo Volvo that handled much much better. Any suggestions on what I should do to tighten up the suspension and in what order of importance those changes are?

[wait4me6920]

My first recommendation would be to install an aftermarket set of swaybars - front and rear. I have Eibachs & love them, but there are others from MOPAR, Suspension Techniques, etc., that are probably as good.

Next, you may want to lower the beast a bit and upgrade the shocks. I sprung for Bilstein coilover springs & shocks which are height adjustable, but a bit pricey. Others have had good luck with Eibach springs and Tokico shocks which are not too expensive.

Some folks add a brace under the hood - I've not done so as of yet, but did go to bigger wheels and rubber.

The Eibach/Bilstein combination has really transformed the handling - before, I too thought the handling was scarey. Now the little bus handles about as well as the Audi A4 and better than a 760T Volvo I previously owned & loved.

[jayguliano]

I read a little on the forum about the sway bars and it seems like some people needed an extra kit to install them due to some mounting problems. Do you know if this is an issue with the 2006 GT? Also what will improve the handling more, better shocks or the sway bars? There are only 3K miles on her car so I do not want to go too crazy.

[wait4me6920]

A matched set of front & rear swaybars will make the biggest difference - they are sized/tuned to function as a team to improve handling.

If you don't want to go that route, at least talk to your dealer about ordering and installing a MOPAR rear swaybar that will work well with the front bar - Chrysler has not installed a swaybar on the rear of the Cruiser for several years now. This is the reason that a mounting kit is required for aftermarket or MOPAR rear bars - no dogleg mounts on the newer Cruisers...

[Mean Green]

Back in '03 DCX decided to cut cost and, among other things, not install a rear sway bar. They came out with something that said the rear sway bar was intergrated into the rear axle. The only problem with that was the part numbers for the rear axle for the '02 with sway bar and '03 on up PTs without rear sway were the same numbers. They lied. [xx(]

[jayguliano]

OK so I would be installing a kit and a rear sway bar in the back and replacing an existing sway bar in the front? Do you have any recomendations on which vendor to purchase these parts from?

[SteelBlueGT]

I do not recommend the MOPAR rear sway bar cause it is too light duty to do much. I went with H&R rear bar with Eibach install kit. MOPAR makes one too that is as good or better. H&R is adjustable and works well and cost me $179.10 delivered to my door from jazz Pro Parts. Install kit was from Shox Shop for $96.34 delivered. I went with a Freedom Design Front Tower Brace chromed for $140.53 delivered from SP Motorsports. All parts installed by my mechanic for a total of $160.00 but can be done on a DIY basis without too much trouble. I swapped out my wheels and tires from my 2003 GT cause I liked the wheels on my 03 better than the 2006 GT and I love my 215 sized Yoko all season uni directional tires even though they got 30,000 miles on their way to about 80,000 I expect.

Handling is much improved as it dont tip or plow as much and the ride is as good or better than before. The front tower brace really firms up the front and provides a more secure feeling. A set of Tokicos will firm up the handling a touch but I will put another 5 to 10 thousonad miles on my stock shocks and struts first. You can buy a set of Tokicos for about $250 on ebay.

[rszappa1]

Before I go adding parts....Find a good alignement shop[ and get a four wheel alignment to be sure all of the settings are correct....

[SR-PT4]

The stock Goodyear Eagle RSA tires are, uh, well, lousy at best. A good set of summer performance tires will make a huge difference in ANY vehicle's handling.

There are a few of us who have taken our PTs out on road course days as part of the NASA HPDE series (www.nasaproracing.com) and always surprise the heck out of other participants, so the PT can be made to handle reasonably well. Keep in mind that no matter what you do to it, it will always be a FWD, high center of gravity, 3300lb car. None of that adds up to truly great handling.

[wait4me6920]

quote:Originally posted by jayguliano

OK so I would be installing a kit and a rear sway bar in the back and replacing an existing sway bar in the front? Do you have any recomendations on which vendor to purchase these parts from?

Again, there are several manufacturers to choose from - I happen to be partial to Eibach as I've used their equipment on several vehicles in the past & found the workmanship & bars to be superb. I purchased the front/rear set with the Eibach rear mount kit from www.shox.com & am very pleased.

They did have a problem with the early dogleg mount kits (they were hollow & some broke - since replaced with solid steel items), but stood behind their product & provided free replacements without bickering about it. Mine were the new items, so have had no problems.

Someone mentioned the OEM tires - agree, they merit replacement at an early date, but the swaybars are the ticket for getting rid of that "Oh my God! It's gonna flip or careen off the road!" feeling, and will assure secure handling in the twisties...