2005 Pontiac GTO Pedders Suspension Upgrade - Getting A Handle On Things

After pulling back the trunk's interior side panels, we slid the Pedders Big Bore shock absorbers into their upper mounting points and tightened the nuts from above.

With the new Pedders Sports Ryder springs and Big Bore shock absorbers in place, we attached the rear subframe alignment tool to make sure that everything was in alignment. On the topside of this tool (which you can't see), there are four dowel pins. Two of them go into holes in the chassis and the other two, into the subframe itself. Once everything was aligned, we then tightened down the rear differential mount and all the attachment points.

With our BMR Drag Bags inside the Sports Ryder springs, we'll still be able to have straight-line performance along with improved handling ability. Between the Torrid Red exterior, all the red Pedders components, and the factory brake system on our '05, there is a sure heck of a lot of red going on here!

After the car was lowered and the car was settled, we then took new measurements for our ride height. Compared to where we were before, the car is now one inch lower in the front and a half inch lower in back, which happens to be exactly what the Pedders kit had advertised.

On the street, the car is simply incredible with the new Pedders suspension. Gone is the unpredictability at the limit and instead, we now have more assured handling and tire wear is much more even, to boot. We put on a set of new BFGoodrich tires and have yet to see any funky tire wear, even after 2,500 miles. This shot gives you a good idea of how a 1.0-inch front drop and 0.5-inch rear drop will look on your GTO.