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Will a heavier person damage a Grand Prix car

G

gamefreak

New member
Need some advice, Have someone who weighs between 300-350 pounds who sometimes may ride in the car. Live on a dirt road where the car would already almost bottom out as it is over a particular dip. Was wondering if this person will put any stress on the suspension, front-end and tires. Also will this heavier person put any added stress to engine or transmission and what not. Not to be offensive but this person has already stretched a seat beat in a F150 truck and makes both an F150 and a Astro Van shake pretty bad when climbing in.

I know someone with a Mazda 3 and another person with a Caviler that won't even let this person in their cars. I know both cars are lighter and have smaller 4 cylinder engines but would the GT be in the same boat.
 


Yes. Uneven weight distribution is bad.

At the same time, its no different than 2 150-200lb people sitting on that side of the car.
 
Short answer is yes. It depends on the quality of the suspension at the current time. If your struts are already worn out, adding more weight is not going to help. I know you can haul a decent amount of people that weighs down the car tremendously. As for bottoming out, drive it like its lowered.... slow. As for the stress on the engine/tranny so on... yes but you will never notice. Might hurt the fuel mileage a little bit, but you will be fine.
 
Cabin's good to hold 1000 pounds of meat. Your suspension's going to dip down with a passenger regardless. Drive accordingly.

I'd like to point out that your suspension is, what, 13 years old with 143,000 miles?

I have a hugenormous friend and made him sit in the center of the back seat because it was raining. Car hugged the road.
 
Your car can take it. Yes it will add stress to the suspension and drivetrain.

But, about once a week or so I have 2 buddies in my car (400lbs and 350lbs each) and the car sits substantially lower. Add myself (210lbs) and another buddy I usually bring with me on our lunch breaks (student) and thats what, 1200lbs worth of fatasses? (my car is also lowered)

We did laugh our asses off last week when we noticed that to just get the car rolling it had to build boost.
 


Sounds like good advice, just drive gently down the road and keep an eye on the condition of the struts. As well as keep track of the condition of the front-end/ alignment and such. All of which I have already been doing, well thanks everyone for the advice.
 
I'm a very large guy, just shy of 400lbs. I've been driving my car everyday for 3 years and its fine.

Its a 3500lb car not a plastic lawn chair.
 
What's the difference if you load in 1 350lb guy vs 3 other 200lb guys?

Right.. about 250 more lbs if you have more guys.

the real question sounds like... "Do I have to let someone I don't like in my car". If that's the case, let the person know that you aren't friends and you don't enjoy together time.
 


I wouldn't worry about your suspension, tires, etc. I would worry about what a person that size will do to the seat, door panel, and center console. When I used to work at the dealership we had several regular customers who were around the weight you are talking about. One lady had a Monte Carlo. We replaced the seat cover, seat cushion, and seat frame almost annually on that car. It was crazy how fast she destroyed them. We didn't replace them because they were a bit worn. They were destroyed. One time she didn't come in soon enough and the seat frame broke. It had to be towed in. We also replaced the center console lid a few times because it would get worn out pretty bad. We replaced the entire console once because the pressure of it being pushed over by her mazz eventually broke the mounting points on the bottom and it was loose. It had been leaning before this. I think we replaced the door panel twice also. It was generally worn out and misshaped from her body pushing against it all the time. I guess the only other thing I recall is replace hinge pins on the door a few times because she used that to lower herself and pull herself up when getting in / out of the car.

We had a few others like this. One had a half ton truck and the interior still had the same fate. Big people are hard on cars interiors. I wouldn't worry as much about suspension. Drive a little slower. What I would worry about is how hard they are on all of those other things. Cars just aren't designed for people that size.
 
^ that's all from daily use. If this person is going to be in his car one time then he doesn't have anything to worry about.
 
I gotta agree with billboost, if you don't want the guy in your car then just tell him that. Dont make up excuses. These cars have 5 seatbelts in them for a reason.
 
yeah not a big deal......it will be fine

i once had a 380lb drunk guy in the back of my camaro LMAO didnt mess anything up other then it rode lower lol and scrapped the TQ arm loop a few times
 


My brother is 6' 3" 370 lbs and has ridden in my car a few times without issue. Hell he rode in my Stealth several times and never hurt anything either. Even when I put the Megan Coilovers on it didn't hurt anything.
 
I'm 460lbs and I drive a Gtp and I've had my other 400lbs friend, his 150lbs girlfriend, and 100lbs of tools in the trunk with no issues you'll be fine
 
This has to be like the most offensive, ridiculous, HILARIOUS thread I've seen. :th_laugh-lol3:
I don't blame the op for thinking about it, but generally I don't think a person would really be concerned or post it lol
but props for making my day and lmao for hours on end
 
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