Spozo

I'm not going to get into what is/was the actual issue, because I'm lazy and don't feel like typing :) BUT I will say that on some models, LRO (lateral run out) as measured 0.125" from the the outer edge of the rotor in excess of 0.0015" can cause a brake pulsation issue due to thickness variation over several thousand miles.

Improperly installing a wheel can easily cause 0.002" of rotor LRO, not cleaning/prepping the hub/rotor mounting surface can easily cause that and more.

hyperv6

The rear adj are oretty good one most cars as long as you back up. In some cases some folk never back up in city driving.

Also the big one is the lack of use of the e brake on rear disc. This is what adj the rear brakes up. Many automatic drivers never use the e brake and the pedal gets lower and lower.

sleeper

Yes, Very true & I'm aware of that, and even tho I had been occasionally doing that, apparently the original owner wasn't &/or had not. As my rears were way off adjustment.. Fine now tho..

barfan1

Centric makes semi-metallic pads for the HHR. They are avaliable on Rockauto and JC Whitney. I have some in my garage to put on my HHR very soon. I like ceramics as they produce a very light dust you can't see on your wheels but the plain facts are that ceramics don't deal with heat as well as semi-metallics and I think the HHR brakes are a little under designed. It will be interesting to see my results with these pads.

hyperv6

The truth is ceramics deal better with the heat but it depends on the quality of the pad. Many cheap pads use cheaper materials. All pads are not equal.

The truth is many of the HHR brake HHR brakes are shared on much larger and heavier vehicles with no issues.

It really could be as simple as where they get the hub bearings and how well they hold up. I note many HHR's have hub issues while Malibu's and many other cars with the same brake parts have little issue.

barfan1

The hub assembly problem has been an issue with all GM passenger cars for many years. All of the GM passenger car hub assemblies are made in Sandusky, Ohio at the former Delphi/GM bearing plant. GM pioneered the use of the integral hub and wheel bearing assembly back in the early eighties and continue to source almost all of thier hubs from this plant. It is now owned by a company called Kyklos International and the branding is KBI. These are the parts that are put on the car at the plant, serviced with at the dealer, and are supplyed to aftermarket companies to sell to technicians. If you buy a Timken hub unit for an HHR, you should get an OEM unit identical to the dealer for much cheaper. Anyway, the hubs that come out of that plant have always had quality issues and they fail at a much higher rate than other bearing manufacturers hub units. GM hubs are the top sellers in the industry for repair and they are held to a much looser tolerance than other manufacturers. The whole idea here is I bet I could go out and measure 20 HHR OEM hub assemblies and half of them would be out of tolerance for run out straight out of the box. This doesn't take into account being mounted on the car and more importantly, the lateral run out of the brake rotor. No manufactured part is perfect and the stack up height of the hub and the rotor together has to be within spec. I know GM has some kind of tapered shim to put between the rotor and hub flange to deal with the run out issue. I believe that the HHR brake system is barely adequate and also that the tolerance of the hubs and rotors may be a little sloppy and that is why you see so many brake issues on the HHR.

hyperv6

I will agree on the hub issues but I will disagree the brake are not adequate. If they were everyone would have an issue when the truth most don't while some do have issues. The greatest issue is most people deal with the symptoms and not the real cause of the problems. I note most that have issues keep repeating the same issues when those who don't never have the problems.

The truth is there is nothing wrong with the calipers and rotors and these are what most people fool with and keep getting the same results. The problems are else where and the rotors are only the symptom.

sleeper

No problems here on my stockers (knock on wood)... But I keep my rear brakes adjusted properly also..

hyperv6

What many tend to forget is the brake pulse issue is a industry wide issue. Eveyone has it to some degree on most vehicles today and was not unheard of in years past on older disc brakes.

I see this topic on Honda, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and even Porsche web sites.

solman98

I think a cleaning with brake cleaner might not be a bad idea every year or so to help get some of the dust out of there and prevent possible sticking. I bought mine new and back up daily to get out of my garage, not a short driveway either. Plus many other times throughout the day. Mine were also way out of adjustment.