So here is my story for an '08 HHR SS. I have had good luck with it until...I pushed the factory tires to about 60k miles. I use the car only when I take 100 mile business trips. The rest of the time my wife drives it within 20 minutes. We had to save some money and pushed out the tire change until we really had to. The detail here being that pushing the stock Michelins out to 60k, they wore even and true until the very end. I was impressed. Especially on a short suspension car that sees our backroads. So I wanted to get a similiar set of replacement tires. I decided on Goodyear GT's. Look great and a little more aggressive for snow. When they got changed the kid said to consider an alignment because there was a little uneven wear. I didn't see this first hand, they were so thin I stopped paying attention. Within 2 weeks of just being lazy about an alignment the wife said there was a big springing noise when turning the wheel. I pulled it out of the garage. Turned the wheel for a three point turn and boing...Pulled it back in the garage and parked it until I could work on it. So what I found is the right side coil spring was in pieces. One piece had plenty of rust indicating that a smaller top piece had been gone for a bit. The rest blew apart. Much of the spring split along the nuetral axis. [side bit - I have only seen two coil springs fail, and the other was on a Saab my wife had. We'll leave this one lay for now] After reading on the forum I replace both struts with Monroe quick struts. The only thing was the front end sat high. I actually drove it gingerly for 2 weeks before bringing it in for an alignment to break them in, and rotated the tires before the drive to the algnment shop so the wear was even. I still noticed the front end high, which it is now 8 months later by 1/2" if the fenders are really at the same height. To be anal I installed new rear shocks with a month of the fronts. 8k miles later, I go to rotate the tires and they are trash. The inside corners which are hidden under the fenders, are absolutely gone. Some white spots. Signs of blistering...The car tracks straight, but apparently is plowing its way down the road. The only thing we noticed was a little less traction out of these tires. Brought it back to the alignment shop. He can't find anything really wrong. No loose bearings, etc. He is stumped. We can see what appears to be negative camber when the car sits on the ground and it goes away when frame lifted and the tires are off the ground. He is complaining that the rear control arm busing is just a rubber mount, and there is no way for him to appreciate the right amount of give, so he is recommending replacing it. Then maybe a camber kit - which it didn't need before. I am concerned that I will be playing Russian roulette with front end parts and burning $500 worth of tire rubber at a time. Can the spring break be that there was a deeper problem? Do these rubber flexures give before 70k mi., and wear super even? Could there be a strut problem even though they appeared the same dimensions as stock? I am parking the car for a week to figure this out. Hope someone can help. Tx.

 

I can't read your post! Take a breathe, relax and review the use of paragraphs. Please.

 

I can read his post even if he didn't use paragraghs. The guy has enough problems, give him a break.

 

look at the rear LCA bushings, I had this issue with the last set of tires, the rear bushings were shot, I replaced bot the bushing and the ball joint, in hindsite I should have just swapped out the LCA as it comes complete with bushings and the balljoint, the ride height issue could be the broken coil or the quick struts are for the LS/LT model and not the SS FE5 suspension.

 

Yeah that was a tough read (one paragraph) for old eyes.

"Can the spring break be that there was a deeper problem?": Hard to say - likely just a rust issue.

"Do these rubber flexures give before 70k mi., and wear super even?" : Most certainly, the rear lower control arm bushings don't last forever and a few of us have replaced them already. they aren't that expensive if one buys aftermarket ones. And yes, they can throw the alignment off. Sounds like they need replacement.

"Could there be a strut problem even though they appeared the same dimensions as stock?": As Oldblue stated, the Monroe struts are not for the SS model, only the LT/LS models, so that likely is causing the height and alignment issues.

 

All I got out of it is you got new tires, a front spring broke and for some reason your mechanic wants to work on your rear suspension and he is not capable of reading a Service Manual.

Sorry, I can't do anything with that.

 

Okay. So I see that carriage returns are not optional:)

According to my research if the struts were non-SS the tires wouldn't go back on. However, there was no camber or alignment issue before replacing the struts with the broken spring.

Here is the brief overview:

Replaced tires.

Within a week the factory spring broke catastrophically, it may have been slightly broken prior to.

I replaced with Monroe SS full strut assembly.

Got car aligned.

Car drives straight. Only slightly less traction with Eagles compared to Michelins noticed.

7,000 miles later brand new Eagles are down to threads on inside of both symmetrically worn tires.

Returned to alignment shop. He can't find anything obvious or worn and doesn't know what to replace. I am concerned with playing Russian Roulette replacing parts and burning up new tires.

If no one has a specific suggestion, would anyone suggest tearing down the front end and replacing all bearings & bushings? Is this overkill, or a lower risk than replacing one part at a time?

Thanks.

 

One more item. You can definitely see a slight, but existent negative camber when the vehicle sits on the ground, but when the wheels are lifted off the ground they look perpendicular to the ground.

 

OK, now I understand. Could be your hubs/bearings are bad and you just haven't noticed the noise (SS and all). Could be LCA bushings busted up, the alignment guy should know what to look for.... but.

The ONLY adjustment available to a standard HHR is the toe. If a camber kit was added after market you'll have about 1/2 a degree adjustment.

I have been led to believe by many others that there is no such thing as a SS complete strut. Only a bare strut from GM. That may be the problem, a myopic or inexperienced counter man.

My best guess is that the alignment set the toe wrong (toe out will wear inside). Did you get a before & after printout?

Have the tires been rotated in the 7,000 miles? If so, you may have bad rear hubs, they will cause inside wear.

When it comes to front end alignments, there is no need for them unless the tie rods have been messed with.

 

-Monroe does not list quickstruts as being available for the 2008 SS.

If the monroe part numbers were 172179L & R, then you have the stuts for the non-SS models. I suspect that the wrong ones will fit the SS, but will leave you with bad camber etc..

You have a strut problem, and POSSIBLY a lower control rear bushing problem - and any competent alignment shop should be able to diagnose that very easily.