So.... Im pissed !
I went outside this morning to fill the water tank for the chickens and noticed a low tire. Drove to the shop and they patched a hole where a screw punctured in the threads. Drove back home,,just felt a little odd, went to the store, was making a tight turn in the lot and Grrrrriiinnnnddddddddd, smelled like burning rubber, I stopped, got out to look and didnt see anything or any smoke? Got back in GGRRRRRrrrriiiiiinnnndddddd .....BAM ! then everything was fine or so I thought? Drove home, felt like a slight pull but I just couldnt figure it out. Brakes were not locked up, so what was that rubber smell?

I get back home and pulled into my little shop, jacked it up a bit to peek under... WTF ?????

The sway bar Link ripped out of the strut ( metal is still sandwiched between the nut and joint ) apparently it caught the wheel and gouged a 1/4" groove around the tire, scratched up the rim lip , apparently caught and bent the link and threw it back into the wheel well ???? No clue how it happened or if the shop did something when they fixed the flat? Im pissed. It wasnt my son in laws shop but he did work there a few years ago, but he doesnt think its anything they did, so at a loss here or its a co-inky-dink that it just happened to fail after the flat repair and they didnt see any issues with the wheel off?

Hopefully getting it into my son in laws shop Monday/tuesday for a new set of tires, struts and links..... Just had to happen as they are starting my septic replacement this week... when ***** hits the fan.... it splatters, thats for sure.

 

Somebody failed to tighten the nuts. And it appears the end links are 12 inch, not 10 inch.
On the plus side your struts were worn out a long time ago. They only last 100,000 miles or so.

 

I’m not gonna speculate, but the silver paint tells me the struts aren’t OEM or KYB . I would take this opportunity to install KYB struts and swaybar end links

 

That part # is for a MasterPro strut assembly. O’Reillys list those.

 

Is the flat and the link co-incidence? Not enough info to speculate.
However looking at your photo and the jack location, if the LCA is allowed to hang unloaded is the stress and weight on the link connections?

Good news by mid-end of next week she'll be tracking smooth and feel like a new ride!

 

Looks like that hole wallowed out over time. Either the link was not correctly torqued, or that POS “Master Pro” aftermarket loaded strut had a bracket made of crappy steel, or both.

 

I just raised it enought to get the lower nut off the link to remove it. I need to get it to the shop and wasnt driving it with that link dangling.
*** and it was lifted by the cradle***

 

Im not sure, it was torqued as you can see the metal still sandwiched between the nut and shoulder of the bolt.... just funny it failed after having a flat fixed.
I already had planned replacing the struts and links as well as the tires in the next month or 2 before the start of winter so shes ready to go... but guess Im getting that done now instead. Ive never had a link fail in this manner, odd, but it did.
My first thought was the lugs were loose and came off, tire ****ed and started rubbing... nope, it was a failed link....wow

 

from my research, they are 11.881 inches ( 12" ) for the 2009 HHR.... I dont see any 10" unless thats for the SS models or ?

 

Moog K750012 are the correct end links , 9.86 inches long.