I guess you missed this part of pulp's suggestion. Those are stamped steel. HHRs have aluminum.

 

yup I guess I did l. I'm always jumping the gun cause I have no patience

 

I got a cheap set off Amazon and ended up wearing out a set of tires in 3,000 miles. they were too long and threw off the alignment just enough to destroy the tires. Got a set of Moog and replaced them and new tires, all is good in the world now. 20,000 miles and tires still look like new. I still get an occasional shimmy on certain roads so next will be rear springs. It seems to happen when the back end has a load in there.

 

The #1 post in that thread I linked was from 2013 a decade ago prices changed, but he does recommend the aluminium arms and why.

 

Prolly not your fault. Likely you were victimized by a parts purveyor who said they "fit" your car. "Fit" is a car parts weasel word. Fit is not the same as correct. Incompetence? Dishonesty? Willful ignorance is dishonesty too. In any event, caveat emptor.

I wish I woulda mentioned the aluminum LCA thing but there are so many other booby traps.

Now that they're in they'll prolly work for awhile anyway. The geometry, if not identical, appears to be close enough. One mechanic on another forum claims he installed both types on the same car and got identical alignment metrics. They're not as strong, were for base Cobalts as far as I can tell. If you decide to do the struts, consider investing in aluminum LCA's. Any chance you save the old aluminum ones? You could fix those up with Moog "problem solver" bushings and maybe ball joints if really needed.

I my opinion, KYB dampeners are the best value. They will be firm.

If you car doesn't have the 2.4 L and chrome mirror covers (2LT) it prolly isn't FE3. HHR's are mostly FE1, except all SS are FE5. Again, not that it will make much difference.

Any GM dealer service department that wants to be nice to you can print out the RPO list (that was) in you glove box, and also Carfax-like records, with just your VIN.

 

Click tools in the tool bar , then click vin decoder

 

I looked at mine (2006 LT2) and it says FE3, no list in my glove box but a member on here was nice enough to get me a copy.

 

The FE3 suspension package was only available on the 2LT models as an option.

 

The only brochures I have that chart suspensions are 2008 & 2010. If you believe them, the only way to get FE3 was on a 2LT, and you got it whether you liked it or not, along with the 2.4. No suspension options for any trim level. But I always consider the possibility that some fleet order deviated.