I've never done a drum brake job before but I figured I'd give it a shot. I went to O'Reillys and got new brake shoes for my '09 HHR. I watched a couple videos and read a couple how-tos and noticed my brakes don't have the horseshoe shaped retainer spring. There is an upper and lower spring and 2 springs in about the middle of the shoe that remind me of valve springs, holding the shoes to the back plate. Okay, no big deal, but when I put the new shoes on, the lower spring was way off and none of the holes were lining up. I finally ended up putting the old shoes back on. Any ideas?

 

It seems possible that you have the wrong brake shoes. There may be a slight difference between earlier and later HHR model years as far as the rear brake configuration goes - not sure about that, though. The thing about drum brakes is that they must be assembled in a specific sequence, with the various springs and fasteners in correct orientation. It is easy to make a mistake unless you note carefully the way you took it apart.

 

Welcome to the site.

I have not seen this myself but some of our members have reported that there hhr has cobalt rear brakes. Here is a thread about that. https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/prob...-brakes-44971/

 

Sometime in model year 2009 they changed from the "universal spring" to the GM/Chrysler hold down spring system. You seem to have the GM type, which is the old-fashioned way. I imagine there are hundreds of videos on YouTube.

 

The majority of drum brakes are of Bendix design and very similar regardless of vehicle make or model. Make sure to only do one side at a time so you can use the other side of the vehicle as a pattern if you get stuck. If you are new to it, it may be worthwhile to snap a few pics as you go. A few special tools can help but you can get by with just basic stuff like screwdriver, pliers and what I find essential is a large set of needle nose vice grips for the springs.

I have had a set of brake shoes for my 2008 HHR on the shelf and check the brakes about every 10,000 miles but they're still not worn down so I keep deferring it. I am at 151,000 miles now and they're getting close to being worn out. By the time I change the rears, the front pads may need changing again. (I did those at about 80k if I recall correctly.)
I'll cut the drums when I do the rears as they're a little rough but surprisingly don't have much of a ridge.

 

I should add that most brake shoes have symmetrical metal parts. ie, all four shoes are the same, but the brake material will be longer on the primary shoe which is the one that goes to towards the rear of the vehicle. Make sure to get that correct.

 

Are you sure you want to call the rear shoe the primary?

That's not a problem since the parking brake pin is built into the web.

 

Here is some info I put together when researching a catalog discrepancy. I am a data analyst in electronic auto parts cataloging; right now my focus is brake friction & rotors/drums.

"There is some consolidation issues between manufacturers for this vehicle/shoe numbers

2009 Chevrolet HHR

795 Wagner 2006-2009, Raybestos 2006-2008
800 Raybestos 2009-2011, FMSI 2010-2011, Wagner 2010-2011, Bendix 2010-2011
860 Bendix 2006-2009, FMSI 2006-2009

As you can see there is some overlap between years depending on the manufacturer you use for lookup. Adding to the confusion is the fact that cars in the same chassis family (Chevrolet Cobalt for example) have their own set of overlapping years with this same set of part numbers. For consolidation/data issues the Wagner number (795) should be able to be used in place of the 860. In fact, according to images on the Bendix website they appear to be using the 795 shoe design under the 860 part number."

 

I think that was covered when I said they changed sometime in 2009. SOME 2009 MY have the new (American) design , SOME have the old (European) design.

 

Good additional information has been added BUT.......

The original poster has NOT returned since his question a little over 2 months ago.