cj-five

I had a mechanic change the struts on the front of my HHR and know the front end is out of alignment and the passenger tire is wearing on the outside only. I am taking it to Chevrolet and have them check the entire front end and also check my steering column for a weird noise that only happens when I make a turn. My HHR only has 36000 miles on it. It's a 2006.

whopper

Let us know what they find, cause changing struts should not alter the alignment.

firemangeorge

Changing struts out should not affect the alignment. Either there was an installation error or the wrong struts were used.
Why take it to the high priced dealer ? Either back to that mechanic to fix his possible mistake or find a new repair shop.

As one of our mods likes to say. "Those techs at the dealer went to the same schools as the independent shop techs."

Oldblue

Could be the ball joints are wearing and or the LCA rear bushing has given up! But changing struts should not have affected the alignment

donbrew

X4,..... Unless somebody has installed camber "cam bolts".

One tire wearing oddly points to LCA bushing or camber. Toe would affect both sides (toe is the only adjustment there is in a stock HHR).

Oldblue

Toe issues would cause the steering wheel to be off left or right

Cat Man HHR

Let's look at this.
A mechanic change the struts on the front
(and now) the front end is out of alignment
the passenger tire is wearing on the outside only.

Changing front struts will not make you go out of alignment.
If your right side wears that much did you already have an issue?
Did you "smack" something before the repair?
Bending the lower control arm inward can cause the tire wear.
Did/does the car pull to the right?

firemangeorge

Cat Man HHR.
It's been a week and the OP hasn't checked back in.

Cat Man HHR

Thanks George
It's been a week in my head and I've haven't checked in either. lol

Oldblue

I had an alignment a year ago and they said everything was fine, I started to get that dreaded brake judder, even after I had upgraded to larger SS min Brembo front brakes.
I replaced the lower control arm bushings with the Moog K200792 bearings, the steering wheel was now off to the right and the left front tire was scrubbing the inside side out the thread, back to the alignment rack, and the toe was exactly the wrong direction as it was adjusted two weeks before, my alignment guy apologized for not catching the lower control arm bushing being spongy and one was torn apart.
The bushing looked fine in the car but fell apart after removing them.