suspension woes
08-30-2015, 01:21 PM
#31
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-20-2013
Location: Pataskala Ohio
Posts: 244
donbrew i think you may be right about the ball joint. I actually did not order the parts for the lower control arms when i had them out, I had Napa order them but i gave them the item numbers from Moog's website. I remember the ball joint went back in fairly easy, not nearly as tight as getting the old one out, so maybe its the ball joint stud moving around. I did not see the list of parts Napa ordered so maybe they ordered the wrong ones. I did check torque on the rear bushing and made sure I followed torque specs when putting them back in, so I dont think that is it. I guess I will try to find out what ball joint Napa ordered.
thanks all! will keep u all advised what I find out!
thanks all! will keep u all advised what I find out!
09-01-2015, 12:12 PM
#34
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-20-2013
Location: Pataskala Ohio
Posts: 244
dont have the receipt unfortunately
which i normally hold on to all my receipts, think the wife threw it away by accident
when i was ordering the parts with the napa guy on the phone i made sure i also had the part numbers from Moog's website, so i thought he got all the right parts but i cant say for sure, and i know the ball joint was rather easy to get back in the hole so i think they got the FE3 ball joints, cant say for sure yet. guess this is what i get for not just swapping out the whole arm instead of trying to save a few bucks getting the originals fixed!
which i normally hold on to all my receipts, think the wife threw it away by accident
when i was ordering the parts with the napa guy on the phone i made sure i also had the part numbers from Moog's website, so i thought he got all the right parts but i cant say for sure, and i know the ball joint was rather easy to get back in the hole so i think they got the FE3 ball joints, cant say for sure yet. guess this is what i get for not just swapping out the whole arm instead of trying to save a few bucks getting the originals fixed!
09-01-2015, 01:12 PM
#35
Administrator
Join Date: 10-13-2011
Location: Welland,Ont Canada
Posts: 36,451
Then plan B , jack the front end up and investigate those ball joints, I prefer the Moog ball joints that bolt in they have the grease zerk and once you drill out the rivets are easy to change !
09-01-2015, 01:16 PM
#36
Technical Moderator
Join Date: 01-23-2009
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Posts: 24,663
I just checked the MOOG website. They claim fe5 and fe3 are the same. I know that is incorrect!
The. I spent 15 minutes searching eBay and finally found a listing that said "except" SS.
It seems the HHR has once again become all the same car.
Now I checked two GM parts sites. One says they are all the same o e has different part numbers. They both only sell the assembly.
The. I spent 15 minutes searching eBay and finally found a listing that said "except" SS.
It seems the HHR has once again become all the same car.
Now I checked two GM parts sites. One says they are all the same o e has different part numbers. They both only sell the assembly.
Last edited by donbrew; 09-01-2015 at 02:37 PM.
09-11-2015, 02:00 PM
#37
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-20-2013
Location: Pataskala Ohio
Posts: 244
Well its been a short while but finally got my SS into A local shop, put it up on the rack and found it is definetly the ball joints on the control arms. The Moog website is WRONG, the ball joints are for the FE3 suspension, the shaft of the ball joint is too small for the steering knuckle, so it is wobbling around in the knucke, possibly screwing up the spindle now! The whole wheel shook when i got it in the air on both sides! So now i gotta try and find the whole control arm assembly, it looks like the rear bushing is already trying to come out of the arm as well. SO NOW GOTTA FIND THE PART NUMBERS FOR THE SS CONTROL ARM! not happy at all with all this, tryed to save a few bucks and keep my alluminum control arms but i guess this is what i get for cutting corners. Does anyone know the part numbers for the SS arms? been searching on here and Rock Auto to not much help. thanks to all
09-14-2015, 01:50 PM
#39
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-20-2013
Location: Pataskala Ohio
Posts: 244
well i have been on the phone half the day now with Moog and Napa trying to get this resolved, and it aint easy! I guess from what i have been researching is the HHR SS FE5 control arms have a different ball joint than the FE3, which we knew already, but the Cobalt had 2 different FE5 codes, and this is where the confusion is coming into play. From what i am getting, the SC Cobalt that had the FE5 code is different than the TC Cobalt FE5 code. the TC code would be the same as our HHR's, where the diameter of the post on the ball joint is slightly bigger than the FE3 or the FE5 Cobalt Supercharged ones. Now i am in the process of checking on a complete control arm and running into the same problem! I have a couple of part numbers i am checking out, and its interesting that Dorman lists 2 different control arms....
AC Delco - 45D3595 - says for FE5 but its stamped metal, not aluminum like the factory ones,
Dorman - 521-025 - this on some sites states for both FE3 and FE5, i am guessing FE3 because there is another Dorman part below
Dorman - W0133-1868373 - this one says FE5 but for the cobalt, and again lists both FE3 and FE5 on partsgeek website!
So has anyone had experience with any of these??
AC Delco - 45D3595 - says for FE5 but its stamped metal, not aluminum like the factory ones,
Dorman - 521-025 - this on some sites states for both FE3 and FE5, i am guessing FE3 because there is another Dorman part below
Dorman - W0133-1868373 - this one says FE5 but for the cobalt, and again lists both FE3 and FE5 on partsgeek website!
So has anyone had experience with any of these??
09-14-2015, 02:26 PM
#40
Technical Moderator
Join Date: 01-23-2009
Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia
Posts: 24,663
well i have been on the phone half the day now with Moog and Napa trying to get this resolved, and it aint easy! I guess from what i have been researching is the HHR SS FE5 control arms have a different ball joint than the FE3, which we knew already, but the Cobalt had 2 different FE5 codes, and this is where the confusion is coming into play. From what i am getting, the SC Cobalt that had the FE5 code is different than the TC Cobalt FE5 code. the TC code would be the same as our HHR's, where the diameter of the post on the ball joint is slightly bigger than the FE3 or the FE5 Cobalt Supercharged ones. Now i am in the process of checking on a complete control arm and running into the same problem! I have a couple of part numbers i am checking out, and its interesting that Dorman lists 2 different control arms....
AC Delco - 45D3595 - says for FE5 but its stamped metal, not aluminum like the factory ones,
Dorman - 521-025 - this on some sites states for both FE3 and FE5, i am guessing FE3 because there is another Dorman part below
Dorman - W0133-1868373 - this one says FE5 but for the cobalt, and again lists both FE3 and FE5 on partsgeek website!
So has anyone had experience with any of these??
AC Delco - 45D3595 - says for FE5 but its stamped metal, not aluminum like the factory ones,
Dorman - 521-025 - this on some sites states for both FE3 and FE5, i am guessing FE3 because there is another Dorman part below
Dorman - W0133-1868373 - this one says FE5 but for the cobalt, and again lists both FE3 and FE5 on partsgeek website!
So has anyone had experience with any of these??
Have you tried a few GM sites to get mfg part numbers?
