First post. I bought a 2007 LT a few months ago. I replaced the lower control arms and now have -3 degrees of camber??? Both sides. It does not look to be adjustable. I suspect the aftermarket (import) control arms are too long. My math says it would take about 5/8" too long. Can that happen?
I have seen the camber adjustment bolts advertised. Is that how I have to fix this?

 

Welcome.
Depends. Did you use the correct aluminum replacement arms and not the stamped steel ones ? There has been many discussions over the years that the HHR's only use the aluminum ones. Many of the parts books will show the steel ones fit but that is incorrect.

 

Were the previous set of control arms OEM, and if they were , were the rear bushings deteriorated enough that a previous alignment was preformed in those worn LCA’s
If the OEM aluminum control arms are replaced by stamped steel Cobalt arms then yes there is a possibility that the alignment was done with those camber bolts, normally used when you lower the HHR.

 

The LCA I removed were aluminum, so were the new ones. Car is stock height. (for now) Yes, the rear bushings were shot. But the front bushings looked good, with no shims. It seems to me that the distance from the front bushing to the center of the ball joint would have the most influence on the camber. The camber bolts are clever, but not as strong as stock. I think I would need them top and bottom to get back to -1 degrees and still have some adjustment left.
The other thing that makes me think the arms are longer is the massive amount of toe-out (~7 deg) I have after the swap. I have never seen a strut suspension change this much with just control arms.
I think I will jack it up and see if I can measure the bushing -to-ball-joint and compare with the old ones.

 

Well I measured the need control arms and the old ones. Sure enough the new ones are about 1/4" longer.

New ones are 13", old are 12 3/4" Measured from the casting bump. Casting bump to bushing CL same on both.

 

What brand are the new arms?

 

Seems like the more accurate measuring would be pin to pin.

 

I took a chance on off brand parts. $100 for the pair. Now I know why. I could make them work with band aids. But then I will have the opposite problem next time I replace/upgrade. Get what you pay for. I just thought that if someone screwed up knocking off a die cast part, there would be a lot of them out there.

Yes, there are lots of more accurate ways to measure. I just needed to convince myself they were different.

 

I had the same experience 6 years ago. I just put the camber kits in. Don't know what you mean they aren't as strong. Those bolts only need clamping force.
A hint: shop around the price differences are extreme.

 

Rather than align the bad parts, I ordered new "problem solver" rear bushings. The front bushings and ball joints on my old arms are still good. That should put the front end geometry back where it was.

Still waiting on the bushings, so I pushed out the old ones. I noticed that the there were a series of line scrapes where the old bushing came out. All equally spaced. Like it was a little octagon shaped. Anyone else notice this? Are the bushings intentionally not round to improve the press fit? I will post pictures when I put the new ones in.