So I brought the car to a mechanic to change the O2(Upstream) sensor and while it was on his alignment rack I pushed the rear wheels and seen the axle bushings moved a good 1 to 2 inch. So fingers crossed I will reppace them and hope that solves the issue.

 

These bushings?



#18 in the diagram

 

Exactly

 

I looked on the forum and apart from the one post below, there is not much info on replacing them, I guess they are not a common replaced item on the hhr?

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...ushings-57418/

 

No , no a common part to replace. But they do deteriorate

 

So I just wanted to update the thread if it happens to anyone else, the mechanic replaced the rear axle bushings and it solved my issue, no more wandering on the road. The bottom of the rear 2 coil springs was broken as well so he replaced them. Thanks for all the help


Just an fyi for anyone who wants to attempt changing them, if you live in the rust belt like me it's one heck of a job. The whole rear axle had to come out of the car and since there's no room to remove the axle bolt, he had to remove the axle brackets from the bottom of the car chassis. Then the nuts that the bolts of those brackets bolt on to the car are only spot welded from the factory inside the chassis, so when we went to remove them that nut was free spinning inside the body. So the only way to get at that nut is to remove the back seat and cut a hole in the sheet metal to get to the nut. Then remove the bolt and re weld the nut in place and and use a new bolt. Basically it's almost the same thing as this guy went through in this video:


So if you live in the south, it might be easier but if you live in the north, think twice before doing the job in your driveway.

 

I did mine as they were 11 years old and this AZ heat baked them real good.
And I was changing out the rear axle assembly anyway.
Had to have discs in the rear.
I even bought the tool just to use once.

 

The only thing I noticed now is my steering is off center even though we didn't touch the front-end. But I guess since the rear axle was sitting straight before because of the amount of play in the bushings it kind of caused the car to dog track while going down the road. So I will be getting a third alignment to correct it, i'm curious if the toe numbers are actually out of spec or if it's just the steering wheel that is not centered.

 

Boy,

You just can't seem to get to the end fix !!

Have you parked the HHR on a flat paved level spot and measured to see if you are an even height side to side.
Make sure you are empty on any items in the HHR that could weigh enough to give you a temporary uneven or not normal stance.

Check all tire pressures first.
Measure from fender lip to top lip of each wheel.
I assume your tires are all the same now??

SF

 

The steering wheel is supposed to be straight; if you remove the airbag you can see a key that should point at 1200. Sometimes lazy mechanics pull the wheel and realign it. This is bad since it is electronic and tied into the electronic stability control system.
If the steering wheel is installed correctly and is not centered then the toe was set to offset crabbing. The caster forces the tires to seek forward, so adjusting the toe on both sides will turn the steering wheel off center.

Caster and camber are set in the factory and are not adjustable unless a kit has been added for camber.