bpb355

Looking at upgrading my fronts to Brembos. I have a 2008 HHR SS, and after reading dozens of posts I'm pretty sure I have all the right parts, including the longer brake hoses. My question is do I need wheel spacers for my HHR? I have the oem 18" wheels. The posts I read seem the guys with 16/17" wheels need spacers. The CED kit has spacers but that's a LSJ upgrade kit. Just wondering if anyone who did the upgrade on a similar model used spacers or not. Thanks.

firemangeorge

I wouldn't think so. I have the factory Brembos with the stock SS rims and there are no spacers.
CED's Brembo upgrade kit should just be a factory parts kit.

jczboy

I did the up grade on my 08 SS & the wheels fit. You really don't even need the hoses. A very slight bend at the bracket, was all that was required. Hope this was ahelp

pbatmen

Hey bpb355,

The hoses are the same. I just replaced mine when I did the upgrade because my hoses had 160k miles on them so for like 12 bucks a hose, it made sense especially with new brass washers to get a nice seal to the caliper. I had to use wheel spacers because I have a 2006 2LT with 17 inch wheels, but for you, since you have the 18's (diffrent back spacing I think) on the SS there should not be a fitment issue. Heres the link if you want to check out what myself and other memebers did.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/brakes-%7C-suspension-%7C-shocks-%7C-struts-24/brembos-up-front-disc-rear-06-2lt-41839/

LT1GMC

The hoses are NOT the same, I can supply pictures for non-believers. The Brembo spec hose is longer, and is not stretched so tight at full turn. They are not that expensive, so why chance it?
My dealer got me the correct ones, GM 25954272 and they are 1.5" longer and have a 1.5" longer "insulator" piece on them.
They allow full turn without near the pulling and bending at the connection.
Had no issues with wheel fitment on my HHR SS Brembo upgrade.

pbatmen

LT1GMC, you are correct, they do have diffrent hoses, I got confused because its been almost a couple of years when I did my swap. Sorry about the confusion, there was no write up on how to do the swap when I did mine.

bpb355

Thanks for all the responses. What about the caliper mounting bolts? I remember reading on one of the threads that the caliper bolts were different, i think they were thinner or something, once you swapped over to the Brembos. Of course I can't find that thread now, I think it was on one of the other forums. I'm guessing you only have to worry about that if your going from an LSJ or older model. I'd just hate to have everything off, then figure out I can't put it back together. Thanks again.

pbatmen

your exsisting caliper bolts should work, they should be the same thread as the ones from the Brembos. I was lucky and when I bought mine, the salvage yard sent me the bolts from the brembos and the only diffrence i could see was the head was 1 mm smaller I think, (not 100%) like 14mm compared to a 15mm for the exsisting no Brembo caliper mounting bolts. i would gently thread them in and see if they are a good fit first even without the caliper on, check everything twice especially when it comes to the braking system before tighting them up and going for a drive.

bpb355

So after spending some time going through some online parts diagrams. It looks like the 2008 HHR SS uses GM 11609768 as the caliper bolt (M12x1.75x36) 24 thread. Going into 2009 model, with the Brembo J56 package the caliper bolt part number changes to GM 11570091 (M12x1.75x43) 24 thread. If I'm reading it right it looks like the bolts have the same diameter and thread pitch, but the J56 bolt is just a bit longer.

Nightwalkerhemi

I want to do this too,better brakes are always good.
Didn't know there was a write up going to check on it now,only had the hhr for a week the list keeps growing no thanks too the forums:-)