Hey donbrew there is play while the car is on the ground and i can wiggle the spring back and forth like a quarter of a inch either direction ..This is the second one doing this drivers side only .. No play in the passenger side at all very aggravating ..So i am dropping off the extra one to mechanic too see whats going on ...

 

Time for a loaded question hurst, and I hope you don't mind me asking.

Has your HHR ever been hit, or has it been in a collision?

Just wondering if maybe there is a possibility of the front end being distorted.

 

I wonder if the other side will settle down to make them even? Just thinking, since my new Monroes make the car noticeably higher than it used to be. Strange. What could be holding the one side up? It is supposed to sit on the springs.

Have you tried to stand on the bumper to compress the shock? Years ago I bought a Rabbit that had 2 frozen front struts. Or maybe there is some sort of lock for the factory assembly workers.

 

Ok the history on this car the struts factory were changed at 90,000 and reused the factory springs thank god ,so know i am at 165,000 and i figure the springs are way beyond use again and this why i went with quick struts new springs ..The car has not been in any accidents since own new , just a pain in the ass with this driver side strut and i refused to r and r again for the third time this company is going to pay for it trust me .. I am thinking the spring is to strong for drivers side or it is not compressed right factory mistake ,but i will let you know what i find out...

 

Play in spring..with weight on wheels? Something other then spring causing this,,,strut hung up or something. With weight on wheels unless your superman your not going to be moving the spring..it has around 800 lbs on it.

 

Ok how about this the new strut has the white bumper not sure what it called but it rides on the shaft in middle of the strut could that be the problem if it too long? causing the spring not to compress all the way ..When i look at my old strut i really don't see one ..try to post pics but i guess the file is too large ..thanks

 

It is not a matter of the spring compressing. The weight of the car is supposed to compress the SHOCK down to being supported by the spring. It is the shock absorber that is not going down. The height of the car is determined by the SPRINGS, not the shock. That is why this is so confusing.

If the bumper was to be stuck on the shaft by some super glue maybe it could prevent motion.

 

Is that "white bumper" just a shipping spacer? Check the other strut you have installed - and if it doesn't have that "white bumper" you have found your answer.

 

No, the replacement parts have a large bumper and the skirt is attached to the bottom of it instead of tie wrapped to the top like the OE.

However, check under the skirt to see if there's anything up there. Sexual references not intended.

 

Hey don :)

I gather that bumper does two purposes (maybe???) - acts as a bump stop for the strut, and maybe helps keep the rod polished? Sexual references not intended.

Any chance that the shock is in a locked mode where it needs a 1/4 turn to unlock before mounting, kinda like the way some regular shocks are shipped? Darned if I can remember the ones I bought that were like that.