Oldblue

swap out the bushings first, I did the end links first and it did not solve the issue, just a thought!

whopper

That's not necessarily good advice man. It worked for you, but may not work for him. I'd hate for him to start throwing parts at it without resolving the problem.

As previously posted, the guy needs to check out a few parts and determine where the problem is sourced from.

Islandcruzn

I had the complete front end checked out & it turned out to be the drivers side sway bar end link that was causing the clunking. I replaced both sides, all is good now.

Oldblue

You're right Whooper , no more advise just observations, thanks for setting me straight

whopper

Shhhhh......... we won't tell him, but he will probably have to replace the sway bar bushings in a short while anyways.

scbill

An added tip...I did the drivers side first, looked like the hardest to do, found that if you take the link loose the bar can be moved around to make it easier to install, also removed the thread washer off the rear bolt, makes getting the nut off/on a lot easier. Pass. side was a piece of cake, also used the 90 deg zerks. Stopped the clunk.

Bill

alexrckid

I've put on about 30k miles since I did the swap to the energy suspension bar mounts.....I try to grease them every time I do the oil and I've gotta say that they feel just as good as when I put them in.........also put in moog bar end links and moog (rear) front control bar mounts.
have no suspension noises....just a few creaks from the front fenders...lol

Silverfox

In case you didn't read my post earlier, here is a tip for your front creaking fender noises. This is just a possible fix but not that hard to do.

26. Check hood for proper adjustment/alignment as these HHR's often come with improper final adjustment.
Here is what I do.
Look at both sides for the hood clearance opening against the front fender. The only adjustment you can do to improve on that gap line is to either bring the front of the hood down, or raise the front up. You first have to determine if there is any room to bring it further down. Look right in the very front and see how close it comes to touching the body at the grill area. Then open the hood and see if there are any traces of paint damage where it has already been touching on the fender. There are a couple small rubber bumpers in the hood that stop damage. Make sure they are still in place.
If it needs to come down you can make adjustments on the 2 adjustable rubber stops by screwing them clockwise for down. Each side is separate so it might take a couple tries to get it right.
It is possible that you might also have to loosen and adjust the center male hood latch so the hood closes and holds the hood firm against the rubber bumpers. 3 bolts can be loosened to do this. I place 2 pieces of masking tape on the bracket before moving so I have a reference as to how much I have moved it.
Once you are all thru adjusting your hood, clean off all the rubber bumpers under the hood and apply a small amount of NAPA Sil-Glyde lub compound #765-1351 to the contact point of each bumper.