And some members are over 100K on stock rotors & pads....Why is that ?

Mine doesn't have near those miles, but still stops very smooth on stockers...

 

....... ahem.......... "granny-driver" detector just went off!!!

(just ribbin ya man )

 

Mine also stopped very well until 47K miles. About 10K or so after I moved to Atlanta. Now at 80K.....


But what percentage compared to the ones that have had issues... I'd venture to gamble more have the issue than not. I also believe your driving has a lot to do with it. Big city, heavy traffic, compared to just tooling around town or all highway. I know I have more issues since I moved to Atlanta than when I lived in Charleston. Everything else on mine is tight, last time even replaced both from hubs with new ACDelco unit's. Yet..... I'm getting ready to do brakes again (granted I haven't had to buy anything but having rotors turned in the past 33K miles). This problem just shows up more. I deal with a very large vehicle fleet, all makes/models (even Hyundia this year). I see patterns with brakes. The HHR, along with a lot of GM products, have a pattern with brakes. I do think Chrysler is worse though.

Yea, there are things you can do to help like manually adjust your self adjusting rear brakes.... Which I've never had to do on any vehicle with drums before, but everyone takes that as the "norm" with HHR's. No, that's just part of the problem. It's a band-aid temp fix. (BTW, mine are adjusted to 2 clicks on the hand brake)

Just , you can agree, disagree, whatever. Doesn't change the fact's that I, along with many others, have issues with the brakes on my (their) HHR. It's my only real complaint, and lucky, it's an easy and fairly cheap way to just keep on rolling. With luck, this next time will last longer with the SS component upgrade.

 

i had a brake pulsation issue when slowing down from highway speeds. we've put about 45000k on since we got it. also ive always noticed slight pull either left or right, when under hard acceleration. i have two conclusions. slight rotor thickness variation is causing a "judder" in the lower a arm because of cheap mooshy rear vertical bushings. these cars depend on rear brakes more than others. when rear brakes become less effective, u have to press harder on the pedal to make the fronts make up the difference. the result is more forces transferred thru front suspension(rear vertical bushings) and any rotor variation will show up more readily. rear brake adjustment(first time since owning ; 12 or 14 clicks on the star wheels)) cleared up the problem. bs? maybe so. but i know now i have to keep rear brakes adjusted to help with a front brake problem.

 

"bs? maybe so. but i know now i have to keep rear brakes adjusted to help with a front brake problem."

not bs, I keep my rear brakes manually adjusted also. It really does make a difference.

 

Have an 08 SS and at 66,000 the front started to shimmy. Had about 10,000 on new pads.

 

I did some reading about this last night. It appears that the authors believed, and they are in the brake business that the problem is the rotors and that this is due to them being made in China. They stated that it is very hard to find rotors made in the U.S.A.
Centric claims that although theirs are made in China, they are better because they control the manufacturing process, and the necessary drilling. Another author claims that it is the heat treatment process of the metal that is a major problem. So the hardened metal is not thick enough and wears down rapidly.

With the above in mind, does anyone know of an American manufacturer who provides a properly manufactured rotor???????????? Otherwise, if we are not lucky enough to somehow have a good rotor, we are just replacing rotors with a rotor which soon will give us the same problem.

 

Many have used OEM and aftermarket rotors for the replacement. Some have had good experiences with each. Some have had bad experiences with each.

This leads me to believe the installation as suspect. Slapping a pair of pads and/or a new rotors on does not appear to suffice. Generally, it takes someone skilled in the REQUIRED installation of the new technology and to understand those little "tid-bits" that are necessary.

The corner shop, that has mechanics that do all sorts of repairs probably is not enough. It takes someone who has extensive knowledge in specific brake repairs an/or training.

SOMETIMES you can't even find this at a specific brand dealer.

 

No doubt the hhr suffers from a weak braking system. I personally have my stock brakes still on and still stops just as good as ever with no vibration. Suppose im a lucky one. However im a very light braker. Im the jerk you get behind that backs off a half mile before the red light.

 

Amen to that. I had both my other cars brakes done at mechanic shops. Both cars were north of 100k and both came back squeaking. No one was able to get it to stop squeaking. Two cars two different shops and the same problem. Obviously its a little more technical than it seems.