I replaced lower control arms. Before replacing the arms the car had great steering and handling. I brought it in for alignment to two different alignment shops but the steering still feels terrible at higher speeds. I believe the Toe is off, maybe towed in. The car wants to wander. I am thinking the alignment specs for HHR SS are maybe different from standard HHR and the alignment shops dont have or are not choosing the proper vehicle

 

I would triple check the ball joint to knuckle connection. If you happened to get a LT/LS control arm the stud on the ball joint is smaller than SS so it "fits" in the slot,but does not tighten up.

It has happened before, some books refuse to believe there is a difference.

 

I think Don nailed it! You got the LS LT and not the SS LCA's

 

Winner winner chicken dinner?

 

Also, an important note is that changing LCA WILL NOT EFFECT ALIGNMENT... right?

 

WELL, in theory, no need. But the last ones I did, it was visibly needed. It seems that some change in geometry is possible brand to brand.

Also depends on if you ever had an alignment before, once you get one you will need to repeat everytime you do work on the front end.

 

Oh. You could be a godsend!

I have been battling a related issue for months... You mean the AutoZone guy might not know what he was talking about???

Farq... like this never happened before...

Thx anyway!!!!

 

The original LCAs were Aluminum and the first ones i received were Steel. I sent them back and order through JC Penny Moog and i received the Aluminum ones. I was thinking the Aluminum ones are high performance lightweight for the SS. Whats the bottom line with that

 

The point is the ball joints are different and I think the geometry is different between FE1/FE3 and FE5.

I am guessing that aluminum is more rigid than the steel and less likely to break. More a "performance" part. I doubt that I would be able to tell the difference in my mostly city/town driving.

 

you are correct ! the control arms were loose. The i was able to tighten them but i believe they are still wrong. The stud being to small in diameter. The knuckle had to be tightened almost to complete close the gap. I am fighting with the company that sold them to me as it is very difficult to verify what is the proper MOOG part number. I checked the part number using the VIN on the GM DELCO sit. But when i search the MOOG site using competitor search box it shows nothing matches. When i place the MOOG part number i bought in the GM site it has no match. The company says it is the correct ones. The MOOG i bought is RK620897 & RK620898 If anyone has an idea how to verify please let me know . The GM P/Ns 45D3596 & 45D3595