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The new girl is coming home.... about 300 miles in tow to go.
All very excellent, only issue I found was a mild steering wheel shudder under firm to hard braking, that would stop when brakes eased up. I'm assuming calipers, All you experts have another idea. Please Express.
They never did seem to gain any in popularity.. These are only 2nd time I've seen them on an HHR.
They may not have been popular. For some reason or another. But on the car, they look great.... I personally really like them.
like my Jeep, I bought new Mopar Wheels, On day one, and the dealership wouldn't give me a penny for the unused Wheels. So it was a $2,000 extra expense, that may be a limiting factor too. Recovered some on the private sale. , but it certainly wasn't the swap.
I've seen those "pickle fork" wheels on a couple of Saturn Sky Redlines and a Solstice GXP for sale back when I was looking at them a couple years ago.
I like them, think they would look better in black though.
Cool...
Check lower control arms for that "shudder"... Could be brakes as well, but don't just throw brakes on it they don't need it.
Agree, could be control arms... but normally I can feel those on rough roads or washboard sections too.
On my short road test; actually felt very solid. My first few acceleration/brake checks were fine; after a few other steering & suspension checks, I did a few harder accel to feel the turbo... then stabbed the brakes hard. That's when I noticed the shudder... ease up on the brakes, shudder stopped... press hard again, shudder returned.
Could be Control Arms too... all good points every one offers.
I'm not planning to replace brakes yet, my area to check would be caliper to caliper mounts. See if it has free movement.
Rotors tend to gain some lateral runout with wear, water/snow splash (rapid cooling), different temper of rotor surface, etc.
Back in the day that I GM wrenched.. long time back, we'd have similar on Vettes, F-Bodies, or basically anything with Discs.
If Used Cars sat on the Lot or someone's barn for a long time the calipers would basically freeze or bind up from surface rust on spindle caliper mounts or the pins would just be crappy.
Then apply the mild lateral runout that normally wouldn't bother caliper float, with stiff moving calipers it'd cause a shimmy / shudder.
Had pretty good luck just by performing a quick removal, cleaned, lubed and reassembled.
That's a pretty fast & quick check... worth a look before any new parts.
I'll agree those 'pickle fork' rims are unique. I've never been a fan of black rims. I like polished / clear coated rims.
I'm for the polished, shinny rims.
Then again, I like emblems, and chrome trim too... shinny rims go good.
Although, I have received a set of black Headlight lenses... I think the silver lenses don't fit with SS Black grill and painted trims.
Up close these "pickle fork" rims look even better than photos. They reflect the light very nicely.
That shake could be the incorrect LCA’s or ball joints where used.
That's a good point... off the top, where the LCA's & Balljoints different parts for the SS verses the LT / 2LT?
I will say, in comparison to my 2LT d& LT Panels, the SS drives, steers, shifts and feels totally different.
Not even mentioning the acceleration difference.
I'm impressed with the SS.
I seem to remember something about automatics needing a vacuum pump installed. If that has not been done, could it result in this shudder?
Yes, the ball joints for SS have slightly larger studs. If the FE1/FE3(or FE5 from Cobalt non-turbocharged) control arms have been installed, it will be a loose connection to the knuckle.
