Over the weekend I swapped out the front control arm bushings and ball joints. Once again I bout something at a parts store for the HHR SS and then when I go to install it I drop F-bombs because its not for the SS. I bought MOOG ball joints and bushings and the ball joints were fine but the control arm bushings have a steel band which isn’t healthy for our aluminum control arms. I was lucky to have a dealership close that had the right ones (aluminum band), unfortunately double the price. I hated putting the stockers back on but there are not too many options. The sad part is that all of these retail places think the parts are all the same, and they aren’t! When I retured the bushings I got in an argument with the parts guy and he was saying they were the same until I showed him the one I removed. On a positive note I did take a little time and polished the arms before they went back on! (LOL)

 

Yup, OEM or coil-overs. That's all we got to choose from. And the fe5's are not easy to find.

 

Look up the GM part numbers here.....

http://parts.nalleygmc.com/

And then cross reference them to the aftermarket parts, that should help clear up the usual confusion over the SS and its FE-5 underpinnings.

 

Sorry guys, dumb question. What is FE5?

 

gmpartsdirect.com has FE5 in stock all the time. I've never seen them out of stock

 

SS HHR suspension.

 

This is the Cobalt Suspension options which are closely related (for reference)

FE1 suspension
19-mm front stabilizer bar
16-mm rear stabilizer bar
Stamped steel front lower control arms

FE3 suspension
22-mm front and rear stabilizer bars
Cast aluminum front lower control arms
FE3 shocks and springs

FE5 suspension - 2005-07 years
24-mm front stabilizer bar
FE5 shocks and struts. The springs may be different from some FE3 models.
Larger front end links

FE5 suspension - 2008 and up years
24-mm rear stabilizer bar
NEW FE5(LNF) shocks, struts, and springs.
Updated front knuckle

 

all hhrs ive seen, including my 08 ls, have aluminum control arms. Different than the cobalt.

 

^^^ This ^^^

 

Yes, the FE3 is standard HHR suspension and has aluminum arms as well. The problem is that FE5 is limited production so the aftermarket folks lump them all together and they are not the same components.