>>Just for clarity, I was asking about the ball joint that was on the old right side LCA.
Those were replacement bolted in BJs.
Cheers!
Howie

 

>>1965 Ford Mustang Fastback (sold 1984)
>>2007 Beagle Male Tricolor (RIP My oldest friend)
>>2007 Beagle Female Tricolor (RIP My sweet girl)

I love your signature, I should add my fave dogs to my signature as well, I just lost a 18 yr old Perro Cimmaron female last year, the best dog I've ever had out of ten...And perhaps my favorite car was also a 1966 Mustang Fastback with the K-code 289 and pony interior, in an ironic twist given this thread it wrecked due to a lower ball joint separation and ensuing wheel fold-up....although those cars were total pieces of doggie doo structurally, what a lot of fun!

More on topic with this thread is my plan of attack moving forward:
1) I plan to get a 20.5 mm reamer and open up the squashed bores in the knuckle while holding the slot open with an 0.032" shim. I am absolutely unconcerned about removing 0.25 mm (<0.010") from the wall of that bore, strength-wise, and I believe it is safer than stressing the integrity of the knuckle overcoming the elastic limit of the aluminum to get back to a 20.5 mm bore.
2) I await a reply from OTTP regarding their "Cobalt Ball Joint (2008-2010 LNF)" stud diameter, that will determine my next move. If it is 20.5 I'll get a pair and replace the BJ90415s I just put in my old LCAs.
3) If OTTPs BJ are the same old 20 mm units everyone else has I will mill some sleeves with slots and bolt clearance and use the new BJ90415s already in the LCAs.

I appreciate everyone sharing links to similar discussions, I find it odd although the OTTP LNF BJs are mentioned a few times, no one ever reports back whether they are correct for HHR SS/FE5 or not...

Thanks a lot GM.
Howie

 

Alright then, that makes it a certainty, someone put the wrong ball joints in, as ball joints just have never been available until these OTTPs. I thought 1 person had confirmed, but maybe not.

If you decide to replace the knuckles, they are listed as unavailable, but a Google search may turn something up.

Steering Knuckle

Part Number: 25923941
Supersession(s): 25796695

KNUCKLE - STEERING.
W/SS. W/SS model.

Fits Cobalt, HHR

Cobalt; w/SS Model; Right. HHR; w/SS; Right. W/SS. W/SS model.

Steering Knuckle

Part Number: 25923942
Supersession(s): 25796696

KNUCKLE - STEERING.
Steering Knuckle. W/SS. W/SS model.

Fits Cobalt, HHR

Cobalt; w/SS Model; Left. HHR; w/SS; Left. W/SS. W/SS model.

 

It does say in the description of the part I linked to:

This is an OEM replacement ball joint for the LNF Cobalt and HHR. These feature a 20.5mm ball joint stud diameter.

So I would expect them to be correct.

 

GM never made a replacement ball joint for the FE5 suspension in an HHR SS

 

Thanks...that is funny, I thought when I originally looked at that page it didn't say the actual size of the stud, which is why I emailed them to ask...but I wouldn't swear to the page not stating 20.5... I just ordered a pair, and I'll post back when I get them.
Have a good T'day folks!
Howie

 

SS ball joint

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/ss-s...iameter-64831/

And

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/ss-s...oint-ss-65948/

 

Yes, this is the most likely case. Very common, sadly. Someone installs complete LCA's for LS/LT because, at most parts purveyors, they are also incorrectly listed to "fit" HHR SS and/or FE5, (and maybe because they didn't want to beleive all the warnings, because the correct part is more expensive and hard to source.)

PSA (again,) RPO codes do not mean the exact same thing across years and models. Assuming otherwise causes much trouble.

In this case, all HHR SS and 208-2010 Cobalt SS carry RPO FE5 and use the same 20.5 mm ball joint on indentical LCA's, and got identical knuckles (and SOME other common parts,) but any prior year Cobalt carrying FE5 had 19.6 mm ball joints.

Save them a minute or two and cancel the request. If you had read the entire page you would see that they are listed for HHR SS too. They shoulda also put HHR SS in the heading.

How about two steel wedges, squeezed in from opposite sides? Wouldn't even need to be hardened steel. If you see no evidence of cracking (before or after the procedure,) my guest is they'll be fine. (I wonder is the stories of knuckles breaking from the wrong ball joint were the superseded part, and the change was to a more ductile material. Pure speculation.)

I'm not disagreeing withe reamer idea, if the clamp bolt holes are still straight enough. Good to do it anyway, may be needed, maybe a little of both (un) bending and reaming, especially if you have an adjustable reamer in the range. Better be a spiral reamer tho, because of the slot. Having the correct reamer made would be $$$, I suppose MAYBE someone stocks one.

Salvage the knuckles. New ones are gone. Boneyard finds are rare. There is much need, thanks to parts purveyor screwups and careless mechanics.

 

The FE5 was different in Cobalt SC and Cobalt TC. Just adding to PulpFriction.

 

For sure, good advice! Although it is a real pain to do so, I am sorely tempted to dismount the knuckles because peering up at them from under the car is not too informative.
I'd rather tank the knuckles to clean them up, take a set of ID gauges to them to analyze the bores, and look for stress and potential cracking. If I do have to clean the bores up at all I can do it better on the mill than chucking a reamer in a hand drill or turning it by hand. I'm going to have some thinks on this over turkey this week...
Cheers!
Howie