" are you talking about the 3 bolts for the strut under the hood? i thought if u loosened those you definitely need an alignment"

Yes, those nuts.
No, that doesn't change any alignment angles.

As I have typed, seems like thousands of times, One of the virtues of the strut suspension is that you cannot change any of the angles. They are pre set on the drafting board years before the car was built.

The ONLY adjustment a technician can make is the TOE! Unless, someone has added an after market camber kit.

 

Good tip donbrew on loosening the three nuts at the top of the struts - I've updated the post at the start of this thread with your tip. Big thanks man. :)

 

In case the reason wasn't clear: it takes a whole lot of muscle and wishing for extra hands to get the ballpoint stud into the hole if you don't at least loosen those nuts a good bit, you don't even have to remove them. The few extra degrees of movement does wonders.

Just remember to Re torque them!

 

lower control arm bushing (the front one with 2 bolts),how is the best/easiest way to remove/install this one?

Bill

 

Easiest is to replace the assembly. If those are bad the rear bushing gave up a long time ago.

You will need a press if you insist.

 

well got the HHR aligned on saturday. seems like the chattering is gone and the steering wheel is straight again. much better ride!! THANKS AGAIN!!

 

Welcome!

 

This is a picture of worn stock bushings.They are NOT made of solid rubber, but have 4 spaces in them. Look close at the image & you can see where it tore & the metal center was loose.


This is a picture of the new SOLID bushings, with new ball joints also.

 

The OEM bushings have the holes molded into them, these are to be set in a particular angle to act like a hinge for the LCA to pivot on.
I used the solid ones on a friends HHR and the lasted the same amount of time, about 4 years or in her case 85,000 miles .

 

You can see dimples to line them up, if think about what you're doing.