Novadude: If you had the car up on jackstands, the wheels at full extension off the ground, then your springs would appear to be loose. With car on ground, you can reach in and see if springs are loose. If thats the case you do have a problem. "Moon"

 

Been a while since I been on. I have not fixed it but for me, I can grab the left front link and make it rattle so I found my issue. I had a issue with the crappy rotors too but I got new raybestos rotors and now the thing grabs like never before.

 

I had to take my car in to the dealer to have the power steering motor replaced (apparently on 2006 models they tend to fail at low speeds) and I had them check for the famous clunking noise again. Turns out my links are shot (after 2yrs), my stabilizer bar bushings and table bushings are also shot and the steering column that I had changed in Nov. 09 is also clunking away again!!! Oh, and the steering column isn't warranty even though it's not even 18mths old! They finally said they'd replace the column under warranty if I had the bushings all changed there!
I've been a die hard Chevy fan my entire life but I'm none to impressed with the quality of cars and parts they're putting out nowadays!

 

So, here's the long and short of the front end issues. The brakes shudder. It's an ongoing problem. At 16k miles it started. Took it to the Chevy dealer, they said I'd warped the rotors, and that they turned them. Shudder stopped. At 33k, the shudder came back. Took to the dealer (still under warranty), they say I warped the rotors, and that they turned them. Shudder stopped. Shudder starts again around 52k. Take back to the dealer, no longer under warranty, dealer says "Your rotors look new, it'll be about $500 to figure out what's wrong." despite my protestations that this should still be covered under warranty, as they'd seen the car twice, while under warranty, and I considered the problem unresolved.

In here somewhere, the front end started thunking, usually when driving slowly, sometimes when turning while backing up. Almost always, when driving slowly, bumps cause the front end to thunk.

Following the advice of other friends, I have replaced the McPherson struts, including the top flange. No fix.

Following the advice I received on the Forum on ChevyHHR.net, I replaced the sway bar links with really nice ones from Moog, as the factory ones do not have zerks. No fix.

Completely unrelated, the car just got new tires and rims in the last few months. This did not change the symptoms at all.

I was driving with Steingrim, who's pretty good with a wrench himself, and he says "Maybe you aught to change the ball joints." So I did. This suggestion was confirmed by a friend who teaches auto mechanics at Los Altos High School. Things are quite a bit better, but there's still a thunk. And brake shudder.

Talking with the guy at Napa yesterday, we pretty much ruled out the CV joints, as problems with them would generate completely different sounds. This pretty much leaves tie-rod ends and control arm bushings, which I bought as they were $10 each, and the work looks simple, since I have access to a 30-ton press.

What do you think?

 

Control arm bushing problems are pretty easy to diagnose - if it moves around easily with the aid of a screw-driver/lever, or look deteriorated, they need replacing. Mine lasted a bit over 100,000 miles. There is a How-To here on replacing the lower control arms.

Also check the sway bar mounts (not the links as they have already been replaced) - once again, check the mounts with the aid of a lever - they should not have any slop at all.

Brakes: being your rotors have been turned, and the shutter came back, just replace them - your NAPA store can point you to some quality ones - and replace the pads at the same time. When rotors are turned to get rid of brake shutter, the shutter often comes right back. And make sure you adjust your rear brakes when doing the fronts - a lot of the people here have found that 3-5 clicks on the emergency brake should be all the play there is. The general consensus here is that if you don't keep the rear brakes adjusted properly, the fronts have to do most of the work, and that ain't good.

 

I usually opt for the 'complete' control arm, with new ball joint and bushings already installed, it is isnt that much more $ imo,especially considering the labor involved with removing and installing bushings and ball joints,,,,So after all that replacing parts still makin noise?? let me know when u finally get it,, mines been makin noise for awhile now, but i have the 100k warranty from the dealer and i m only @85k in my 2007. good luck

 

Did you replace the sway bar bushings that you noted were looking not that good quite a while back? When they go, they get noisy on little bumps.

 

Never got around to layin out the 200$ deductible, figured i would wait, still waitin, probably should just go buy the parts and do it myself,,

 

You pretty much cover all the points I think. Back to the brakes. Did you change the rotors out. If you do not want performance brakes...ie...drilled vented stuff from like Brembo or Wilwood, I suggest going to NAPA and see if they can find direct replacement stock ones that are made in the US or Canada. The Chinese rotors that are on the car are junk. Find a good replacement set and change. I think those Chinese GM rotors were ground down so much as to warp to the point of no return. Actually warp is the wrong term I think. Heat and friction have created ridges on an axial bias, and that is your shudder source. After tie rod ends and control arm bushings are replaced, you should be OK.

 

Intermittent front end clunk when turning wheels or going over small bumps, especially when car is cold: I just replaced my 2010 HHR-SS front stabilizer links at 45,000 miles with MOOG K750012 9.8" serviceable (have grease fittings, or "zerks") links. Clunk is gone, and the car corners flatter, like when it was brand new.