I was on this discussion 2 months ago with my 2009 HHR. To update, I replaced both left & right front struts & springs with good quality parts from Moog. The low speed clunk mostly went away but occasionally it will clunk. I'm waiting my turn to get on the lift at our hot rod shop for more investigation but the front end clunk is mostly gone.

 

That leaves the sway bar bushings, LCA bushings, hubs and a few other bits.

See the link in my sig for diagnosing clunks.

 

hello
I'm looking for any info someone might be able to help me with.
in February 2022 I needed LCAs, struts and sway bar stabilizer links replaced. the car drove great. I no longer felt like i was driving on washboards.
recently when I'm leaving or pulling into my driveway i get a clunking noise. sounds like its coming from the front, so I removed the passenger side wheel and noticed that the sway bar has been rubbing on the LCA. it's a pretty good rub enough to run a groove the shape of the sway bar. also, where the stabilizer link connects to the sway bar is showing rub marks.
any clues as to what some possible causes are?
one other thing is when idling in park i move the steering wheel left n right there is a clunk at 11oclock and 1oclock. doesn't seem to be a problem just a noise i noticed when looking for the cause of the earlier issue
all thoughts welcome thanks in advance for any help given
regards,
LON

sway bar rub against LCA

 

The sway bar bushings need to be replaced, the steering wheel turning clunk most likely is the intermediate shaft has dried out in the lower ujoints.

I have dealt with an HHR that had a 12 inch sway bar link on one side and a 9.8 inch link on the other , this caused a run on the LCA’s.

 

after reading this sticky none mentioned what i saw in the pic. when i took the pic i looked at the saw bar bushings and did see what looked like a worn out bushing.

 

the shiny part on the rust is the rub mark. the black squiggles is where i used a marker to for rubbing indication

 

thanks for your help.
i was thinking about the sway bar link size. they were both the same length as the old ones that were replaced. the bushings make a lot of sense. When i took the pic i looked at both sides of the sway bar bushings. the passenger side looked worse than the driver side.
since they both should be replaced ill start there.

 

Sometimes the sway bar will shift laterally. Re-center the bar and put clamps on it to keep it centered.

 

How is ride height?

 

There are supposed to be plastic stays on the sway bar just inside the bushings. They disappear or get dislodged allowing the lateral movement.
I think, with no proof that using 12 inch end links causes it. My opinion only.