What else do I have to do to remedy my problem of;
1. When Going down the road, the 'noise' that is still heard over bumps.
2. When braking, the front end rattle, shimmy/shake & pulling to the side.
3. Sometimes 'play' in the steering while braking, (left-right, & right-left).
I Had the mechanics of the front-end checked, had the tires rotated (just in case it was due to the one specific tire), had the brakes checked, tires are balanced & correctly inflated to correct pressure, (as per sticker specs.), had the steering checked, (including alignment).
I Am Tired of the 'nickel & dime' here & there! I Am Ready to throw in the towel & trade it in! (Sorry, but that would mean I will no longer be on here.) I am at my wits end, I had a talk with my mechanic & had him do all those different services to the vehicle, but we are just at a stand-still & are dumfounded about the whole situation.
(I had tried everything that was recommended in my prior inquiries about my problems when I had asked on here before.)
I come to you One Last Time for some type of suggestions to get this squared away. Please Somebody Help, or I will be forced to get rid of the car.
Thanks Guys. You Have ALWAYS Been There For Me When I Had A Question I Look Forward to Your Comments!

 

What is the year of your HHR? Has anything been replaced-struts, shocks, sway bar links and bushings, tie rods, ball joints, control arm bushings, steering shaft? Any of these items can cause your problem with the clunking. The brake issue could be a combination of pads, rotors, sticking caliper and possibly your hub assemblies, they don't have to make noise to be bad. Fill us in with your info and we can try to diagnose your problem. A quick way to diagnose if the sway bar is making noise is to take off the end links and then go drive the car a little bit, if the clunking is gone it is the sway bar. Don't worry about having an accident, you'll barely notice the missing sway bar, I removed mine and brealy notice it.

 

Looking at some of your previous posts, I would definitely say you need to replace your hub assemblies and also new rotors and pads if they are worn. That should fix your brake issue. If you are on the factory struts and shocks still, they are done, replace them. The steering shaft issue could be another area to address, you may want to check the rack and pinion assembly also.

 

Well it sure sounds like an unfortunate combination of the two classic HHR issues, sway bar end links and brake judder.

As barfan1 has recommended, its time to install new rotors and pads while also having the front bearings checked on the off chance you have one failing. There really isn't a cheap way of curing the brake judder you're feeling other than installing new quality parts.

Have your mechanic unhook the sway bar, then take a nice long test drive over the routes you usually take, if the noise vanishes you have confirmed failure of the end links. Once again, the only cure is new good quality parts such as the grease-able end links made by Moog. If the noise is still present with the sway bar unhooked, its time to look at the intermediate shaft in the steering gear, etc.

Its a process of elimination that has to be done deliberately, but in your case since you are describing classic textbook brake judder, do the front brakes. Make sure the tech also pulls the rear drums to inspect the brakes and free up the adjusters, then make sure the adjusters are set correctly. Unless the rear brakes are adjusted frequently, such as every 5,000 miles or at every tire rotation, the adjusters will not keep up with the wear of the shoes and you'll lose rear braking effort...leading to the possible return of the brake judder in the front.

 

It is a 2006 2.4L LT.
New Brakes were put on prior to purchase, After Purchase the Dealer replaced the ball joint, & steering shaft after purchase do to part of my issues. Struts look & function well, checked hub assembly, calipers, double checked the rotors & pads, did the sway bar thing while going over the dealer service of tightening up Everything in the front end to try an elimination process. Made sure the tire wear was consistant (along with checking alignment) & making sure proper inflation was consistant in All 4 tires. Checked the rear drums & shoes When did tire rotation 2 weeks ago as another process of elimination because I wanted to make sure it Wasn't a tire being the culprit. With all that and more technical inspection, (I am Not the most technically inclined to explain All the things my mechanic done, but was there with him to 'watch' what he was doing [He is a friend of mine & wouldn't try to hustle me, & is Very Technically Inclined].) from my mechanic, I Will Print out these suggestions so he can Double check & maybe come up with something that he May have missed. Thanks Again guys! I'll be back in touch to let you know how things are after I get it into his garage again.

 

"As barfan1 has recommended, its time to install new rotors and pads while also having the front bearings checked on the off chance you have one failing. There really isn't a cheap way of curing the brake judder you're feeling other than installing new quality parts."

Except have the hub bearings checked and replaced as needed FIRST, then get new pads and service or replace rotors. Once the hub bearing goes out, a brake job will be needed in addition for things to work right after it's replaced. If you do a brake job and don't replace a worn hub bearing, the judder will quickly return after the "brake job."

For me, replacing the defective front hub bearing improved the judder, but it was still present. While sorting this out, a bad rear hub bearing was also discovered and replaced under warranty (I hadn't noticed any problem with it while driving). Only doing a front brake job prematurely (25% wear left on pads) and cutting the rotors (within spec) while adjusting the rear brakes got rid of the judder permanently. I thought I would always be subjected to poor brakes because this was my first American name-plate vehicle in 20 years. Now the brakes work as well, after hub bearings, pads, and rotors, as the ones on my Japanese cars always did!

 

I believe the sway bar end links wearing is due to the crappy stabilzer bushings. The bushings go first, then work on the end links. I believe Chevy did not beef up the Cobalt sway bar bushings while adding the extra weight of the HHR body.

 

I bought my 2006 HHR in Jan with 52,000 miles. The brake pads and rotors were brand new. At 58,000 miles, the brake judder started occuring and by 62,000 it was unbearable. This is the classic hub assembly run out issue that GM had a TSB for. I replaced the hubs, brake pads and rotors and adjusted the rear brakes and now it is perfect and as long as I check the rears occasionally I shouldn't have anymore problems. Also, my OEM rear shocks looked okay, but for $50.00 and 30 minutes of time I threw new ones on and the change was huge, the OEM's were shot. My front struts were leaking a little and I figured I would just complete the job and do those too. When I got the old ones off I was shocked as the upper mount that allows the strut to turn was practically frozen on both sides and I could see where water and dirt had gotten into the mount and ruined it. Again, a huge change in ride and handling once the new struts were on. GM really skimped on the suspension parts of this car, when you pony up and replace the OEM junk, you will feel the difference. My opinion having had many older GM vehicles is that when Delphi sold off their suspension operations and the real AC Delco shocks that were made for GM went away and third party companies like Sachs, Monroe, etc. are now the suppliers for GM suspension parts, the quality went way down.

 

Delphi was sold to break the union. OEM used to mean that you got the best parts available before big bucks on aftermarket specialty parts.

Now OEM means you get the cheapest Chinese parts available.

There is a 'failure ratio' associated with every part on a car. As long as the data shows a certain percentage and cost involved the solution, better parts, is ignored.

 

I really wish that some of the other suspension companies would offer some premium choices for the HHR/Cobalt suspension pieces. I know about the the modified fit Koni solution but it would be nice if Tokico or Bilstien would offer a shock and strut for this platform of cars. I guess their isn't enough interest to warrant tooling up for them.