suspension damage help

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01-23-2017, 02:50 PM

#11

donbrew

Moderator

Join Date: 01-23-2009

Location: Fredericksburg,VA

Posts: 24,706

The bank doesn't own your car? That is an oddity.

1/2 inch drive and 3/8 and 1/2 drive metric socket set to 18mm, no special tools. Most used 10,12,14,18. 1/2 breaker bar is a good thing. You can usually "loan" tools from Autozone/Advance/O'Reilly.

01-23-2017, 04:23 PM

#12

Oldblue

Administrator

Join Date: 10-13-2011

Location: Welland,Ont Canada

Posts: 36,534

To bad about your HHR, you're gonna need a 21 mm or a 7/8 for the lower control arm rear bolts, 15 mm and 16 mm sockets for the ball joint pinch bolts, most of the bent parts would be the struts and tie rods, the inner ones require a special socket, you rent borrow from you local parts palace.
If you can take a couple of pictures of any part that looks bent post them up , we'll have a look!

01-24-2017, 10:54 AM

#13

donbrew

Moderator

Join Date: 01-23-2009

Location: Fredericksburg,VA

Posts: 24,706

My bad, I was thinking the LCA bolt was an 18mm. If you get a deep 21MM you can torque your own wheel lugs.

01-24-2017, 11:17 AM

#14

Oldblue

Administrator

Join Date: 10-13-2011

Location: Welland,Ont Canada

Posts: 36,534

I use a 3/4 deep impact socket or a 19 mm for the lug nuts, and just a note the top nut on the strut piston rod is a 21 mm and a deep socket is required.

01-24-2017, 10:49 PM

#15

Don06

Senior Member

Join Date: 04-14-2010

Location: Wisconsin

Posts: 432

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJuneman

Hi, very new to this forum. I just recently wrecked my car on some ice and need some tips on where to start repairing it.
Took it to my mechanic to have it looked over and they claim i need

sway bar links/ bushings
right front axle shaft bent
right front lower control arm and left front lower control arm bent
right front strut
right front spindle

they also listed an alignment, break pads/rotors, and tires. I'd like to fix this my self, but i'm not much of a mechanic. Is there anywhere I need to start first because I'm going to be doing this little by little. Are there certain brand name parts to get? special tools? should i have just left this up to the professional? or is it too far gone to be repaired?
Any information helps.
Thanks.

If you search online, parts can be found at decent prices.
You can buy a new pair of lower control arms complete with bushings and ball joints for $62.
Do they mean the spindle or hub because if the spindle was damaged they would replace both.
Hubs are $60/pair.
An axle shaft is $51.
Struts are $110 for a pair.
Sway bar links are $14.
Stabilizer bushings are $10.
Slotted and drilled rotors and ceramic pads are $62 per set.
So a little over $370 for parts which are fairly easy bolt ons.

01-25-2017, 12:00 AM

#16

whopper

Platinum Member

Join Date: 04-09-2006

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Posts: 7,032

Wow - those prices are pretty good - where did you find them?

Looking at Autozone (picked at random):
Lower control arms: $133 ea = $266 for a pair
Hubs - $53 x2 = $106 for non ABS - or $98 x2 = $196 for the pair
Hub nut - $14 ea/$28 pair down to $5 ea or $10 for the pair
An axle shaft - $64
Struts are $143 ea. = $286
Sway bar links - $30 ea = $60
Stabilizer bushings - $20 for the pair
Slotted and drilled rotors - Regular rotors - $42 ea or $84 for the pair
ceramic pads - $44

and the total comes to $1030 plus tax - which is a far cry from $370.

01-25-2017, 08:25 AM

#17

843de

Deceased

Join Date: 06-30-2010

Location: Kannapolis NC

Posts: 25,739

Hidden damage can be a real bugger to find AJuneman, sometimes it's only detectable by popping your HHR onto a frame jig, or checking dimensions with a tape measure to see if there's any structural deformation.

I have the "Crash Repair" specs on HHR's filed away somewhere, if you'd like to shoot me a PM with your e-mail address, I can send you a PDF of the specs when I find the hard drive they are stored on.

Might take a day or two to locate the files, just so you know.