Hey all,
My HHR just turned 40000 miles and now, just after warranty expired has a rattle. I thought maybe it was a piece of plastic and tired several times to find the culprit. I finally had someone rock car back and forth to find it and it appears it is my right front sway bar link. Dealer says it is not a power train warranty item and is $46 and wanted a $100 to install. Can I find a link elsewhere and how hard are these to install?

I had a 06 HHR LT the X has it now I bought another but an LS. I like the better rear view mirror and don't miss the power seat. I mounted a hitch and I have after market rims and bought a rear spoiler but I am too afraid to mount it lol. I towed my snowmobile to the UP and complained I only was getting 24 on the e-way brother in law was getting 6 in his Escalade so I did not feel so bad. Anyway I do like the car I would recommend them they are very practical.

 

Double check but I found:

Moog #: K750012 for the HHR end link

They are not hard to change, but the top nut can be difficult to remove if the bolt starts turning, and there's not much space in there to put a wrench on the flat spot to hold it. I've had to cut mine off the first time I did one.

Yves

 

Please check under suspension forum. I have had more than a few problems with this. Basically, the cheap nut G.M. uses with a built in lock washer strips and goes flat, allowing the link to move. Replaced with a 12mm poly lock nut and a proper lock washer. The nut is 19mm and you will need a 17mm for the other side. Hope that helps.

Ted

 

After changing out the intermediate steering shaft the annoying rattle was still there so I decided to remove one end of the sway bar link to see how much play was actually there. Sure enough, every time I moved the end up and down you could hear a clunk. Prior to removing the one end everything seemed solid and was quiet. I then found that Moog makes a replacement, part # K750012, and got a pair delivered from diyautoparts.com for $69.68. The easiest way to replace them is to just pop the plastic socket on the link off the pin and grab the ball on the end with vice grips. Use an 18mm socket or wrench to remove the nut. I greased the new links before putting them on.

The links from GM are steel in plastic mounted to the steel link. The Moog part is all steel with a rubber grease cup and cost less than the GM replacement.