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SS Specific Service Issues/RepairsService/Repairs specific to the SS. Turbo-Brembo Brakes-2.0 Engine-Limited Slip Differential-Programmable Display-MU3 Transmission
I've been researching shocks and struts for my '08 SS (FE5 suspension) all day and have determined I have a small number of options if I want to stay with the OE front springs and just replace the struts and rear shocks and possibly a few more options if I want to spend more and order full front strut/spring assemblies.
I like a sporty, good handling, nimble cornering type ride and don't mind if it's a little stiffer than stock, but I don't want bone jarring stiff like I used to have on an old RWD Volvo that I modified/sportied up the suspension on a few decades ago. That old car rode stiff like an unloaded 1 Ton but boy it sure cornered like it was on rails!
I can get the OE/stock GM 20794824/19179738 struts and 15938031 gas rears and keep the ride and handling the same as it was or I could spend a fair bit more and go with Koni struts and shocks which would require reusing the original strut towers and modifying them to accept the Koni strut cartridge. I could also go with the OE struts and either go with Koni or Bilstein rears but they might not be well matched to the OE struts. I can't seem to find the Bilstein B6 strut 35-114642 available anywhere in North America but it appears they might still be available in Europe as they fit some Opel vehicles. I imagine shipping costs would be very high bringing as pair of those over from Europe. It looks as though there might also be some options for bare strut assemblies from KYB and NAPA.
There also appear to be strut & spring assemblies available from Moog, GSP, NAPA and KYB. Not sure if there are also options from Monroe or other companies.
I'm not sure about any of the parts NAPA says are "guaranteed to fit my HHR" as they don't ask me what trim/version of the HHR I have on their website so they wouldn't know if I have a SS or an LT or whatever when they put forward what they believe is a compatible part..
Has anyone done the modifications and gone with the Koni system on their SS? How does the ride and handling compare to stock SS? Is there enough improvement to warrant the extra $$ and work to install? Which of these other available alternatives that I've mentioned or other alternatives I've not yet discovered will give me improved ride and handling over the OE SS FE5 shocks and struts? Or is the stock SS FE5 stuff about as good as it gets? TIA
The stock SS suspension is pretty good. Hard to improve upon, really, for the balance of performance and comfort you seem to want. And the dampeners seem to last a really long time. The shocks are a Sachs monotube. A lot of owners like losing the understeer (or maybe adding a little oversteer?) with a rear sway bar. Pros and cons to that.
When I had my SS in being looked at for the fuel leak I had them inspect the suspension components to see what all is knocking underneath. I just replaced the LCAs last summer but there's still a lot of knocking going on down there. They said the left rear shock is leaking and there's excessive play in one or both sway bar links.
I'm putting together a package at Rock Auto. This is what I've got in it so far. Anything else I should add to it? My car is an '08 but it's only got 100,000 Km (~60,000 miles) on it.
Struts: OEM AC Delco FE5 struts (RockAuto charges ~$120 CAD each for them. The GM Stealership I called here in town wanted to charge me $300 CAD EACH for them )
Shocks: Sachs Monotube gas shocks (Same as OEM but about half the cost)
Strut Mounts: They offer a lot of alternatives for the Strut Mounts and bearing that are much less expensive than OEM. The alternative strut mounts that come complete with the bearings include brands Anchor, DEA/Marmon Ride Control and Monroe Strut-Mate. They say the Anchor is a best seller likely because it's the lowest cost alternative. Which of these is most recommended?
Strut Bellows: Ones available include GM OEM 21992520 but they also offer ones from SKP, Moog K90460 (Best Seller), Monroe Strut-Mate and Mevotech Supreme MP63619. The SKO, Moog and Monroe offerings come with bumpers; the others appear not to. The Moog has the best warranty (Limited Lifetime). I'm guessing the Moog here?
Sway Bar end links w/ Bushings: On the Sway bar end link w/ bushings they offer a lot of alternatives including the OEM AC Delco 20784688 (250 mm 9.84"). Alternatives that are the same length include Delphi, Moog and Mevotech Supreme. The Delphi doesn't appear to be greaseable but then again, neither do the OEM GM and AC Delco parts). The Mevotech is greaseable and so is the Moog but Mevotech says their part is more durable because the ball joint has a sintered metal bearing. They also offer an AC Delco Gold 9.86" center to center P/N 45G20624 {#19237776} which I don't see listed in the Part numbers for common and elusive parts thread. I'm inclined to go with one of the greaseable ones because the non-greaseable ones indicate a plastic ball joint bearing so that brings it down to just the Moog or the Mevotech Supreme. What is recommended here?
Sway Bar Bushings: I think I'll order the Energy Suspension greaseable PU bushings P/N9.5159
I’ve used those swaybar bushings, the brackets weren’t big enough to fit , I ended up installing the GM 23 mm bushings. The Delphi swaybar end links are far better then the Moogs.
as for the bellows, I’ve never replaced those just wash and clean the old ones.
for the strut mounts, unless they are rusty, again clean them up possibly repaint them and install new bearings
@Oldblue , those Energy Suspension PU sway bar bushings come with their own brackets. Are you telling me the ones they come with are too small or did you mean the OEM sway bar bushing brackets won't work with those bushings? And yes, I chose the FE5 struts from AC Delco.
The Anchor Strut mounts with bearings are $20 cheaper than the OEM bearings on their own. I figured I'd just go with the Anchor Strut mounts then. Are there any reasons not to?
The Delphi sway bar links are not greaseable, that often indicates they're using a plastic ball joint cup. For that reason, I'm thinking the Mevotech Supreme sway bar links which are greaseable and have a sintered metal ball joint cup might be worth a try. In theory, they should wear out slower than one with a plastic ball joint cup. Anybody every try them?
@RJ_RS_SS_350 & Oldblue, I'll have a look for a broken rear spring. That's a good tip. Thanks.
When I put the cart together, the shipping bill came to quite a bit. Like $193 CAD. The order was being shipped out of 4 or 5 different places so there were that many separate shipping charges in the tally. The biggest one, of course, was the order with the two struts. The shipping on that one was $112 CAD alone. Summit Racing charges a little more than RockAuto for the struts and the sway bar links and the bellows but not a lot more. The thing is, at Summit, shipping to Canada on an order over $299 USD is FREE. Well, the cost of the struts, links and bellows put together just happens to be $314 USD at Summit Racing with free shipping. In the end, it comes out just shy of $80 CAD cheaper for me if I buy those things at Summit Racing and the rest of the things at Rock Auto. On the downside, I'll have to wait a few weeks to get my order from Summit because some of those items are special orders and they take a while to come in. In order to do the free shipping, Summit gathers all of the items together at one place and then ships them out as one shipment so my order from them won't ship until all of the special order parts have been gathered at their central shipping center.
Are there any other parts I should be replacing when I'm doing all this work? Anything else I should order?
03-25-2022, 06:31 PM
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