When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello, I'm having a problem with my car and was hoping perhaps someone could help me out with some insight?
Months ago I installed the ZZP strut tower brace, weeks ago I installed my rear ZZP sway bar and today a technician installed a front ZZP sway bar with an alignment on my car.
On my drive home, I was really having fun with the new upgrade, until I got onto uneven road; I heard a horrible noise sounding like I bottomed out, like something was dragging or caught in my wheels. I made a left turn at an intersection still on uneven road and heard it again faintly. So I pull over to look under my car which I expect to be dragging a sway bar I see what I believe to be a perfectly installed sway bar.
I tried to move the stability links and grabbed the sway bar itself to see if I could move it, nope. The bushings brand new, brand new links, the bushings looked greased.
My shocks are 80000km old (age of the car), they started to make the *squisssh* noise a while ago but otherwise could handle the several speed bumps on my way home.
Anyway I continue driving, I hit a railroad track I hear it faintly, but not so much, the car handled better than previously.
Going over the first speed bump was a really, really bad noise, so crawled over the next one and the next one, heard it again and again.
When I parked, looked under it a while longer.
The car seemed fine, Other than being a very humid/ hot day, only thing that looked concerning was the amount of condensation dripping down my ac lines from my un-heat shielded headers.
What could this noise be?
I know Cobalt's have front end rattle but that didn't sound like it and I don't think I could've bottomed out at any point during my ride.
My car is stock height. There are no natural hills where I live, pot holes are avoidable not all roads are perfectly even though.
I experienced with the rear sway bar, where during three turns it *creeeaked* and scared the crap out of me, but never again and Is amazing.
Is there a similar adjusting the car needs to make for the front now?
Or has the upgrade thrown my old struts over the edge?
To my knowledge it was installed perfectly.
Maybe it will go away,
Update was looked at by a technician the sway since yesterday is all scratched up. Above and below it looks like. The sway bar is hitting the sub frame there’s not much room clearance wise for the shocks to depress and pull on the stability links. Was it installed wrong, do I need to lower my car.
The technician believe there would be more clearance if lowered. He tried grinding away at the sub fram. But the bottom of the stability links have a cm before the hit the control arms
No I should’ve, I came under the car with the mechanic there was one point in the middle of the sub fram he grinned down suspecting that to Be a part of the issue. But I saw scratches at both ends of the sway bar right at their ends. But going down a bad road it’s thunder down there preventing my car from freely handle on even terrain [img]blob:https://www.cobaltss.net/37f5b0b3-1d01-4dc2-8af5-107c655d7c3b[/img]
I think I solved this. When installing the rear sway bar I installed 11.8" links, when I should've used 9.86".
Which brought on some under steer which I thought would be solved with upgrading the sway bar.
In turn, the slightly different designed sway bar was enough mess things up dramatically.
5 lug Cobalt/G5's, regardless of being a 2.2l should use the 9.86" links?
New shorter sway bar links definitely helped. But it has not solved my problem. The mechanics have told me my d clamps retaining the bushings have popped out. The re secured it and attempted to pry it off again saying it will hold.
Now my clams do not have two screw holes, one side of the clamp slides in, the other is bolted down. I can understand that happening, but I attempted to lift the bar or move it, it seems Solid. Regardless I found some HHR two sided bolt on clamps that I think will fit.
Part of me doesn’t thing that’s an issue but regarldess I requested the shop Forman to fix my car already tomorrow.
Perks of working at a car dealership is I can keep brining it back till it’s fixed but it’s more painful being there. And to know such stupid people are allowed to work on vehicles these days.
Realistically everything looks correctly installed and stable this time, starting to think something could be upside down or backwards, but that couldn’t happen?
New shorter sway bar links definitely helped. But it has not solved my problem. The mechanics have told me my d clamps retaining the bushings have popped out. The re secured it and attempted to pry it off again saying it will hold.
Now my clams do not have two screw holes, one side of the clamp slides in, the other is bolted down. I can understand that happening, but I attempted to lift the bar or move it, it seems Solid. Regardless I found some HHR two sided bolt on clamps that I think will fit.
Part of me doesn’t thing that’s an issue but regarldess I requested the shop Forman to fix my car already tomorrow.
Perks of working at a car dealership is I can keep brining it back till it’s fixed but it’s more painful being there. And to know such stupid people are allowed to work on vehicles these days.
Realistically everything looks correctly installed and stable this time, starting to think something could be upside down or backwards, but that couldn’t happen?
If you installed a stiffer sway bar you need to convert to the 2-bolt bushing bracket because of the higher load. I don't know if your bracket failed because the single bolt and tab configuration actually deflected enough for the tab side to come loose of if they were installed incorrectly without the tab properly seated from the beginning but you should just go ahead and convert to the two bolt clamp. It will require drilling a couple holes for the extra bolt on each clamp but needs to be done because any aftermarket or even TC or SC Cobalt sway bars are way stiffer than your stock sway bar. FE1 vs. FE5 sway bar
I found some for the HHR/ 2009-2010 cobalt ss. Dual bolt on both sides. And they should Be an exact fit of the bushings.
Technicians are looking at me like this ain’t what your car has....
Gonna have them try to slid it under the cradle, but otherwise they’ll have to lower the fram and drill a new hole
Its in a really hard area to get a good picture of but I just secured the end with a nut and bolt through a singe layer of the subframe with the nut being accessible only when the control arm is removed.
FE5 24mm off TC Cobalt. John Powell actually sent this bar to me and included the collar clamps and said to put them on there to keep the bar from shifting axially. Also paired it with PowerGrid adjustable end links.
Not sur eif people can see these but my bushing clamps were noticeably warped [img]blob:https://www.cobaltss.net/84bc27b5-b4d8-4d8c-9d9d-64ceb85722c2[/img]
No modification was required, dual bolt clamps were bent slightly, slide right in and bolted down. We did not drill a second hole nor did we lower the sub frame. The dual bolt bracket can slid in with a quick bend
No modification was required, dual bolt clamps were bent slightly, slide right in and bolted down. We did not drill a second hole nor did we lower the sub frame. The dual bolt bracket can slid in with a quick bend
So you put two bolts on each clamp? From what you described it sounded like you used the two bolt clamp in the same fashion in which the single bolt clamp with a tab was configured, with a single bolt and the flange on the other side tucked into the slot with no second bolt.
He can't use the BB tags ([IMG]) and use the insert at the same time. It sanitizes the image, hence the "blob:" aspect. That's how images are saved inside of MySQL databases.
Quote:Originally Posted by G5ALIVE No modification was required, dual bolt clamps were bent slightly, slide right in and bolted down. We did not drill a second hole nor did we lower the sub frame. The dual bolt bracket can slid in with a quick bend So you put two bolts on each clamp? From what you described it sounded like you used the two bolt clamp in the same fashion in which the single bolt clamp with a tab was configured, with a single bolt and the flange on the other side tucked into the slot with no second bolt.
that would be correct we used the dual sided bolt clamps, as if they were single bolt clamps
Quote:Originally Posted by G5ALIVE No modification was required, dual bolt clamps were bent slightly, slide right in and bolted down. We did not drill a second hole nor did we lower the sub frame. The dual bolt bracket can slid in with a quick bend So you put two bolts on each clamp? From what you described it sounded like you used the two bolt clamp in the same fashion in which the single bolt clamp with a tab was configured, with a single bolt and the flange on the other side tucked into the slot with no second bolt.
that would be correct we used the dual sided bolt clamps, as if they were single bolt clamps
That's not going to gain you any strength though. I'm afraid you will end up with the same ultimate result.
With how deformed his stock clamps are I would suggest either bolting it down proper or swapping back to the stock sway bar whether it is the cause of the clunking noise or not. The first time there is a significant load on the sway bar it is going to cause problems.
So we dropped the frame. It has more holes now, the noise has changed. Now the bushings are too small. And bounce around the brackets. It’s fits the bar perfectly but the outside is too small.
I know zzp bars is 26mm. I saw people are taking about k200007 as the solution but there corners would probably have to be cut off otherwise smaller clamps? To my knowledge 928-319 is used for 23mm diameter bar. I didn no change over the bushings.
Another idea is is to increase that diameter to 26 of the dorman bushings.
07-06-2018, 10:44 PM
New ZZP front sway bar making noise
