HHR Front End

[WW_KROIL]

My wife got this about 2 months ago and it has about 1800 miles on it. After about a week of driving it, she said the car seemed like it was pulling to the left/right so I took it back to the dealer and they said everything was ok. I drove the car again last night it seems to me that it has gotten worse it's like you have to work to keep it on the road and I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this same problem or something similar to this.

[Steve]

My wife got this about 2 months ago and it has about 1800 miles on it. After about a week of driving it, she said the car seemed like it was pulling to the left/right so I took it back to the dealer and they said everything was ok. I drove the car again last night it seems to me that it has gotten worse it's like you have to work to keep it on the road and I was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this same problem or something similar to this.

What year is it an '07 or an '08? Also, does this pull on the freeways or on any street? Try to find an empty parking lot with straight lines that you can follow. Drive forward slowly and see if the car pulls and you can determine how much by the lines.

It is possible that you only notice it at freeway speeds and this is made worse by the bad ruts that exist on many freeways these days.

[tbplus10]

Pulling to one side or the other can be caused by many things.

As Steve mentioned road conditions affect handling greatly.

Tire pressure differences of just a few PSI can cause problems (rear tire pressures can also cause these problems).
If it's an 08 they started using Nitrogen in the tires, the theory is that nitrogen isnt as susceptable to temperature changes as air. While that is true a nitrogen air mix depending on the percentage of the mix wont retain these same characteristics.

Alignment could be an issue. Did the dealer check this or just assume since it's new it was right?

And it's possible that a suspension piece was bent during shipment.

If you can take the car to a different dealer and have them look at it, it should be under warranty.

[TomsHHR]

My 06 does the same to the left but it is way more noticeable on well traveled highways and where I am on that highway. With the HHR a sight bit narrower than most of the larger vehicles it is not mattering where you are, it seems like you are in a rut unless you drive on the shoulder.

As far as the steering, does anyone know if there is a "center" on the gear box the linkage hooks up to? It is like the gear box needs to be properly centered and then the linkage adjusted to proper alignment specs. I work with hydraulics on a daily basis and we have a old style platform (or bucket to the cableguy) level system that is adjusted basically in this manner.

[Bullcube]

I have an '07 LS with about 30k miles now. Seems that the ruts don't affect steering as much as crown (the curvature of the road), at least for me.

On a flat road, mine always goes straight, but when there is a good slant to the road I definately feel it. I think that the power assist is very light and may accentuate that, but I like the road feel that you get from it.

[TomsHHR]

When the ruts are as defined as the duals on a semi, both the crown and the ruts toss you around.
Any how I just had my HHR realigned 4-wheel and no more pulling, one back wheel was out quite a ways.