I purchased another wheel barring and hub assembly for my 2008 Chevy
HHR. The second unit is the lower priced $54 Duralast model. I'm not
sure what brand or grade that other one is? But I drove to my uncle's
warehouse today to install it.
I've waited weeks to do
this so I could have access to an air compressor, impact wrench and a
full set of sockets for it. Weeks ago, I was in position to do this
when I changed the front brakes and discs. But my 2 ton jack wouldn't
get the car high enough and I wasn't able to get on of the assemblies
bolt unceased. That's because there wasn't enough space at the time to
maneuver the torque wrench into its "hard to reach" locations and turn
it to break it free. So the repair had to wait until I was at home
port.
The warehouse is full, the fall season is
progressing now, so I needed to get settled back into home and then wait
for the best opportunity according to the weather to drive to the
warehouse and fix the car. That was today. My instruments showed that I
had a high of 59F this evening. By "rolling the dice" with the middle
of November's weather, today was the correct "hand" to play and it was
time to cease the day.
I started on the passenger's
side. The axle started knocking about a week ago. I think the jack
that I was using was a 3 ton and it got the car much higher. The impact
wrench did nothing but spin and start to strip out the assemblies
bolts. So, I went to the torque wrench and had just enough leverage to
break them loose. There are three bolts that are used to mount the
assembly and their shafts are colored "blue."
At each tire and behind, the HHR uses 14, 15, 17 & 19mm sockets. The lug nuts are 19mm.
The
assembly was ceased on as if I had missed a bolt and didn't take it
off. So, I referred to the repair manual several times and I performed
the procedure correctly. As parts in that area of the car do take on a
lot of corrosion, I found a hammer and started beating it as best as I
could, but it wasn't making any progress. I made the determination that
the part was ceased beyond my ability to remove it.
My
uncle arrived later to do some work in the warehouse. So, I used my
smartphone, got on the internet and checked my bank balances. I
determined that there was enough to cover the costs of having a more
experienced mechanic come and perform the work. Right now, he's
scheduled to come by at 1500hrs today and install both assemblies.
