How to Replace Front Struts for Honda Ridgeline [Complete Guide]

[@MCFIXIT]

Learn how to change your front Struts and Springs out in your first-generation Honda Ridgeline. THE TOOLS: • Monroe Complete Struts - Front Right (Pass) - 172343 • Monroe Complete Struts - Front Left (Driver) - 172344 - amzn.to/3kHckWl • Sockets: 12mm, 14mm, 15mm, 17mm, 22mm, 24mm Basic Socket Set - amzn.to/3fjRoBd • Deep Sockets: 15mm - Basic set - amzn.to/3ARWA8Q • 17mm, 22mm Wrench - Basic Set - amzn.to/3jzlMcJ • 1/2in Impact Drill (Rigid) - amzn.to/3vVDUBZ • Ratchet - amzn.to/3xWjE5g • Torque Stick - amzn.to/33wFTR2 • Impact Sockets (Metric) -amzn.to/3etXiQU • Torque Wrench - amzn.to/3fEIrDi • 18in Breaker Bars - amzn.to/3lLDpZA • Floor Jack (3 Ton) - amzn.to/2R7G96H • Jackstand (3 Ton)- amzn.to/3f3ABC5 • Pilers - amzn.to/3lEU6WF • Gloves - amzn.to/3bbfEnu • Safety Glasses - amzn.to/3ux25GO • Shop Towels - amzn.to/2SC8D93 • Long Flathead Screwdriver - amzn.to/3CCDCED • Needle Nose Pilers - amzn.to/39OlhqE • Painters Tape - amzn.to/39OlhqE THE FIX: With these simple techniques, you can successfully remove and replace your struts. This video works on all makes and models of vehicles. The video was done on a 2006 Honda Ridgeline first generation. Check out my website at mcfixit.us Disclaimer: Due to factors beyond the control of MC FIX IT, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information in the video, post, blog, or social media. MC FIX IT assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. If you feel uncomfortable at any time. Stop and go to a professional. MC FIX IT recommends safe practices when working on vehicles, your house, or any other project and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of MC FIX IT, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not MC FIX IT. #mcfixit #autorepair #hondaridgeline -- Supplies used to record this video: * GoPro Hero 7 Black - amzn.to/3f3ALtb * 256GB Flash Drive - amzn.to/33pAueG * Vlogging Frame - amzn.to/33tajE0 * GoPro Pro 3.5mm Mic Adapter - amzn.to/2RCURCu * Youmic Lavalier Lapel Mic - amzn.to/2R55sWX * Boom Stand (tripod) - amzn.to/3bdkQaw * 5/8” to 1/4” adapter (boom to blogging frame- amzn.to/3txrVsM * Portable Battery Powerbank- amzn.to/3vJQc0q * 6ft USB to USB-C (powerbank to GoPro)- amzn.to/3uAS5MH

[@muldune]

One of the best How Tos on KZbin (and I've watched a lot of them). You showed all the steps along with rotation directions, socket sizes, wrenches, and torques. You taught the viewer everything they need to know. Outstanding!

[@MCFIXIT]

Wow, thanks! Glad to hear it was helpful! Best of luck on your project!

[@annekern2649]

Excellent instructions, good camera work, and just the right amount of explanation!

[@MCFIXIT]

Thank you! Good luck on your project!

[@slayercft]

just finished up the rears on mine and watched this to do the fronts tomorrow. Appreciate the guide!

[@MCFIXIT]

Glad to hear it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@alexandermaloney3599]

Thank you this video alone saved me over $5000 ❤

[@MCFIXIT]

You are welcome! Glad it was helpful!

[@aycock1ofmanyindustries828]

Nuts and bolts. Different in both form and function. Thanks for this great tutorial.

[@MCFIXIT]

Yeah, words are hard sometimes. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

[@b.simmons5234]

Very detailed and well lit. I can actually see what you’re doing. Keep them coming for the 1st gen Ridgeline.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks so much! I hope to have this vehicle for a long time, so I’m sure they will keep coming!

[@JustinSmith-zm2vi]

Great vid, thanks for for the tool list. This is super helpful!!!

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks! I appreciate the positive feedback. Good luck on your project!

[@jeanbuttress8919]

Great instructions. This is just what I needed to see. Thanks for including all of the specs too!

[@MCFIXIT]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnbayliss1098]

Please don't do me a favor please continue what you're doing and go over the entire truck your videos are excellent thank you very very much😅

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks! I’m glad to hear it was helpful. I hope to have any more videos coming in the near future.

[@blandry021]

Great instructions, giving the nut sizes and torque specs, bonus.

[@MCFIXIT]

You are welcome. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@kavii818]

Doing a lift kit next weekend , great video . I'll have that 1st Gen ridgeline done in no time . Thanks a ton . Awesome to lat out all the tools first , helps viewers get ready !

[@MCFIXIT]

Thank you! Good luck on your lift! I want to do that at some point. How high are you lifting your truck?

[@kavii818]

@@MCFIXIT 2 inch for now.inch taller tire

[@perronasish]

Let me know how your lift kit works in your Ridgeline, mine has a 2” lift and is shaking too bad when turning left

[@kavii818]

@@perronasish I get that a little if I'm just starting to accelerate and turn left at the same time, just for a second . I would imagine heavier tire on the AWD system is why that happens . But I have had no major issues . Lift was a pain in the ass. Took me a week on and off to finish .strut bolts were rusted and one broke off in body

[@SamuelSSmith]

Thanks for showing me how to do this!

[@MCFIXIT]

No problem! Glad to help!

[@wizardonthejob]

Fantastic. You just saved me $500!

[@MCFIXIT]

Glad I could help! That's how I felt once I was done with the project!

[@JuansGatherings]

Helpful video will be replacing my struts soon. Thanks!

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks! Good luck on your project :)

[@davekingsley966]

Your process worked good for me, thank you!

[@MCFIXIT]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@hailholyqueen]

This video is awesome, but the title "change struts in minutes" not so much. I had never done this job before. It took me approx 360 minutes 😜 start to finish including putting tools away and cleaning up. Another thing: my struts did not come with the top and bottom mounts oriented any particular way, I had to learn the hard way proper orientation of the top mounting bolts. Once again, awesome video. Thanks for posting!

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks! Yeah, if you’ve never done it can take some extra time. Where did you get your struts? And what brand did you go with? Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@hailholyqueen]

@@MCFIXIT the struts were an overall pick from Amazon. I didn't go with the pricy ones because I have 320k on it.

[@MCFIXIT]

@@hailholyqueen Yeah, I get it! Sometimes the box has on it which side it goes on or by the part number you can tell. But some of the cheaper ones don't have that information on them. Thanks for replying!

[@almart3498]

Great video! Now I plan to change my front. When will you do a video on the rear?

[@MCFIXIT]

I am hopeful to have it done soon. I have about three other videos I have to edit first.... sorry!

[@MCFIXIT]

It's out now!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIbTm4WvnZaooJI

[@FrntRngr]

Thank you for taking the time and effort to make this very well done video. I have done fronts and rears on other vehicles before, but I thought I might learn something by watching, and I did. The trick with the painter's tape is superb. Also, your method of aligning the bolt holes with a screwdriver shaft is better than the usual "wiggle until it lines up". Any reason you don't spray penetrating lubricant on the fasteners before attempting to loosen them? Corrosion is probably not as bad here where we use mag chloride instead of rock salt, but I still find it helpful. One trick is to spray the lubricant a day or two before doing the work, and it has plenty of time and vibration to penetrate.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! I have nothing against penetrating oil, I just don’t feel like it does as much as they say it does. I found a good amount of elbow grease works the best. There are times I do use it though when I can’t get things loose. And often if I know it’s gonna be real bad I do the same thing and sprayed a day or two in advance.

[@johnkruton9708]

I would use the pinch welds on the frame which are the correct jacking points along with the one you used up front. I have the 08 model and looking to replace my struts all they way around. It only has 97 K miles on it and they still seem ok but I do haul a few heavy loads a year and want a little better performance.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks for watching. Good luck on your project. I like how these work on my ridgeline!

[@rhender]

This video was AWESOME!!! Thank you so much.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks so much! Hope this helps you to fix your vehicle!

[@ricardoh.3947]

Great video, very clear explanations. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks! Good luck on your fix!

[@yellowduck8061]

Great job on the video presentation 👏.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks so much!

[@lafontiet2669]

Ha you made it look easy it took me 1whole day with the rust it doesn't help if your a woman but yay I did it thank you now let's do another day on the other side

[@MCFIXIT]

Yeah, rust adds an entire level of difficulty to the project. You’ve got this!!

[@malcolmdastur4411]

Very good instruction video, but after I fitted the struts on both sides I got a very bad clunking noise on just small cracks in the road. I would like to know if you suffered the same clunking after fitting the struts.

[@MCFIXIT]

Sorry, no. Mine are still great!

[@jerryhoxsey6467]

I am told cheap aftermarket struts will clunk every time. That was my mistake. The spring slips in the cup at the bottom when flexed. I am gonna try to rotate it a bit. I saw a comment on another video that suggested that fiedit,

[@malcolmdastur4411]

@@jerryhoxsey6467 How do you rotate the springs, mine are really tight??

[@koyinj]

Excellent video, Thank you!!!!!!

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks so much!

[@jamescdean9010]

Good work! Someone should buy you a cordless electric ratchet for Christmas!

[@MCFIXIT]

Good idea! I need one of those!

[@jphamilton6987]

Where did you buy your Monroe complete struts?

[@MCFIXIT]

I got my on Amazon! Links in the description!

[@blakewilliams1071]

Does it ride better now?

[@MCFIXIT]

So much better!

[@86marcoz]

How are the struts holding up? I heard the aftermarket struts don’t hold up good. I am looking to change mine

[@MCFIXIT]

Doing great! No issues at all.

[@saga2760]

Only a week on the video but need to ask how those struts are performing. A set of Monroe started making a thumping noise as turning because spring was moving when turning within a day after install and had to return them. Maybe got a bad set??!!!

[@MCFIXIT]

I love mine. No issues at all! They work so much better than my old ones. I have about 228k on the original ones You might have had a bad set of they were making those kinds of issues already!

[@saga2760]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I’ll give them another shot and order from a different website.

[@dgriffin6074]

Very helpful video. This may be a dumb question, but how do you know you need to replace the struts. I recall that with shock absorbers one would just "bounce" each corner of the vehicle and subjectively determine if replacement was needed. The tape trick is a good one for retaining the nut/bolt etc; Amazon sells a pack of 60 round magnets 6mm in diameter, and I wonder if inserting one in the socket would achieve the same purpose?

[@MCFIXIT]

Replace when you can tell they don’t work anymore. Any pebble in the road you could feel. Sometimes if they are broke you will hear weird sounds. You can do a bounce test and see how they feel. I’ve thought about those before. I got a small set of sizes from my grandpa but I haven’t tried them out. I believe it would work well but might want to wait to add them until you are almost out or use a deep socket. Great idea!

[@franktrivoluzzi6202]

How are the Monroe compared to stock? Thanks

[@MCFIXIT]

I like them. I’ve done them on two other vehicles. They last a long time and have good quality. I didn’t own the truck when it was new so can’t totally answer that question. But it’s such a better ride than what it was!

[@benyblanko1]

When you use a impact drill you can do it on the air

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks. I’ve always been told to do it on the ground. So that’s what I did.

[@cyruscruz5512]

How do they compare to the stock struts? How is the ride now?

[@MCFIXIT]

The quality seems to be the same. I like the feel of these a lot. It’s been a long time since the stocks were new (228k ago) but overall the Monroe feel is really nice.

[@frozenrice2000]

Very helpful demonstration. Painful watching you loosen nuts by hand though when you had an impact readily available. Also it’s O E M not O M E. lol. Thanks for sharing this!

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks for watching and commenting. Good luck on your project! Also, I’m bad with acronyms, lol.

[@shadowman1992]

Do you need an alignment after doing this ? Also how are your Monroe struts holding up ? Good or bad choice ?

[@MCFIXIT]

It is definitely recommended to get them. They are doing great! I’ve put a good amount of miles on it and they are holding up well and take bumps and potholes well. Best of luck on your repairs

[@mr.sierra4409]

Do? I need take to the shop for alignment after this?

[@MCFIXIT]

I did and I also changed out a lot of other components on the truck. Typically whenever you modify a vehicles suspension, you should get an alignment. There are new springs on these complete quick struts which means it might put your camber angle out of alignment. Being out of alignment can cause lots of different problems on other components and your tires to wear unevenly and need to be changed out faster than designed.

[@danielmanney3471]

Is it the same for a 2017 Ridgeline?

[@MCFIXIT]

That’s the next generation up (2nd). It will most likely be different. Fun side note: the main engineer leader for the 2nd generation used my truck to help on the rebuild when I was loading mulch in my truck. He crawled under and took about 20 pictures of all of the suspension on the original 2006 RTL. I live in Honda country in Ohio and we have an R&D department.

[@kavii818]

Well I'm stuck. Hub is angled down so much I cannot get top strut bolt to line up . Bottom bolt goes in , top is 2 inches off . 7hrs in and wondering why I'm doing this . Any tips my man ?

[@MCFIXIT]

Can you try to jack it up with a floor jack? That might help you get back those 2 inches.

[@kavii818]

@@MCFIXIT after calling for help lol, we finally got it . One strut 7hrs. I loosened the a arm bolt and the axle lost placement . Finally got the axle to spline correctly . Won't loosen that again . Thanks for the reply my man .

[@TheDerrty111]

Why not reuse the oem Nuts for the Top Plate? I reuse them no problem better than the one came with the monroe

[@MCFIXIT]

The OEM ones should work fine! I just did all new, but most of the tile nuts don’t go bad as long as they are not with crush washers, same threads, and not stripped.

[@gray5857]

Do cv axles normally move side to side? Trying to track down a clunk and i can slide them side to side and replicate a clunk

[@MCFIXIT]

No they should not move and make noises. They should move with the wheel and that's it.

[@gray5857]

@@MCFIXIT hrmmm... i can grab mine and pull towards the wheel and back towards the engine. Bout 1/2 inch

[@Linuxman920]

my rear axles are like that 1/2 inch of play pushing in and out. the fronts to. the joints compress in and out otherwise youd be unable to replace them, theres splines inside the diff in the rear and the transmission in the front. theres splines on the ends on the axle when you install them you grease em, line the splines up and shove em in. when you remove you pull them out. the axles are held in place by your suspension and the axle nut

[@aquaazul100]

How is your ride after front struts replacement ?

[@MCFIXIT]

Great! It’s much smoother now!

[@aquaazul100]

Thank you. I’m going to do the same for mine.

[@Chickennss]

Honda abandoned this knuckle design on the current gen Pilot, Ridgeline and Passport. The bottom of the strut now inserts into the knuckle with a pinch bolt. It requires removal of the knuckle to get the strut out.

[@MCFIXIT]

Thanks for adding this information to the video. The new Ridgeline generation is an entirely new design so that make sense. I know the main R&D guy. He actually took pictures of my Ridgeline filled with mulch to his team to discuss how to redo the suspension on the front and back of the truck. That kinda sounds like a pain to do though the replacement. Hopefully they last longer than these ones did.