Ram Promaster: STRUT Replacement Start to Finish. Step by step. How To. Replace Struts!

[@s10guy72]

Thank you for this I’m planning on doing this to mine on Friday

[@promastersonly1419]

Good luck!

[@arnenystrom4283]

I did this job, by myself, when I installed the van compass 1.5inch strut spacers. The trick for me was I have really long, skinny arms and I was able to use one arm to hold up the strut and the other to reach under the open door to thread one nut on the top of the strut. Once I got one nut started, the rest were easy. I did the entire strut spacer lift kit in a little over 8 hours of continuous work. no lunch, no bathroom breaks. This was the first time I ever did anything like this and even though it was an all-day project, it turned out great. 5 years later and the van still drives great. I wish I had this video when I did this project since your method skipped the removal of the 46mm axle bolt. Removing the axle bolt is a major pain in the ass which cost me a couple of hours. Thanks for another great video!

[@promastersonly1419]

You must be some kind of ape, with crazy long arms! Normally, we get annecdotes of axle breakage when you lift anything over 1”. Have your axles survived 5 years? How many miles in that time? What tire size are you running?

[@arnenystrom4283]

​@@promastersonly1419 Yes, I haven't had any issues with my axles or CV joints. So far, I have over 90k miles on them (original axles), and everything is running smooth and quiet. I installed the lift to level the van and it has worked perfectly. For tires and wheels, I installed the Cooper LT245/70R16 on MSW allow wheels 16inch x 6.5inch which I bought from tirerack. The cool thing about this combo is that the wheels were designed for Fiat Ducato, so they have the correct offset and even OEM peg mounting holes, also, the tires are 1 inch wider than stock, but exactly the same height, so my speedo and gear ratios are still within factory spec. Over the last several years of cruising the freeways at 85+ mph, the van drives great. I even get 17mpg with this combo. btw, my van is a 2017 136LR.

[@promastersonly1419]

Interesting combo. A 245/75 will fit and clear, and it's what some of my customers upgrade to if they are chasing fuel economy. I hadn't thought about a 245/70. There's no reason to "expect" to need axles with any regularity - I can show you vans that need one every 60k and others with 500k on original axles. Luck, I suspect. If you want to be proactive, the symtom will always be a vibration that comes on at a certain speed, usually around 45mph, that goes away immediately when you let off the gas. I have a video on inspecting them, which is pretty easy to do. @@arnenystrom4283

[@RodgerObley]

The start to finish vids are so helpful, Kip! Thank you for taking time to make them.

[@promastersonly1419]

Happy to do it.

[@crl1357911]

This has to be the best instructional video out there ever... So many uses for a screwdriver... Never knew I could touch myself in an impure way with it! 😂

[@promastersonly1419]

Dont kink shame me, bro!

[@barlowgarage449]

Thank you for this...i feel like you made it just bc I was having questions about it last week thanks dude not as scary as i thought bouta save me $400

[@promastersonly1419]

It was a long overdue video to make.

[@angelcid7431]

Very useful information thanks

[@jmartinez6209]

Instructional and entertaining, great video thanks

[@promastersonly1419]

Edju-tainment!

[@frankpt223]

This is mostly in response to @pandafoo6445 question about what pieces of the OEM struts to use on Bilstein B6's. I am doing exactly the job right now for both the struts and the rear shocks for my daughter's conversion van. (She is a rock/mountain guide in Estes Park, CO.) The shocks are easy to do. You just need an E24 E-Torx female socket and a wrench. Just hope that you don't have the bad luck I had where the lower bolt was cross-threaded. Had to drill out the hole and use some A8 strength bolts, washers, and nut. Now for the struts. I not only replaced the OEM with Bilsteins, but also bought a new set of MOPAR Strut Mounts. The originals were still in OK shape, even though the struts were shot. I reused the OEM rubber dust protector and the hard foam bump stop that goes over the shaft. I did not reuse the silver metal part that fits at the bottom of the strut shaft and on top of the strut body. Based on measurements it didn't seem like it was needed. Not sure of its function except that it was a place for the bottom of the rubber dust protector to be fastened to. Just not sure. The one part of the reassembly that I struggled with the most was the tightening of the top nut on the strut shaft. In order to torque the nut to 74 ft/lbs you'll need a strut shaft socket to hold the shaft from turning and a 5/8" pass-through socket to tighten the nut. (BTW. The top of the shaft is round with two side flat. That is why you need the special tool. Got it in a kit at NAPA.) I called Bilstein and spoke with a tech and he said that using an impact wrench can cause issues with over or under tightening.

[@promastersonly1419]

Yes, and I believe if you do it wrong, you risk damaging the swivel. Plus, anything that involves spring compressors makes me nervous!

[@timscott2276]

Thanks man. Doing this tomorrow

[@promastersonly1419]

Only really special tool you'll need is that 46mm socket for the axle nut. Hope it goes well!

[@juangonzalez-ce4xo]

Hi very good video. But I ha a question I have 2023 promaster. You know where is loquetion for the fuel cut off switch?

[@promastersonly1419]

A commenter had that same issue. The literature says its where it’s always been, passenger footwell being a kick panel. But dude claimed he couldnt find it. With no 23-up van at hand, I honestly dont know where it is.

[@pandafoo6445]

I cant seem to find complete kits for Bilstein B6 struts, just the strut itself. Could you reuse the the parts from the stock "old" strut and put them onto the bilstein? So take the Suspension plate, shock upper mount, Jounce bumper, dust shield, coil, and spring seat off the "old" and put it onto the new Bilstein (those are just the "upper" parts I'm seeing listed on the mopar site)? I know you need some bonus tools to do that job but would that be reasonable versus buying all that new from Mopar? I know it will take more time to do, I've just been pretty interested in the Bilsteins after seeing some positive reviews on the Promaster Forums, I just cant seem to find them fully assembled for the promaster.

[@promastersonly1419]

Bilstein make a superior rear shock, the B6. I believe they only make and sell the shock portion for the front, so yeah you’d have to install the shock into the strut cartridge with the cartridge out - build it out of parts, in other words. If you are doing all that, you might as well replace the swivel/strut bearing, and I think your only choice for new is Mopar. Nothing better than Mopar exists, so far as I know. Generally, we dont fixate on struts as an upgrade because other than off roading, the stock strut is excellent and the only reason to use something else would be cost.

[@pandafoo6445]

@@promastersonly1419 I'm one of those crazy off roading van people! I will go the route of new ones and build it out from Mopar when I finally bite the bullet and replace the struts with Bilsteins. Thanks for all the knowledge you share!

[@adrianromero2284]

Hello! Thanks for the video! Question though, can one bad strought cause a misalignment in the cross camber? Its as if the vehicle is leaning down on one side, has the alignment off and every other small component in the suspension is fine

[@promastersonly1419]

@@adrianromero2284 Sure. The strut is all of the suspension height. Cracked coil, bent coil, collapsed bearing. Other possibilities, but strut is pretty likely.

[@SamCanine-lm5nk]

This Channel is for real men only

[@promastersonly1419]

Nah. Too many cats.

[@SamCanine-lm5nk]

@@promastersonly1419😂the cat is brains of the operation

[@michellerknight]

Hello! I had new shocks and struts put in all around. All bilsteins and whole strut $$ fancy assembly kit situation was only option for front. Now there is a noise on front end when braking and turning at speeds at or below 40mph. Took the van back and had inspected but they have no answers. They said it’s probably steering bump stocks but is that even possible? Clicking/bang/spring type sound occurs when beginning to turn wheel and at various turning radius points. And when braking! Do you have any suggestions on what I should do? Ask them again to check tie rod? Look into new steering stabilizer? I know nothing but you know everything! Thoughts? 🧐

[@promastersonly1419]

Hmm. My gut reaction is that if you can reproduce the noise when not rolling by moving the steering wheel, I'd have to say the strut bearings installed were defective or otherwise something with the strut. But if that's not it (and the shop probably wouldn't have missed that) there's a lot of possibles. All of them are simple, but they can be hard to narrow down or find. One thing to check is the brake calipers - we've seen loose calipers do that. Also the upper or lower transmission mount. I might recommend getting a second opinion. Reproduce the noise for the tech with him driving, make sure he knows what you are actually chasing.

[@michellerknight]

Scheduling 2nd opinion and on it! Thank you!

[@twenbandtv]

so great thanks

[@danielcampos2470]

Gracias 🙏

[@frankpt223]

Thank God you finally made an end-to-end video on the struts. I'm right in the middle of doing my daughter's van. I've been watching other videos that don't do half as much. Based on them I took of the axle nut and loosened the lower ball joint nut. You didn't do that and were successful. My biggest problem now is getting a big enough pry-bar and convincing my wife to work it. That's gonna be fun. BTW. Did you have a good time scratching your balls during the break? 🙂

[@promastersonly1419]

Nothing, repeat NOTHING, beats a good long ball scratch at the right time.

[@thejourney8013]

At what milage should you change your struts?

[@promastersonly1419]

Entirely based on use and luck. Wait for a symptom, then replace. 200k is not unheard of.

[@SamCanine-lm5nk]

Hey i think I put my transmission into limp mode after I damaged that abs sensor while I was replacing the struts, have you seen anything like this?

[@promastersonly1419]

I can't come up with any theory of a connection between the two. If the ABS sensor fails or gets damaged, it will light those lights and disable the cruise control, but that's about it. Do you have the red lightning bolt on the dash? Regardless, anything that puts it in reduced power mode, or limp mode will have stored codes. Know them?

[@SamCanine-lm5nk]

@@promastersonly1419 hey thanks for the reply, oh boy I’m getting a P06da,P0868,P0731,p0846 pd,p0755 pd, p06de pe, p06pa pe, p06da pe, p0868 pe, p0731 pe. The truck had a very similar ball joint joint failure and knocked the whole wheel off almost and my cv had to be pushed back into position 😂 I think this truck is Fd this time, she drives after I put everything back together but it just stays in first gear

[@SamCanine-lm5nk]

@@promastersonly1419 and no red lightning ⚡️

[@promastersonly1419]

Tough to say without more info. You have ALL the P0dx codes, which are all oil pump related. The rest are transmission codes. I cant exactly fit the trans codes to the axle failure, and the common point would be the two speed sensors on the rear of the transmission RIGHT by where the axles enter it. If those sensors got damaged, it would definitly throw codes and go into limp (limp mode is 2nd gear and reverse only, about 30mph top speed). I suppose if the engine took a hard enough physical bash it might damage the wires coming from the oil pump, which are behind the power steering pump. Inspect those two areas first, and see if you see anything. @@SamCanine-lm5nk

[@Tryitall992]

Do you believe these motors should only have Amsoil 0W 30 and this will solve the pen STARTEK with lubrication??? Heard it will last forever from it

[@promastersonly1419]

No. I have a video that shows why oil isnt what causes the pentastar tick.

[@Tryitall992]

@@promastersonly1419 thank you. Had dealer paid for new engine and reman transmission. After sold that way and lasted 3 months. Should I changes transmission oil when says too?

[@promastersonly1419]

@@Tryitall992 Yes. Dirty or neglected fluid and filter wont necessarily make it fail, but clean fluid and filter can only do good, not harm. The spec is 60k for most usecases.

[@tredogzs]

you can tap the side of a cone joint... it has a place to tap it... and it comes out lose

[@promastersonly1419]

That’s a great tip!

[@siddo326]

Does an alignment need to be done after you replace struts?

[@promastersonly1419]

That’s addressed in the video. No alignment needed.

[@AllenLight]

I would LOVE a video about this 'tape measure' alignment that has been mentioned in a couple of your videos. How do you do it?? Apologies if you already have a video on that, I'll search for it.@@promastersonly1419

[@promastersonly1419]

@@AllenLight I’ll put it on the list of videos to make. Basically, since only the toe is adjustable, you measure how far apart the front of the tires are vs the rear of the tires. You are looking for 1/8” total toe in.

[@AllenLight]

Yeah! FYI, I think my alignment went off from beating on the tie rod end with a hammer to release the cone joint. Will use a release tool next time.. Also - in your video - please show us where on the tires to make the measurement (4 or 8 on a clock I would guess) and which side to adjust. Both equal or just the side you think it's pulling towards? THANKS! LOVE YOUR CHANNEL!@@promastersonly1419

[@promastersonly1419]

We use a couple long strait metal tubes to make sure the fronts are roughly inline with the rears - you could do the same thing with string or anything straight. We just pick a point on the tire (groove or edge) that can be the same on the front half and rear half. 8 and 4 is about right, just make sure you're not hung up on something under the van. @@AllenLight

[@PaulBelkin]

Do you have a link to the loaded struts?? I was only able to find just the strut.

[@promastersonly1419]

Rock auto, autozone, oreillys, napa.

[@PaulBelkin]

@@promastersonly1419Thanks, should have checked there first! Just starting to see a bit of wetness on the strut towers and would always rather do them complete.

[@pandafoo6445]

King Kip!

[@promastersonly1419]

Maybe. But king of what?

[@pandafoo6445]

@@promastersonly1419 Nipple King!

[@promastersonly1419]

Who better than me to wear that crown?@@pandafoo6445

[@tredogzs]

McPherson front end....

[@promastersonly1419]

No different than any FWD car with Mcpherson, which is most of them.