How to Replace Front Strut and Spring Assembly 2006-11 Honda Civic Sedan
Created on: 2018-01-08
If the struts are sagging, leaking, or broken and need to be replaced, this video will show you how to change them yourself
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step 1 :Removing the Wheel
- Loosen the lug nuts with the vehicle on the ground with a 17mm socket and breaker bar
- Raise the vehicle with a floor jack
- Secure the vehicle on jack stands
- Remove the lug nuts
- Pull off the wheel
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step 2 :Removing the Strut
- Press the tabs and remove the ABS wire bracket from the strut
- Remove the bolt on the brake line bracket with a 12mm wrench
- Loosen the strut nuts with a 19mm socket and a breaker bar
- Remove the lower bolts
- Lift up on the weatherstripping and pop open the cowl door
- Remove the three nuts from the top of the strut with a 14mm socket
- Remove the bolt from the bottom of the strut
- Lower the strut down and out
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step 3 :Installing the Strut
- Insert the strut up into place
- Line up the bolt holes with the knuckle
- Thread a nut on top by hand
- Insert two lower strut bolts by hand
- Tighten the three nuts to the top of the strut with a 14mm socket and ratchet
- Torque the top nuts to 33 foot-pounds
- Replace the cowl panel door and weatherstrip
- Tighten the lower bolts with a 17mm socket and ratchet
- Torque the bolts to 67 foot-pounds
- Insert the brake line in place and tighten the 12mm bolt
- Clip in the ABS wire
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step 4 :Reattaching the Wheel
- Slide the wheel into place
- Start the lug nuts by hand
- Tighten the lug nuts preliminarily
- Lower the vehicle to the ground
- Tighten the lug nuts to 80 foot-pounds in a crossing or star pattern
Tools needed
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12mm Socket
Socket Extensions
Torque Wrench
Rust Penetrant
17mm Socket
Jack Stands
19mm Socket
Ratchet
Floor Jack
Swivel
Needle nose pliers
1/2 Inch Breaker Bar
12mm Wrench
Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!
With the vehicle on the ground, use a 19mm socket and a breaker bar to loosen the lug nuts. With all that loosened, and now we're going to raise and support the vehicle. The lug nuts are loosened. I should be able to use just the socket and finish removing them, and then I can take the wheel off. Last nut is removed, so I can take the wheel off.
Start by unclipping the EMS wire from the strut. Use some needle-nosed pliers to push together these tabs. Pull that out of the way. Take some rust penetrant, and spray on the bolt here that's holding on the brake line. It needs a 12mm box wrench to loosen this. Switch to a 12mm socket extension ratchet. Put this bolt aside. That can sit just like that. Now, loosen the strut bolts. Let’s spray some rust penetrant on here.
These bolts don't affect alignment, so we can remove them without fear of having to realign the car again. Using a 19mm socket and a larger breaker bar. I'm just going to try to loosen the nut first. And use a short extension—that's it there. Breaker bar in. It's usually easier to loosen these on the nut side rather than the bolt head side. And, see that's loose enough now that it's turning that bolt head. The bolt head is 17mm, so I'm going to use a 17mm socket on a breaker bar.
I'll take a ratchet. The ratchet will just make removing it quicker. Take that off and put it aside. Do the same for the bottom one. Finish taking it off with my fingers. Slide the bolt out. That one's in there a little tighter, but that's okay. I'm going to leave it in for now. I'm going to go up top and loosen the top strut bolts, and by leaving this bolt in, when you loosen the top strut bolts, the strut won't just fall down.
These are the top of the strut. There's this little door in the plastic cowl cover here. You just lift up on the rubber weatherstripping. You just kind of pull this out, and it'll pop out. Just put that up there. There's three nuts on the studs that are holding the strut up in the strut tower. These are 14mm. Use a 14mm socket and a ratchet with a bit of a swivel head. Can't quite fit a deep socket in here. With that one loose, move to the back. And there's one, it's in here. It's a little harder to see.
Let's go round and loosen them all. Got this one loose enough, I'll take it off with my fingers. Try not to drop it down the back. There it is. Plastic's really close to this one, so it kind of gets a little caught in the plastic trim. You just kind of have to pop it up and out of it. Need the last nut here. So as you loosen this, the strut might actually lower down out of the strut tower. The strut's loose. It'll come right out of there. I'm just kind of work the bolt out, just like that. Put that aside. Pull off the knuckle, turn it, and pull out the wheel well.
Right, so this strut's in good shape. We’re going to reuse it, but if you need a strut assembly, you can buy a brand new one from 1AAuto.com. We sell it as an assembly with the spring, top hat, everything all one piece. You don't have to deal with swapping over the spring, you can just take this out and swap the brand new one right in. But since this one's in working order, we're going to put it back in. I'm going to wind it. It’s going to go right up into the opening. You want to make sure that these bolt holes line up with the knuckle. Actually kind of rest it there and then come up here.
I'm going to lift it into place, just like that. I'm going to take one of the nuts and I'll just get it captured, then that can hang just like that. Take our strut bolts, and line that back up, kind of push it back up. Throw the nut on there. Do the same for the bottom one, you might have to move this around to get it to line up. Just going to reach in and install the other nuts. This trim's really close to this nut, so I had to kind of pull it out. Just get the nut started on there. And use our socket and 14mm socket and ratchet, and snug these up. I'm just going to get it snug. Torque these top nuts to 33 foot pounds, just when it clicks that's when you stop.
Now that we're done up here, you can put the little access door back on, it clips into the top. Don't forget to put the weatherstrip back down, it just snaps on. Then kind of hold the bolts. I'm going to snug these down and we'll come back and torque them. Kind of hold the bolts again. Take a torque wrench and torque these to 67 foot-pounds. Once it clicks, you're done.
Don't forget to put the brake line back in place. Reinstall the clip for the ABS. Reinstall the wheel. Thread the lug nuts on by hand. I'm just going to snug them down and when I put the car on the ground, I will torque them. Then torque the lug nuts to 80 foot-pounds. And they go in a cross pattern.
Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.
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