Front Shock (Strut) Replacement with Basic Hand Tools

What's up guys welcome to another episode and today we'll be replacing the front struts on this Nissan Maxima in this case I'll be doing just the front passenger side on the video, but really it's the same thing on both sides and I purchased a Monroe complete unit so in other words. I don't have to change the spring nothing It's just one complete unit. It's a couple bolts Take out the old one put in the new one, and that's it so really it's not a bad job So that being said let's go ahead and let's begin So now we have access to the front strut and as you can see this is the entire unit So this whole thing needs to be removed, so what we need to do is remove these two Bolts right here. This is a 3 quarter inch and this is a 17 millimeter now This will be on here very very tightly so what I'll be using is a half inch drive breaker bar And the breaker bar will give me a lot of leverage so I can loosen up these two nuts You don't have a breaker bar really spend a couple bucks and get one because it's well worth it for jobs like this So again, I'll be using a breaker bar and to remove these two and before you do that on top Right here on the mount you have these three bolts. These are 14 millimeter, so we'll remove these three first and Then we'll come back down, and we'll go ahead and remove these two Like I stated earlier. I'll be using a breaker bar These are also called cheetah bars in this case to remove these two lower nuts This will be a huge time saver if you don't have one of these or you can't get your hands on one of these Again, this is a half inch drive What you can use what you can do is get yourself a good quality rinse something like a craftsman or snap-on something that that won't strip those bolts and Place the wrench over the bolt and then you could tap the wrench loose that will also work But you need a good heavy hammer. This is a two or three pound hammer so you can really Apply a lot of force in which you need these are around 115 foot-pounds tight these bolts and It's they're also on here for 16 years, so they're going to be Very stubborn if you don't have the right tools Now in regards to this technique if you have not seen my rear rotor replacement video I'll insert a link right now. Just click on it and in the video Maybe halfway through this is the technique I use to remove the the rear rotor bracket It also works, but in this case using the breaker bar will be a lot easier and I'm just focusing on the top bolt here Once this large nut is loose This nut will tend to move and this is a 17 millimeter this guy right here so you get yourself a wrench or in this case a ratchet and What I'll be doing is I'll be holding this With my right hand to keep it from moving and I'll be turning this larger bolt right here with my left hand and Now we need to do the exact same thing on this lower nut Now before we remove the lower nut Let's make sure everything is clear and free from the strut for example We have this brake line right here that needs to be removed. There's a clip let me Zoom in here There's a clip right here that needs to be removed what you want to do Is get yourself a screwdriver and again a hammer and I'll tap it out. So How it comes loose? Go ahead keep There you go. And then And then we can remove the brake line So now this is free and clear and there's also one other one on the back, which I'll show you right now So here's a little bit of a better view. Just go ahead and remove this clip Now this is free and clear and also in the back You have a 10 millimeter nut Just go ahead back this off and then we'll be able to remove this line as well from the strut housing And we also need to remove this grommet right here like so And then just double-check make sure everything is free and clear from the strut housing Which everything is good. Just place your hand everything it looks okay And now we can go ahead remove this lower nut and remove the housing from the vehicle Like I stated earlier. I purchased a complete unit in my opinion. It's just worth it. It makes the job faster. It's easier and It's only a little bit more maybe $20 more to get the complete unit as opposed to just buying the strut and now you have to transfer the spring over that could be a little tricky because you have to You have to use a spring compressing tool And I just rather buy the complete unit and just get it done and over with and also make sure the housing Has the same mounts for your brake lines, which this does. So let's go ahead and reinstall this into the vehicle Now when you're ready to install the new part Just make sure that everything lines up as the old one did in other words these two these three Studs are in the exact same alignment and the easiest way you can do that Is if you take a look at the old part you have F right here marked right on it And the new part also has an F right here, but it's not it doesn't match The F on the new part is pointed toward the top and the F on the On the old part is pointed toward the left. So again, we're just going to match up These two top plates. So this just needs to be rotated a little bit So now we're in good shape. Everything matches the two F's match up Even the if you take a look this is compressed in the back. This matches up The height in the front matches up so just make sure when you buy these complete units This happens to be a Monroe by the way, just make sure the top Matches and then you'll be able to reinstall the new strut into the vehicle Now when you're ready to tighten these bolts make sure you tighten them to 103 to 117 foot-pounds Now you can go ahead and reinstall all of the accessories here And these top bolts here. They need to be 43 to 58 foot-pounds So as you can see not too bad a fairly straightforward job any questions concerns Please leave it below if anyone out there wants to see something done on a Maxima again, just leave a comment I'll try to get it done and we'll see you next time