How to Replace Front Struts 2005-10 Chrysler 300

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In this video, we're going to be working with our 2006 Chrysler 300. We're going to show you how to remove and replace your vehicle's front strut assembly. Now, we're doing this on the passenger side by the procedure is the same on the driver's, and we do recommend you replace these as a pair.

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Here are the items you'll need for this repair: full metric socket set, ratchet, socket extensions, breaker bar, torque wrench, 14mm x 2 nut, locking pliers, bungee cord, gloves, rust penetrant, jack and jack stands

Using a 21 millimeter socket and a breaker bar loosen all of your lug nuts about one turn. Raise and support your vehicle. We're using a lift to make it easier to show you what's going on, but this job can easily be done at home with a jack and jack stands. Remove your lug nuts the rest of the way by hand. Remove your wheel and tire.

Remove the nut on the bottom of your ball joint with a 19 millimeter socket and ratchet. Using the 19 millimeter socket and ratchet, loosen the nut on the upper ball joint and remove it. Remove the 19 millimeter nuts securing the sway bar link onto the strut, and we're going to try this with a 19 millimeter socket and ratchet. However, we may need a breaker bar and pair of vice grips. We couldn't quite get it loose with the socket and ratchet, so we're going for a 19 millimeter socket and a breaker bar, which seems to have done the trick. Now that it's loose, we'll go back to our ratchet.

Now, fortunately, ours isn't very rusty, so I'm just holding the back side of the sway bar link by hand to remove the nut. You may have to clamp it down with a pair of vice grips in order to get it to stay still while you remove the nut. We'll remove the top of the sway bar from the strut.

Using an 18 millimeter socket and a breaker bar, we'll loosen the bottom bolt for the strut. Now, the nut on the back of the strut is welded, so you shouldn't have to counter-hold it. However, if it starts spinning, you should be able to hold it steady with a 21 millimeter wrench. Once the bolt starts loosening up, you may be able to switch to an 18 millimeter socket and ratchet. The trick here is I'm putting my fingers behind the head of the bolt while I twist and pulling back at the same time to help spin it out of the bushing. Once the bolt is out of the threads, you should be able to just wiggle it out. Using a 13 millimeter socket, ratchet and extension remove the three 13 millimeter nuts on the top of your strut.

Now, we installed a strut bar into our vehicle; yours may or may not have one, but this process will be the same regardless. When you're removing the last 13 millimeter nut, you'll want to be sure to reach underneath the vehicle and support the strut with your other hand to make sure that it doesn't just drop out and damage something. Be careful not to overstretch the hydraulic brake hose. Go ahead and snap that ABS sensor off to give yourself a little more slack. Should be able to push down and remove the strut assembly from the vehicle.

Here we have our old strut that we removed from our vehicle, and our new part from 1AAuto.com. What you see here is actually a quick strut or a complete strut assembly. This means that your new part comes with a new shock or strut tube with a new spring, new billow, new bump stop, and a new strut top and bearing. This means that the entire assembly can be changed out as a unit without the need for special tools and spring compressors, which can make the job more difficult and a little more dangerous. As you can see, there are some aesthetic differences where the springs look just a little bit different, but everything should match up to the same spring rates on our vehicle so it rides just like new.

We have the same flange here to mount the stud for our sway bar link, and we have the same forked flange at the bottom here, which will sit over the bushing in our lower control arm. However, the old part has this welded nut on it and the new part does not come with this. We needed to get our hands on an M14 by 2.0 nut for this; a flange nut would be preferred. Other than that, the new strut top has the same three bolt mounting location on it and comes with a nice new set of flange nuts for the top here.

If your old struts are worn out, riding and handling poorly, creating odd weight transfer of the vehicle or bouncy or making noise, this new part from 1A Auto is going to go in direct fit, safe, and easy and fix you up right.

Reinstall the strut. Try to line up the top first and then maneuver the bottom back over the lower control arm. Reach up and start one of your 13 millimeter nuts by hand. Once you've got that started to secure the strut, reinstall the upper ball joint and its 19 millimeter nut. Now, you'll notice I'm pressing down on the strut here while I install the nut. This is because the tapered seat helps prevent the threads from spinning, making it easier to install by hand. Finish tightening up your ball joint with your 19 millimeter socket and ratchet. We'll then torque it to 35 foot-pounds and add 90 degrees.

Finish installing your new flange nuts onto the top of the strut. You may have to move it around a little to get that top one to seat where you want it. Tighten and torque the 13 millimeter nuts to 20 foot-pounds with a 13 millimeter socket and a torque wrench. Align the bottom bolt hole and install your 19 millimeter bolt. In place of the welded nut, which does not come on our new strut, we're going to use another 14 by 2 nut that we had. We'll put a 19 millimeter wrench on that; yours may vary. Then we'll tighten up the 18 millimeter bolt with a socket and ratchet. Then we'll torque it to 128 foot-pounds.

Install the upper portion of the sway bar link through the strut and start the new, this is a 22 millimeter nut. Now, this has a nylon lock on the end, so we're not going to be able to put it on by hand, so we'll grab the back side with a pair of locking jaw pliers just like we did on the bottom. Use a 22 millimeter socket and ratchet to snug it up before torquing it to 95 foot-pounds.

Reinstall your wheel and tire and get your 21 millimeter lug nuts as tight as you can by hand. Lower the partial weight of your vehicle back onto the tires. Torque your lug nuts to 110 foot-pounds in a cross pattern.

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