The day I bought our 2023 Ridgeline RTL-E, I had planned on lowering mainly because my wife is a tad bit over 5' tall....not much. Lowering the truck would be more comfortable getting in and out, it would look nicer, and handle better. With lowering in mind, there were 4 options:
1. Air ride suspension which could cost upward of 4-5k doing it right.
2. Goodwin Racing 2" lowering spring kit (front and rear)
3. Burtman 2"/3" kit.
4. Traxda 1.5" rear kit
I ruled out spending 4 to 5k for the air ride, but does it look and perform well. Local Ridgeline owner has a 2022 on air ride. I wanted to lower and level our truck while maintaining oem alignment specs. I ruled out the Traxda because I also wanted the front lower. That left me with Burtman or Goodwin.
Goodwin Racing responded promptly by email every time I had a question. The Goodwin spring rates are not hidden to the public like the Burtman springs. The Goodwin springs still give a slight lower front rake while maintaining towing and payload rate. So I was tossed with the Goodwin kit because I hate the rake look but also didn't want to lose payload or towing capacity should I need it. From the sounds of installing this kit, Goodwin and others said the rears are easy and the fronts spring replacement a little harder.
As for the Burtman springs, I really wanted the 2" front and 3" rear lowering springs. This would give a nice level look. Communication I would rate at 2 stars. I emailed, called, and texted. I talked on the phone with Jason 1 time after several attempts. I couple times I wasn't available but no texts were left, no phone messages left, and no emails with answers to my questions. Burtman will not give you the spring rates. I feel as a suspension modification, you should know this. The oem alignment, you'll need additional hardware to get within OEM specs as well. The web site layout looks less professional to me than the Goodwin Racing web page. These things added up negatively for me.
With all that said, I chose the Goodwin Racing springs. Now for my purchase and install. Purchase and shipment was fast...had the springs within 5 days. Once the springs arrived, I was disappointed to see no instructions, no warranty paperwork, no receipt, no thank you note for my purchase, not even a Goodwin Racing sticker....nothing but well packaged springs. When I lowered my Tundra, I got full detailed instructions, stickers, receipt, and a thank you letter along with a discount card for my next purchase.... hint to Goodwin Racing in order to make every customer experience a pleasurable and memorable one. I say if you are going to sell these to forum member, which typically forum members are looking for DIY jobs, Goodwin Racing might disclose of how long the job is expected to take, the special tools required and if he recommends it as a DIY job. By the way, No military discount, No law enforcement discount...... (Iraq war vet, 22 years), but that's alright.
After taking the springs out of the box I weighed them to compare to the stock springs. Each Goodwin spring weighed in at 1.1 pounds more that the OEM spring. Just from the look, you could tell they were beefier.
Installation: I started with the rear springs first after getting some additional rented tools from Oriellys....spring compressor kit and 36mm axle socket. I jacked up the rear of the truck, also used jack stands, took the wheel off, removed the lower torsion bar bolt, removed the lower strut bolt, then removed the upper strut bolts. Out came the strut. I compressed the springs, removed the upper spring perch...special wrench for that while using an Allen key....and removed the spring. Installed Goodwin spring and reinstalled in the opposite order as removal. I was done with the rears in 2 hrs....being cautious of compressing the springs.
Next morning set out to do the front springs. I removed the wheel, the axle nut, the brake caliper, the rotor (special Phillips head driver), the ABS sensor, steering link nut, and the lowering control arm bolt nut. I removed the plastic plate to get at the upper strut nuts underneath the hood to loosen the 3 nuts. Now the royal pain in the A$$ to get the lower control arm ball joint separated from the hub. I can't tell you enough how pissed I was for several hours!!!!! Multiple trips to get the "right" tool yielded zero head way. Keep in mind the ball joint has a rubber boot and they aren't cheap and hard to find in stock. Also, the lower control arm is aluminum. In the end I used a hammer and a ball joint remover....I tore the ball joint boot unfortunately. I pounded on the hub while using all of 200 pds to pry downward with the ball joint separator...it released, eventually. Not an easy task by no means because now the axle had to come out and then lower the strut out of there... its doable with one person but I should have had my Dad or 27 yo son stop by for a helping hand. Yes, I had to replace both ball joint boots. Instructions and required tool list for this job would have made this an easier DIYer job.
DIYer job...... yes if you have the right tools, confident in your mechanical abilities and your physical strength. The average DIYer would have no problems with the rear....you should probably be a well experienced DIYer with alot of handy/special tools for the front.
Job completed....I am happy with the results but it still has a slight the lower front rake (6/15/2024, Traxda Rear Lowering Arms). It's easier to get in and out of the RL, and it handles better, looks nicer too. The only change in my driving is slowing way down for the speed bumps at Costco, which I expected to do, and not having to brake as much when in the round abouts 😀. This job would have been so much faster if there was a "right" tool for separating the lower control arm from the hub and possible instructions from the manufacturer. Perhaps Honda has a special tool that does the job while not damaging the boot. No one I talked too on this forum, or at the parts stores knew of a better way other than brute force....brute force and aluminum doesn't work well together.
1. Air ride suspension which could cost upward of 4-5k doing it right.
2. Goodwin Racing 2" lowering spring kit (front and rear)
3. Burtman 2"/3" kit.
4. Traxda 1.5" rear kit
I ruled out spending 4 to 5k for the air ride, but does it look and perform well. Local Ridgeline owner has a 2022 on air ride. I wanted to lower and level our truck while maintaining oem alignment specs. I ruled out the Traxda because I also wanted the front lower. That left me with Burtman or Goodwin.
Goodwin Racing responded promptly by email every time I had a question. The Goodwin spring rates are not hidden to the public like the Burtman springs. The Goodwin springs still give a slight lower front rake while maintaining towing and payload rate. So I was tossed with the Goodwin kit because I hate the rake look but also didn't want to lose payload or towing capacity should I need it. From the sounds of installing this kit, Goodwin and others said the rears are easy and the fronts spring replacement a little harder.
As for the Burtman springs, I really wanted the 2" front and 3" rear lowering springs. This would give a nice level look. Communication I would rate at 2 stars. I emailed, called, and texted. I talked on the phone with Jason 1 time after several attempts. I couple times I wasn't available but no texts were left, no phone messages left, and no emails with answers to my questions. Burtman will not give you the spring rates. I feel as a suspension modification, you should know this. The oem alignment, you'll need additional hardware to get within OEM specs as well. The web site layout looks less professional to me than the Goodwin Racing web page. These things added up negatively for me.
With all that said, I chose the Goodwin Racing springs. Now for my purchase and install. Purchase and shipment was fast...had the springs within 5 days. Once the springs arrived, I was disappointed to see no instructions, no warranty paperwork, no receipt, no thank you note for my purchase, not even a Goodwin Racing sticker....nothing but well packaged springs. When I lowered my Tundra, I got full detailed instructions, stickers, receipt, and a thank you letter along with a discount card for my next purchase.... hint to Goodwin Racing in order to make every customer experience a pleasurable and memorable one. I say if you are going to sell these to forum member, which typically forum members are looking for DIY jobs, Goodwin Racing might disclose of how long the job is expected to take, the special tools required and if he recommends it as a DIY job. By the way, No military discount, No law enforcement discount...... (Iraq war vet, 22 years), but that's alright.
After taking the springs out of the box I weighed them to compare to the stock springs. Each Goodwin spring weighed in at 1.1 pounds more that the OEM spring. Just from the look, you could tell they were beefier.
Installation: I started with the rear springs first after getting some additional rented tools from Oriellys....spring compressor kit and 36mm axle socket. I jacked up the rear of the truck, also used jack stands, took the wheel off, removed the lower torsion bar bolt, removed the lower strut bolt, then removed the upper strut bolts. Out came the strut. I compressed the springs, removed the upper spring perch...special wrench for that while using an Allen key....and removed the spring. Installed Goodwin spring and reinstalled in the opposite order as removal. I was done with the rears in 2 hrs....being cautious of compressing the springs.
Next morning set out to do the front springs. I removed the wheel, the axle nut, the brake caliper, the rotor (special Phillips head driver), the ABS sensor, steering link nut, and the lowering control arm bolt nut. I removed the plastic plate to get at the upper strut nuts underneath the hood to loosen the 3 nuts. Now the royal pain in the A$$ to get the lower control arm ball joint separated from the hub. I can't tell you enough how pissed I was for several hours!!!!! Multiple trips to get the "right" tool yielded zero head way. Keep in mind the ball joint has a rubber boot and they aren't cheap and hard to find in stock. Also, the lower control arm is aluminum. In the end I used a hammer and a ball joint remover....I tore the ball joint boot unfortunately. I pounded on the hub while using all of 200 pds to pry downward with the ball joint separator...it released, eventually. Not an easy task by no means because now the axle had to come out and then lower the strut out of there... its doable with one person but I should have had my Dad or 27 yo son stop by for a helping hand. Yes, I had to replace both ball joint boots. Instructions and required tool list for this job would have made this an easier DIYer job.
DIYer job...... yes if you have the right tools, confident in your mechanical abilities and your physical strength. The average DIYer would have no problems with the rear....you should probably be a well experienced DIYer with alot of handy/special tools for the front.
Job completed....I am happy with the results but it still has a slight the lower front rake (6/15/2024, Traxda Rear Lowering Arms). It's easier to get in and out of the RL, and it handles better, looks nicer too. The only change in my driving is slowing way down for the speed bumps at Costco, which I expected to do, and not having to brake as much when in the round abouts 😀. This job would have been so much faster if there was a "right" tool for separating the lower control arm from the hub and possible instructions from the manufacturer. Perhaps Honda has a special tool that does the job while not damaging the boot. No one I talked too on this forum, or at the parts stores knew of a better way other than brute force....brute force and aluminum doesn't work well together.
