Suspension Question (KYB Gas-A-Just)

DSouth

Observer
Hi All,

Lately, I've noticed some severe shaking (up and down type motion) when driving. It's actually pretty scary. It usually manifests when driving on some sections of concrete freeways(60 freeway between 57 and 605, 91 in downtown Riverside etc) around Southern California. These sections are usually newer patches of concrete that seem to have lots of subtle bumps in them, not seams. I have also noticed that the suspension gets quite upset(more than it used to and it feels unsafe) when the front right (passenger) tire drops into a dip or pot hole. I figure it's probably the shocks, but I figured I'd pass by my whole suspension setup and see what people think.

Vehicle: 2003 Montero Limited, BFG KO2 265/70 LT's, KYB Gas-A-Just and everything else stock. The shocks are about a year old, and I've really only taken them out on dirt once since new. Granted the place I took them was brutal (Race Track Road and all around Death Valley). I suspect the shocks are probably toast, but I've also noticed that the ride improves a good bit if I have the vehicle loaded more, so I'm wondering if maybe this is just an issue with the LT tires, stock springs and monotube shocks.

Right now, I'm planning to buy new shocks (Bilsteins) and hoping for the best, but if anyone has had similar experiences and discovered some other issues I'd love to hear.
 
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vintageracer

To Infinity and Beyond!
My experience with KYB shocks is that they always have lot's of compression and little to no rebound control. Not very good shocks.
 

plh

Explorer
I had KYB G-a-J (for sure Kill Your Back while street driving even) in my Gen 3 for a while and pulled them out in favor of Bilsteins. HUGE improvement. Unfortunately I don't think front Bils are available ATM. Not sure where you are for miles, but you might be due for ball joints and bushings. I did mine at about 150K.
 

DSouth

Observer
Thanks for the replies. I'm just shy of 200k miles and I recently did ball joints, but bushings are looking a bit tired. Thinking about going the Siberian urethane bushings from ADD route. Maybe grab some skids while I'm at it.
 

plh

Explorer
I don't think ADD stocks Siberians for the Gen 3 unfortunately. However there are various available on the Siberian web site.
 
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