Shock absorbers for Prado KZJ95

[ekendraed]

I am thinking of changing my shock absorbers on my Prado KZJ95 and wonder if anyone has had any experience with the KYB Excel G series for the Prado? ARB struts are on offer at thrice the price of a KYB 341232/344288.

Any comment will be appreciated.

 

[Rob]

Could you give us a little more information like what springs you have fitted, what the truck will be used for and are you planning to carry any extra weight? I'm sure someone will be able to help, I cant give you any advice as I don't know much about 95 suspension mods.

 

[ekendraed]

I have recently purchased this vehicle. I am in the process of replacing all parts in the suspension that are suspect. Right now I have replaced all worn out mounts, bushes and tie-rod ends but I still feel uncomfortable with the "thud" noises every time I hit a rut on the road. The vehicle will go in for an inspection tomorrow and I am going to get the complete dashboard removed and refitted with missing nuts and clips etc. That will eliminate internal noises to some effect.

I have done a shock absorber test and they were about 65% to 68%!

This vehicle has coils springs on all four wheels and I intend using it for normal road running plus the occasional off-road run into the nature reserves in Sri Lanka. Some are sandy tracks but a majority are mud tracks during the rainy season. I have no intention of carrying extra weight except for a possible full load of passengers during an off-road trip.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Andrew Prince]

It might be worth checking out the various bushes on the suspension system. Quite a few people in the club have reported huge improvements from changing the bushes on the anti-roll bar, for example.
Look for posts from Steve (Blackwidow) and Kevin (Ignat) among others.

It may still be that your shocks need replacing but a few dying bushes might prevent your new shocks from delivering the improvement you were hoping for.

Cheers,

 

[ekendraed]

Replaced front shockabsorbers with Tokico struts. The mounts were badly damaged as well but as I could not find new, these were repaired at a local lathe shop. The dashboard was refitted. Now the "thud" sound have gone!!