KYBKG9025 Gas-a-Just Gas Strut

The shocks are working out nicely on my 1997 SR5 4runner. The handling is much better than before they were installed. Noticeably better over the bumps and rough road. I would recommend them from my experience to date.

These are fantastic! They gave my 4runner nice stiff responsive handling, and a pretty smooth ride. They have held up well to off road use, I highly recommend them.

Quality product that was easy to install. Smoother ride since changing to these shocks. Very satisfied with this product.

Worked great with moog springs

(1). On the Original shock the spring bottom end sits facing the outside, the KYB does not. I ended up choosing it to face forward.(2). The bottom mount is higher than the original, so when it come to installing it will be taller. So i used the equipped bottle jack to push down on the upper control arm. It feels wrong but it will work.

When I received them, they were all beat up and the plastic protectors weren’t on them and the bushings and washers were hiding underneath bottom flaps of the box but the appear to be new? They definitely got beat up along the shipping way, I think.

The starts are a great value. However I had to return them. They were an inch and 3/4 longer than the origin.I did not to raise the front of the 4 runner. I like the KYB shocks for I did use them on the rear.

great quality and great ride

NOT.....MADE IN JAPAN. Went with these KYB upfront for my 1999 Toyota 4Runner 4 x 4 Limited. Delivery within Canada was fast. The shock came inside its factory box and then those boxes were inside an Amazon box for more protection and at this time there appears to be no significant damage, just some paint scuffs. It appears that the mounting hardware is present (washers rubber bushings top nut) I reused the spring but used new KYB upper mounts. I’m not necessarily happy about how weak the weld on the bottom connection appears. But when in comparison to, what I believe is original Toyota equipment, the welds look kind of the same (not a continuous circumferential weld but 2 large spot welds) And all my Online research indicate that KYB is made in Japan. The pictures in the Amazon ad show clear stamping ‘Made in Japan’ But these are not made in Japan they are made in Malaysia. Cost saving tactic I’m sure. I will try before I trash and update my review. And yes, as others have noticed, when installing these the very bottom tail of the coil is supposed to be pointing out to the side (towards tire) The KYB will not be able to do that because of how they were built (orientation out by 90degrees aka: manufactured incorrectly) you can forget factory service manual procedures. If you’re looking for that Toyota/Japanese thing you will not find it with these Gas-A-Just. Fyi: I chose to reuse my genuine Toyota coil springs because the 1999 4Runner (and one or two other model years) The left hand side has a different spring from factory (driver side in North America) (Toyota part # 48131-35350 (left) 48131-35400 (right) that’s for the 99 4Runner. Some of the third gen 4Runners can use the same coil springs on both sides but not the 99 (and two others I believe) was going to go moog springs on Amazon but it was not clear if the left side and right side we’re manufactured different and were side specific. There is also the issue that the moog springs have a rounded top, not shaved down like from Toyota factory. The rounded top end of the moog spring will cut its way through the upper strut mount (The rubber insulator) because it would not be flat seated and there is a video clearly demonstrating that on YouTube. So I will reuse spring due to uncertainty around the side specific spring requirements on the 1999. -1 star for misleading about made in Japan, -1 star for the shock being out 90 degrees causing improper spring installation (that Toyota engineers specifically laid out in service manual)Update: March 26, 2021. Good struts. Improved ride quality majorly. Installed at home but was pain in the butt to line up. The top plate needs to be in exact orientation to ensure lining up of top holes in the frame mount and lower control arm bolt. Nothing to do with the strut. Had to assemble and disassemble each side multiple times for proper alignment to fit on the truck. Not for the weak of heart must have nerves of steel while using a spring compressor Half dozen times to squash and release spring in attempts at proper orientation. A strong enough spring compressor is $75 Canadian alone. And while installing the spring compressor, the compressor fingers need to be inserted mid spring and wound around to the outer ends of the spring in order to capture more spring length (more spring length captured equals less resistance while compressing) At the end of springs, coil gap is more narrow than in the middle. And for the top nut assembly with the washers and rubber bushings, you can forget about meeting the factory service manual torque spec for top nut. Getting to that spec we'll squash the rubber bushings too much and will actually start cutting into them. The instructions in the box are pretty useless but one of the pictures does show to not over compress the rubber bushings so I just got them down to what I felt was good enough I squashed the rubber until it filled the inside of the cup washer and squashed rubber until the washer looked like it was going to start cutting into the bushing. Did not reach torque spec and it is probably because the rubber compound is softer than genuine Toyota so it can't take as much squeezing pressure. Squeezing it to spec would start cutting into the rubber. I attempted torque spec with the strut assembly in a vice and installed on the truck and both times the rubber bushings were in risk of damage before meeting torque spec. So just eyeball it. It's been many months now and the top nut has not backed off at all so use your mechanical sense. If you don't have moderate mechanical ability, don't even attempt this job just by the struts and top mounts (and new springs or reuse springs) then have a shop put them in. Looking back I would have had a shop put them in it was not worth my time and patience. did learn a lot though. will be buying these kyb for the rear.