Suspension question - Time for some work?

[Rocky Mountain]

Ok, have a question about the suspension and how it rides, and whether or not it's time for some replacement parts. I have a 2006 v8 eddie bauer 4x4 with almost 130,000 miles, we've had it since 100k. Since my mother-in-law was visiting (yes I like my mother-in-law so it's worth fixing if it's an issue...) after riding in it she felt motion sick, and now a few weeks later, my wife after being sick, has felt motion sick after riding in it.

My wife complained about the side to side motion going down the road, and of course I noticed it as well. It seems to rock side to side whenever we hit any rough or uneven spots (which is just about everywhere). Is this a result of the narrow width? or the suspension being worn since it does have a lot of miles, or that we just never really noticed it before. Any thoughts?

The side to side motion isn't severe or detrimental to the handling, just a mild rocking back and forth.

 

[Flag Gibby]

You can do a bounce test on the front to see how the shocks are responding and that will give you an idea of how bad they are. However, it has been my experience that the side to side motion is from very soft sidewalls of the tires on the vehicle. The other thing that it could be is that the mounting bushings on the sway bar are worn allowing excessive movement but I believe that you will hear squeaking when that happens.

 

[Rocky Mountain]

A side note this morning, I didn't feel the side motion as much driving the same roads when it was just me. Low speed it still did it, but highway speed didn't seem as much.