From what your saying, I think that there is more wrong then just the shock. It sounds like your bushings could be going as well. Probably the best thing that you could do is jack the front of the car in the air and grab the front tires and wiggle them to see if there is any free-play. You should look at the shock and see if anything looks physically wrong, for example, look for any black stcky shit around the shock or actual damage.