Idler Arm Bracket Pivot Assembly..........again
12-29-2009, 09:42 PM
#12
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When I had my duramax, I was always on dieselplace.com and guys on there were always complaining of the same thing you are--they were going through pitman and idler arms all of the time. Alot of guys replaced their pitman arms with the Moog brand, like stated in previous posts. They would then add the cognito pitman/idler arm braces and swore by them. They said their pitman/idler arms would last forever and 4wd boosted launches would be straight as an arrow. I just went overboard and replaced everything with Cognito--idler pivot assembly, pitman/idler arm braces, and cognito tie rods. I had a 2006 ecsb with a 6" lift and 35x13.50 tires on 18x9 rims and ran a 13.4 in the quarter with a 1.8 60' and it would launch straight every time!
12-30-2009, 08:04 AM
#13
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I can tell you that unless you Up-grade to a heavy duty "type" of Idler Arm, then you will always have this problem as long as you run oversized tires and drive it hard. I replace the OEM and Moog Idler Arms quite often at my shop. 99% of the trucks that come in needing an Idler Arm and either Regency trucks with the oversized tires and wheels or a truck that has been lifted and has oversized tires or wheels. The OEM and competitive replacement brand Idler Arms are designed to withstand "Stock" only tires sized. Any bigger than that, and they are going to wear out all the time.
Cognito makes a really great replacement part, designed for such applications. There are also several more brands out there but in your situation, remember that you should drop a little extra cash for a better part, and keep from having to replace it 3 or 4 times a year.
Cognito makes a really great replacement part, designed for such applications. There are also several more brands out there but in your situation, remember that you should drop a little extra cash for a better part, and keep from having to replace it 3 or 4 times a year.
12-30-2009, 05:02 PM
#14
Thanks guys. I'm sold on the Cognito stuff. I just need to figure out whether to get the pitman arm/idler arm brace kit ($270 shipped), or the replacement idler arm pivot ($210 shipped).
I can't do both right now, unfortunately, so I have to choose the best bang for the buck at the moment. The brace kit claims you can even use it on "worn" parts, lol, but everyone swears by them so that's how I am leaning.
I can't do both right now, unfortunately, so I have to choose the best bang for the buck at the moment. The brace kit claims you can even use it on "worn" parts, lol, but everyone swears by them so that's how I am leaning.
01-26-2010, 03:45 PM
#16
Cognito makes some good stuff, but unfortunately they know it and arent afraid to charge you for it. Ive had 35" tires for about 60k miles and have yet to replace any of the steering stuff (well aside from a gear box that exploded), although it is beginning to creak a lot...
What do your CV angles look like? Generally "leveling kits" for Tbar trucks are just reindexed keys which create more severe geometry for the front end, hence their failure.
What do your CV angles look like? Generally "leveling kits" for Tbar trucks are just reindexed keys which create more severe geometry for the front end, hence their failure.
01-26-2010, 08:28 PM
#17
I ordered the Cognito Idler/Pitman arm support kit. It's basically two "L" brackets, two heim joints, and two special nuts...maybe $40 or $50 worth of parts for $262.50. So be it, everyone said their stuff works, and that's why I bought it. The swaybar spacer shown on their website is no longer part of the kit. Shipping time was fine, but overall customer service leaves a lot to be desired. As Atomic stated, they charge, or should I say, OVERcharge for their products by a good bit, and then tried to weasel out of a petty warranty issue with me.
The "special" nuts actually go through the heim joints and serve 2 purposes. One, to re-secure idler and pitman arms to the center link, and two, to secure the heim joint end of the support bracket to the center link side of the idler and pitman arms. I started on the idler arm side of the kit first. Fifteen minutes into the job I had broken one of the special nuts and had to disassemble the idler arm brace so I could get the other half of the nut loose and off. I then used the 2nd nut to re-install the idler arm bracket. No issues on nut number two, but it left me unable to finish the install, since I now didn't have the 2nd nut, to be used for the pitman arm.
I emailed Cognito Motorsports, explaining what happened, and asked what I needed to do to get a replacement nut. I even offered to return their small LocTite tube and the two special (different threaded) nuts that I didn't need. They declined...said they wouldn't want those back? Their idea of satisfying the customer, and their lifetime warranty, was to offer me a new nut for $8 plus shipping. Their claim was that these "special nuts" are tested to 150ft/lbs. of torque, yet I easily snapped one off with an 8" long ratchet. I'm a big boy, but highly unlikely I can crank 150ft/lbs. PLUS while laying on my back, with a small 3/8" drive ratchet, lol.
so...Buy a new $8 nut? IMHO that was ridiculous, and I expressed my feelings as politely as I could, about their customer service. They then, and only then, told me to take pictures of the nut, email it to them, and they'd "see what they could do"...
In the end, I still had to pay $5 shipping, in advance, and they gave me another nut.
It was never an issue about a measly $8 + $5 shipping, it was an issue about a lifetime warranty that I had to dispute with the "Brand Manager" about, when the RIGHT THING to do would have been to simply mail me another nut to replace the defective one...First impressions mean a LOT to me, and I can say with 100% certainty that I'll never buy another thing from Cognito Motorsports, unless I absolutely have no other source to buy it from.
Just to clarify, I'm not some backyard, shadetree mechanic with a $10 ratchet and socket set. I've been a professional mechanic and have made a living since 1981 working on everything from motorcycles, to cars, to construction equipment, to the heavy industrial equipment I work on now, so I fully understand how to properly tighten and/or torque hardware. I also fully understand that if an item has a LIFETIME WARRANTY, when something breaks from an obvious defect upon initial assembly, then a potential long term customer should not have to argue about an $8 damn nut...(pics of defective nut attached)
BTW, the Raybestos brand Idler Arm pivot assembly that I just put on back in August, was also bad again, so I bought a MOOG unit (like I should have originally) and along with the Idler/Pitman arm support kit, now the front end feels MUCH better than it has for a while. Zero shimmy. Since I have no intention of ever again replacing front end parts twice in a year, I decided to remove the "big" tires and wheels, replacing them with stock 06-07 17 inchers, and I plan to remove the leveling kit soon as well. My plan is to go back to stock height, or possibly even slightly lower than stock. The truck doesn't see "off road" anyway.
p.s. The CV angles look fine IMO. My issues have all been steering related, not drivetrain related.
01-26-2010, 08:38 PM
#18
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Damn, that sucks man! I never had to deal with their customer service because I was lucky enough not to break anything installing it! Glad to see you got it right in the end.
