I have had problems w/ the front end of my pickup wearing out steering parts left and right. Now I have replaced my Idler and Pitman w/ the moog stuff and my front end feels varry loose. Every time I hit a bump off center my steering wheel bounces back and forth (the same thing it has done every time my Idler or pitman have been bad) only this time the dealer says everything is within spec except he says the moog pitman arm splines do not allign w/ the steering gear splins properly causing some slop. I had him replace the pitman w/ a factory pitman and am still having the problem. Anyone have any ideas or has the moog pitman messed up the splines on my gear and now nothing will fix the problem except a new gear and pitman arm. Also has anyone ever seen this problem w/ moog pitman arms. My dealer says he sees it all the time. But he may be blowing smoke since he is a GM dealer.

I've been running Moog Pitman and Idler arms plus tie rod ends for the last 30,000 miles with Cognito braces. No problems.

Have you had the cognito braces the whole time. Did you replace the Idler support also that cognito sells.

Check and see if the nut/washer is bottomed out. On my truck it seemed like the pitman just kept going up the threads and then got loose. After a failed attempt welding a washer on the cognito brace I ended up going back to a stock pitman which solved the problem.

Eric Merchant had a thread with a video about it in this forum some time ago. I would try searching around a bit. I think there are a few threads out there....

Do you think it has anything to do with the Fabtech lift? As in, has it been doing it since you got the lift put on? You did say you have been going through steering components left and right...

yes it is related to the lift and i had the problem solved until fabtech recalled there heavy idler and pitman, since then i have had nothing but problems.

Oh yeah. In general the fabtech has quite a bit of droop on the steering tie rods which forces the idler and pitman to roll up so as you can imagine it puts a lot of stress on most everything in the system. On my truck I have gone through everything and upgraded it...which seems to be working for now.

I was breaking most everything off road. Are you having problems on the street?

yes it is related to the lift and i had the problem solved until fabtech recalled there heavy idler and pitman, since then i have had nothing but problems.

Are you running the cognito braces? If your not you need to buy them...that will help alot. Do yourself a favor and go back to stock idler and pitman arms at the same time.

I also say to use a OEM pitman arm and add Cognito braces. I have run into the Moog not sitting on the box spines right. The tapper is of and the Moog pitman arm slides to far up on the splines to where you can't keep a good torq and the nut backs off.


Nor-Cal Nick

On second thought....the Moog Idler is fine. In fact I am still running the Moog idler with a factory pitman without issue. I seem to remeber taking a look and observing that the Moog idler was a bit beefier than a stock idler anyway. I think the new cognito kits come with both types of splines so you should be able to mix and match without issue so you can save a few bucks there.

I replaced all of it at once, Moog idler and pitman and tie rod ends and added the braces. That was after going through a set of OEM and talking to FABTECH on the phone to no avail about a solution.

Thanks guys that sound like what i am going to have to do. Now I am going to have to weld the factory steering stabilizer mounts back on since I had to cut them off to install the fabtech steering stabilizer which (the best I can tell) will not work w/ the cognito braces. Does anyone know what the torque is on the pitman arm to steering gear nut.

Are you going to try the Cogntio Pitman/Idler arms supports? I'd try that before you weld anything. If that doesn't solve the problem, you can always try and sell them and I'm sure someone will buy them from you.

That is true maybe what i will do is remove the fabtech stabilizer, install the braces and try driving the truck without a stabilizer to see if it will fix my problem. I wonder if driving w/ out a stabilizer will mimic problems in the front end any way.

i had trouble with the moog pitman arm was loose, tightned the nut till there were no more threads and it was still loose. i run the cognito braces but i wen t back to oem pitman and fixed the slop in the steering.:)

Thanks for the info sounds like the braces are the way to go. Just wondering did you drive the truck with out the brace first after installing the factory pitman and still have slop so you installed the braces or did you just install them both at the same time?

my pitman and idler wore out at 29K and i replaced them with Moog arms and Cognito braces and 7K later my steering is slapping again so im guessing they're wore out again..kinda pisses me off that factory parts lasted that long and better parts with braces wore out that quick

my pitman and idler wore out at 29K and i replaced them with Moog arms and Cognito braces and 7K later my steering is slapping again so im guessing they're wore out again..kinda pisses me off that factory parts lasted that long and better parts with braces wore out that quick

Do you think it could be your Skyjacker kit? 30k is kinda quick and the braces should have helped. Are you cranked?

just installed the cognito braces and man did that make a difference. The truck drives just like it should. Now hopefully it stays that way. Anyone out there know do I have to align my front end after the install of the braces since I never actually moved the idler or pitman just braced them. If so explain if you can it seems like my steering wheel clock position has changed slightly(seems to drive straite) Thanks guys. This site is awsome!!!!!! tons of usefull info. The only problem is it is addicting more so that the morning news paper.

my bars are turned maybe 3 turns from stock..i had an alignment done after i installed the arms and braces and the steering seemed very tight (in a good tight kinda way)

Just had my alignment done and now my problem is back. Steering bounces back and forth on bumps. All was perfect befor the alignment now its bad. I am about to go crazy. Shop says all steering parts are within spec. Now what?

see your bump steer thread