I spent this weekend installing the cognito leveling kit, HD tie rods and Bilstein shocks on my truck. Started friday and ran into a problem when one of the bushings sent with the control arms was incorrect. After a phone call to Cognito, i had the correct bushing 9am saturday morning. I had just enough time saturday to install the driver side control arm and shock before the rain hit. This morning I started working again and finished up the truck. After doing the drivers side the passenger side only took 2 hours or less for disassembly and reassembly of all parts. Very easy install. Make sure you have a pickle fork for disassembly of old control arms from spindle and a large adjustable/pipe wrench for installing the HD tie rods, need something that will open to 2". Have not driven around yet, will get it aligned tomorrow morning and let everyone know how the difference is. Sorry, no pictures of the install, but I can take pictures of the afterwards if anyone wanted to see them.
Check back tomorrow and I will have posted how good the ride is!!

definately keep us updated on the diff in ride. im lookin to do this shortly so......... :D

I'd like to do the same, keep us posted

Ditto on what these guys are saying. Id like to hear some feedback and you can never have enough pics.

I also would like to hear your impressions on the ride. I just ordered my Cognito Leveling Kit and longer front Bilstein shocks from Nick at Nor-Cal and really hope it makes the truck ride a lot better than it does now. Having only green keys and cranked torsion bars really makes your truck ride like CRAP! Plus it tears the front suspension up pretty bad.

I see in your sig. that you have 285's. Are those the size tires you plan on staying with? Make sure to post some good pic's.

Just got the truck aligned. Took forever, but at least its driving alright. Ride is much better, dont feel the bumps nearly as harsh, actually rides very well. I have a slight pull to the right when i brake, feels like the right brake is grabbing a split second before the left, ill have to get that checked out, but first impressions are good. Can definitely tell a very noticeable difference in the ride and the ball joint angles are much better.

I ordered these parts from Norcal Nick also, and yes I will be staying with the 285s. If I change tires it might even be dropping back down to 265s, but probably just stay with the 285s. Its a daily driver and a tow rig, I have another truck that I use for playing around in the mud.

Overall, I am happy with the parts, rides great, easy install. Ill try and get some pictures up soon. Thanks Nick for the parts and good customer service!

I just bought the Uniball UCAS dual shock hoop and bilsteins for the whole truck. Prolly gonna install some SD tie rod sleeves when I put everything on in the next week or so. I can't wait to get things installed and my summer wheels back on.

I had the same slight pull to the left when I installed my UCAs. Maybe you arent as dumb as me but when I seperated the ball joint from the spindle I crushed the sleeve on top of the spindle that the brake line goes through so my left brake was locked up. Good thing I only put like 100 miles on it and aligned it twice before I fixed it right!

I know exactly what you are talking about, mine got scratched and slightly deformed. I noticed when it was happening and stopped. How much deformation would cause it to do that? Also, Im pulling to the right when i brake, and my drivers side one is the one that is a little messed up, so it should pull left if that is the problem. It is probably still an alignment problem, it pulls slightly to the right normal driving, and then when i get on the brakes it darts right real quick then stops and straightens out. Any ideas?

Oh yeah, besides the pulling problem, the ride is significantly improved. I just went on a road I drive every day and had found the least bumpy way through it, and today it was much smoother. No more avoiding those little bumps in the road. And I still have the rear bilsteins sitting in my garage waiting to go on. I cant wait to see how good it rides then.

Well, sounds like it's time for me to go spend some more money.....

Can't wait to see pic's. Great to here you like the ride.



Nor-Cal Nick

Nick - any word when the Cognito HD tierods are coming in?

As of right now Cognito says 4-15-08. As I know more I will post.




Nor-Cal Nick

I installed the idler/pitman brace kit a couple of weeks ago, and finished the Heim-joint tie-rod upgrade yesterday. I also installed Bilstein 5100s a few weeks ago. Very nice install, and I did not have to open the tie-rod taper in the knuckle.
NASCAR.

Ok, fixed the brake pulling problem. Apparently very little extra pressure on that brake line will cause it to act funny. So all is good now. Truck is running and riding great. I still pull a little to the right under normal driving, but it is most likely my tires that are worn pretty bad, I will switch the two fronts around and see if it straightens out. No big deal. Very happy with install. Lemme take a picture and try to post it up here.

:rolleyes:I need get to mine on, they have been on top of the tool box for a month now, but so has the transgo jr. just not enuff time in the day.

Ok, here are some pictures. Truck sits about level, close enough for me even with the bumper on the front. No rubbing. 285/75/R16 BFG AT, E rated. New shocks ride great. Highly recommend to everyone looking for improved ride.

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v188/206/16/12812172/n12812172_33602134_9360.jpg
http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v188/206/16/12812172/n12812172_33602135_9716.jpg

Hey man, looks good. How much do you have your t-bars cranked up and did you lift the rear any?

looks damn good. :thumb: nice work

Thanks guys, Bars are cranked 6 or 7 turns. Nothing in the rear, but I do have airbags for towing and i keep about 10 pounds in them when im just running around town, so might be lifting the rear a little bit, but no blocks or anything like that.

Looking at putting the same cognito lift on mine but I still use the rig for pullin' the fifth wheel. Have you pulled anything since putting on the lift? If so, does the front end point to the stars or do the airbags level it out in the rear?

I have not pulled yet, but the front end did not raise at all with these arms. My t-bars were cranked before I added the upper control arms, I was using them more to correct the ball joint angles and figured since I was adding the HD tie rods and bilsteins at the same time I would go ahead and add the arms. With my t-bars cranked before my airbags were leveling the truck out just fine so I would assume it should be the same now. Im sure I will be hooking up to my 5th wheel soon though, so I will let you know for sure.

I know adding a second front shock per side would add more damping. Would the dual shocks necessarily improve the on-road ride on our heavy front ends?

-P.

I dont know much about the dual shocks in the front, just that there are kits available, I would assume they would help the ride in the front because of the extra damping.

I installed my rear bilsteins today. Did not make as much of a difference as the front shocks and everything did, but it still made a difference. The truck is riding great. I still need to get it aligned again since im still pulling to the right, but other than that, I am very happy with these parts and the ease of the install. Well worth it.