I just got a call from Fourwheel Parts on Thursday and they told me that Fabtech is recalling their Pitman and Idler arms and refunding the MSRP on them and also replacing them with factory style Moog parts. I e-mailed fabtech with safety questions and they said to get them replaced ASAP...:eek: Any one else here about this?

I wonder if they are going to be releasing an updated set soon? My stockers are trashed and I don't want to use the same stock junk.

I talked to Moises (pronounced moses) at Fabtech and he told me they did not know when the updated versions will be out, if ever... I am in the same boat, I have 135# (37's on 20's) boat anchors at the end of the tie rods and the stock Idler/Pitman arm's lasted 18,000 miles-:t

Try the Moog idler/pitman with the Coneto braces. So far I've been real impressed.

Who sells the cognito braces? I saw Kennedy had some but I don't know who builds them.

What the heck!! Mine have been holding up just fine, but it would be a real pita to take them out to put "wimpier" parts back in. I wonder if they are gonna pay for an alignment too? I'mma have to call them up. :mad:

Who sells the cognito braces? I saw Kennedy had some but I don't know who builds them.

What do you mean? Congnito build the Cognito Brace http://www.cognitomotorsports.com/

http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/html/hdsteering.html

Great,JustCensored Great!

Dam I just sold my Moog arms last week:banghead:

i talked to Moises as well. According to him they will pay to have them replaced, remburse for tow, etc as well as refund what you paid for the fabtech parts. my buddy has his pitman arm break friday. mine haven't broke but i'm making an appt. to get them changed out.

Thanks for the stickey, now what direction to go? I have a centerlink, hopefully that will get it done.

So what exactly is the problem with the Fabtechs?

FWIW, I put the Cognito braces on (got them from Kennedy) on a brand new set of stockers about two years ago, and the arms are still tight. First set of stockers barely lasted 2 years, or 30K something miles.

Nick was it you who posted the picture of the broken fabtech piece? If so will you post it again?

http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54323&highlight=fabtech+pitman

Nick was it you who posted the picture of the broken fabtech piece? If so will you post it again?

Moises told me I could keep the tie rods,get an alignment,get 490.00 returned to me,get new moog parts installed,and pay labor.At least they are making it right...

Who sells the cognito braces? I saw Kennedy had some but I don't know who builds them.

I have the braces, and personally don't think that the Moog joints are all that much better if at all. I have access to both mfr joints.

http://www.kennedydiesel.com/categoryresults2.cfm?Category=10&SubCategory=144

The PITA for me is that there is no shop in my area that they have an agreement with, and my local shop wouldn't do it because they won't get paid until 30 days later. So I'm stuck doing them myself. Not such a bad thing, but I won't get paid for my time. They are going to refund me the cost of an alignment.

that's just fricken' great, thanks for the heads up, i just got my lift done..:mad: :eek:

Apparently they have only broken while truck is stationary,I never try to turn the wheel unless the truck is moving..

I have the braces, and personally don't think that the Moog joints are all that much better if at all. I have access to both mfr joints.

http://www.kennedydiesel.com/categoryresults2.cfm?Category=10&SubCategory=144

Will the cognito braces work with the Fabtech steering stabilizer bracket that mounts to the centerlink?

I had my recall work done last week by 4wheelparts and a check for $490.00 just showed up on my doorstep. You gotta love Fabtech.:cool2:

So this recall does not include the Tie rods and ends? My pitman/idler went out months ago and when I replaced them there was rumors floating around of multiple failures on Fabtechs pitman/idler, so I opted for moogs with the cognito braces and Fabtechs tie rod set. Still tight as the day they went on. I jacked up my wifes new Tahoe with 9000 miles on it and its sloppier? This kind of thing isn't too reasurring. I hope the tie rods and ends are ok, I would assume they are produced by the same co mpany?:(

The tie rods stayed as did the heavier steering damper that came with the kit. The only things that were replaced were the Idler and Pitman arms themselvs. They (the pitman/idler arms) have been breaking during parking lot manuevers (turning the wheel when stopped or very slow). They replaced them with Moog factory style parts, which I think are not going to last any longer than the stockers do -:t Hence the reason I went with the "50% heavier duty" Fabtech one because mine wore out in 35,000 miles.

Alligator, get some cognito braces with some of that 490 bucks and the moog arms will last for a long time. Thats what I plan on doing whenever I get around to getting the Fabtech stuff pulled off.

What do the Cognito braces actually do? Do they stiffen the arms themselves so they don't twist under the pressure? I will be looking into that.

Go to www.kennedydiesel.com (http://www.kennedydiesel.com) and look under suspension then steering. There will be pictures that show you how they work.

hey guys i need help got a o4.5 crewcab lly 6 inch fabtech raced in 4 wheel high a few times broke both tie rods , got new ones then put sleeves on them and had it lined up , now when u put it in 4 wheel hi edge on 1,2,3,4, or level 5 it spins the front tires at about any speed, it looks like when i get on it it turns the tires in what do i need to do

I just finally got around to replacing mine this weekend. I feel like a civic or something with all the turning radius I gained back!! I had to take off the steering stabilizer when I put on my ProComp lift, so that wasn't limiting my steering, just them beefy parts. Stinks that I now have weak ones back on, but I'm glad to be able to turn better now.

john - plenty of info about that on the board. I think that most that do 4wd boosted launches are running the SD Centerlink to prevent the bending of the factory one under heavy load.

I bought the fabtech kit. Idler arm, pitman arm and stabalizer. Haven't put on the idler or pitman yet. Bought them for when I would need them.

What would / should I do?

You could pretend that you put them on, dip them in salt water and let em sit outside. Then call and request the return package. That will get you $490 if you return the idler/pitman because it includes parts, labor, and alignment. If there is a participating shop in your area, they will pay to have the new ones put on, but you could say your doing it yourself. They do want a receipt for the alignment afterwords, but you could just not get that $95.

But this would all be morally wrong and Karma might get ya. :)

Or, you could call fabtech and see what they give you. I think they only give $240 for parts. And I wouldn't put that stabilizer on because it reduces your turning radius too much.

I had bought my kit from John @ DPS but the number is no longer in service.

I Emailed Fabtech and they said to return the parts and to them and they will refund my costs.

IF not for this site, I would have never known about the recall.... Thanks.

the money finaly came i got the $490 on saterday.

What are these "sleeves" that I keep seeing? I understand the concept, but are there kits that are being sold?:confused:

Go to www.superdieselperformance.com (http://www.superdieselperformance.com) You can find the Tie-rod sleeves there. A must have for boosted launches.

I was going to replace mine and saw this on the site .
Thank you Diesel Place and all the good people on the site .
You saved me from having to go through all this .

I can't do anything about it right now because I am sitting in the desert, but are all of the arms bad? I just had my kit put on in April. Did they fix the problems in the newer kits?

I can't do anything about it right now because I am sitting in the desert, but are all of the arms bad? I just had my kit put on in April. Did they fix the problems in the newer kits?

From what they told me when I got the recall, they weren't going to have an updated product out for some time and possibly never. I am surpeised someone sold them to you after the recall came out.

It is only the Idler arm and the Pitman orm that are under the recall, no other Fabtech Part is involved.

If Fabtech is not coming out with a "fix", what do you get when you buy the kit? The same recalled crap? Or do they give you Moog parts? Anybody know?

If Fabtech is not coming out with a "fix", what do you get when you buy the kit? The same recalled crap? Or do they give you Moog parts? Anybody know?

When they took mine off, they gave the shop Moog parts to reinstall. I kept the tie rods as they are much better than the stockers, but now I the ticket is Cognito Pitman/Idler arm braces, Kennedy diesel sells them (a suppporting vendor) and they are $200 plus shipping and have proved to hold up very well.

You could pretend that you put them on, dip them in salt water and let em sit outside. Then call and request the return package. That will get you $490 if you return the idler/pitman because it includes parts, labor, and alignment. If there is a participating shop in your area, they will pay to have the new ones put on, but you could say your doing it yourself. They do want a receipt for the alignment afterwords, but you could just not get that $95.

But this would all be morally wrong and Karma might get ya. :)

Or, you could call fabtech and see what they give you. I think they only give $240 for parts. And I wouldn't put that stabilizer on because it reduces your turning radius too much.

Fabtech is good enough to return your money when they admitted their product had a problem.
Why should someone try to screw Fabtech by claiming the parts were installed, when they really weren't? :badidea:

I just wish they would pay the claims.. I sent two of them in with the old parts first of May, no check yet.

My post was in jest. Thanks for pointing out the correct moral decision 3 months later. ;)

What really would have been good is if they come back with brand new heavy duty parts that were free from defects to replace the old ones with. Now I'm back to square one with wimpy factory style parts. Ohh, and they could have paid me for the original installation, but they didn't because I'm not a business so I didn't get any money for my original time.

I did get some money though, so I can't complain too much because they did make it right, but they could have made it better.