Still on break

Still on break

anyone have a functioning brain they can donate.... I've seem to have lost mine.

I lied just a teeny bit yesterday. I didn't fully torque the idler nut all the way but didn't think it was that big of a deal. Well I had bolted the idler assembly back up to make it easier to work on the nut and so I wouldn't have anything binding up. I'll be damn if you can get any torque on a wrench to tighten that f'ing nut. I got it tight enough and am going to get one of the techs to torque it up at the dealership when I take it in to get a few things done and to test out a new Tahoe.

Now on to the big nut on the pitman. Sum-bitch. I can't break it. My cheater bar won't fit on my big crescent. I'm thinking about cutting the damn thing off and telling the wife the cat ate it.

BTW, I'm on another break.

I tried holding with a hex wrench and it just binds too much because the little hex wrench is so small. So, I had the bright idea of bolting the whole thing back up.

Now I am too lazy to unbolt it (that's a word) so I stare at the pitman side to see if I can scare it loose.

I am going to eat some Wheaties and go give it another heave.

I've read the new Tahoe H2 is really cool.

Might wanna put on one of your depends undergarments!

Just in case you have a blowout!

Damn Wheaties worked.

But, alas, no increase in horsepower and that damn squeak is still present. Other than my center link and steering box, my steering is feeling, well bullet resistant, maybe not proof.

The pitman side took about 9 mins 43 secs once I manned up and broke that big damn nut free. I drove it up and down the street and didn't hit any parked cars or anything. Can't tell much with the little driving I did, though.

Almost as fast as me, the 10 minutes I referred to earlier was actually a rounded up 9' 41" </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, but I was counting the 3 seconds it took me to burp

Almost as fast as me, the 10 minutes I referred to earlier was actually a rounded up 9' 41" </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, but I was counting the 3 seconds it took me to burp </div></BLOCKQUOTE>And I counted the 9' 21" it took me to find a 32mm long handled wrench, and I didn't have to burp as I didn't need no wheaties to take off a little girly bolt </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That brought the laughter!!!!

Almost as fast as me, the 10 minutes I referred to earlier was actually a rounded up 9' 41" </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, but I was counting the 3 seconds it took me to burp </div></BLOCKQUOTE>And I counted the 9' 21" it took me to find a 32mm long handled wrench, and I didn't have to burp as I didn't need no wheaties to take off a little girly bolt </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That brought the laughter!!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Shut it, that bolt's big

Two thumbs up on the Cognitos. I hit the interstate for about 15 miles to take the truck into the dealer and there was a defined difference at that speed.

In the back of my head I was wondering why I wasn't noticing my tires feeling slightly out of balance. After putting these on, I could feel it again. I definitely took out that tad bit of slop I thought I was getting.

Also, the new Tahoe is da bomb. Super quiet, push button rear door opening, push button folding second row seats, very smooth ride AND THE SEATS, they are like LAZY BOY RECLINERS

So what constitutes a qualified mechanic for this job. I'm not ready for this type of thing yet from the sound of it. I think I know who I'll have do it for me, but before I waste my money on countless labor hours is there some set of prerequisite experience so that I can tell them something like, "if you can do X, Y, and Z then you can do this for me without it taking 5 hours?"

A true mechanic with a lift should easily knock it out in 30 minutes time. Also having the right tools available helps. There is nothing technical to it but working on the idler is just a butt because of the original GM design.

In all honesty, if you have ever turned a wrench on a car or truck, it's pretty easy to do. I'm just stubborn and like to use air and/or power and basically like to complain a lot.

Well, I do think I could do it, but I'd probably have to get a new tool, which might not be so bad, plus something to lift the truck with, which wouldn't be bad either. Plus I don't have a backup car. So I don't really have the luxury of being able to walk away from it our of frustration until the next day and be without a running car. I think I'll just pay someone on this one.

Being an auto mechanical noob, I didn't really I understand these things from Cognito's pictures and descriptions. But I've talked to the mechanic, looked at some virgin pitman and idler arms, and crawled under my own truck and peaked up under the skid plate and think I grok it all now.

But I have, hopefully, one last question: how do you tell just how worn your arm links are? If you remove the skid plate can you just grab ahold of the center link and try to twist/rotate it and it'll move if the links are worn, or is the wear not that evident?

checking for wear is more of a two person job. One to move the steering wheel back and forth just until resistance is felt and someone to look at all the joints underneath while the steering is being turned. Any 'slop' on the joints would signify a bad/worn joint. You should be able to move/twist the arms on the joints but not have latteral movement at the joint.

Ok, it's always fun trying to play catch-up on this message board....way too many posts!

Phil, When you say "wiggle," do you mean to push it side to side, or push to turn the wheels?

Top to bottom free play is more dangerous than side to side... A-Arms problem !!!

For Phil...
At the end do you think that the COGNITO SUPPORT are ok or no ?
What is the problem you have encoutered to install... I receive mine next week (15 days overseas for delivery....)

Thanks.

Had to ressurect(sp?) this one...So Paragon, Ernie, Phil, what is the verdict on this product. My 06 has 16K on it and it feels sloppy, the fabtechs and Allignment I had done after Tellico tightened it up, but I will be putting lots of miles on this truck and if this kit could save me an alignment or two and/or keep it from following ruts, I would like to add it. So, whats your verdict?

I have replaced my idler and pitarms and installed the cognito.
At the moment i can not give you any reply.
My idler and pitman go out after 15-18000 miles and more offroad and more bump on the trail...

After Moab, Tellico, and 2 local trips (I didn't have cognitos on for moab or one of the local trips) I still do not need an alignment and I am running 37" and the Fabtech tie rods.

It definitely tightened up my steering, well, not so much as tightened it up but made the feel more actual.

I honestly think the cognitos are no brainers due to the extra support it offers if it didn't do anything else. It doesn't allow for some linear rotation in the centerlink that happens when you are in stock form.

Thanks guys, I think i'll order them.

Ahhhhh! I just got mine put on. Things are noticably tighter now.

I drove home from the shop in some huge heartland of America farm crosswinds and it was easier to control than before. Instead of having the truck lurch sideways in gusts only to have the steering catchup in a time lag, I can feel the truck start to drift in the steering much sooner and correct right away.

My alignment was off, but probably only because I tightened my torsion bars last week.

There is one on ebay cheap!

where on ebay?

Yes, I love mine too. I also hope that they will prevent some of the pitman/idler wear as advertised by those crazy TrailDuty people.