Alright, so for the past two days my steering rack went from this:
View attachment 68556
To This:
View attachment 68561
The Part List:
- Rare Parts HD pitman arm
- Rare Parts HD Tie Rods (with my Polyurathane dust boots)
- Rare Parts HD Idler arm bracket
- Moog idler arm
- Moog centerlink
- Cognito pitman/idler arm support kit
The Trial: Took me a while to break off the old idler arm with an air hammer and pickle fork and one try to remove the "dreaded" pitman arm. I did have to remove all three steering gearbox bolts to get the perfect angle to remove the pitman arm, but I was ready to remove the whole gearbox out of the truck, so I was smitten. I was glad I spent the extra money on a new centerlink because I could not break the pitman and idler from the centerlink and tried everything aside from heat.
The Tribulations:
1. I couldn't use the cognito brace on the idler side, it would practically sit on the sway bar. I might attempt it again down the road. I was on a time crunch and it was too rainy for me to sit around and screw with it all day.
2. I had to remove my KYB steering stabilizer because the bracket hits the cognito brace. Not too upset at it, I wanted to create my own with a stiffer valved bilstein or fox shock that'll use different brackets due to different strokes.
3. The newfound responsive steering heightened the feeling of how ****** my shocks are. Now I'm looking at bilstein's since I get a good discount through my work.
The Results: In short, night and day difference! No more play, way more responsive, Still wish it felt heavier though, but that'll come with a better valved gearbox. Went around 75 on the way home from the alignment shop in torrential downpour and it tracked straight. The real test will be my route to work. Theres one section on the freeway that always gets squirrely, especially when theres standing water.
