Brakes, Bushings, and Suspension parts oh my

[Robby Avery]

I'm in the market for just about everything front end related after 250,000 well earned miles on my 2002. I'm looking to get opinions on what parts to use and what to stay away from. I'm looking at EBC brake pads not sure which one to use need a good all around pad looking at the yellow stuff? Energy suspension Hyper flex full bushing kit? PPE straight centerlink and not sure what tie rods to use I like the fabtech hd rods? Cognito HD swaybar end links for leveling kit. Race pitman and idler arm from ppe? Rancho 9000XL shocks all 4 corners and steering stabilizer. I think this is a good list but please chime in and tell me if I need to choose different parts or stick with what I've listed? Thanks in advance P.S. will the straight center link work for daily driving or is it to stiff?

 

[Hot COCOAL]

I put on a full energy suspension kit and "I" like it, but it will add vibrations and you will feel the road in ways never before from one of these trucks, both in good and bad ways. I personally would stay away from fab tech tie rods, I run rare parts tie rods and think they are really good. Rancho's are a sure bet for shocks, they work really well for allot of guys here. EBC recently released an "orange stuff" pad that I would like to try, I'm not sold on the yellow stuff pads, they work better than the stock pads though, IMHO you will see a more significant difference upgrading rotors to something that can better displace the heat and gasses caused by braking, while you're at the brake upgrade, throw some stainless braided lines on there too. I don't think the ppe race pitman and idler are necessary but they eliminate the need for the P.I.S.K from cognito, I have no experience with those parts though, the solid center links are supposed to be harder on the tires, but do the job they were intended for, i gathered that from reading, I don't have personal experience with those either. The cognito end links are sweet and beefy, you might want to look into some swaybars, I have always liked how they transform the cornering ability of our trucks. If you replace the wheel bearings I always recommend TIMKEN bearings. Since you seem to be going all out, I would also suggest replacing the UCA's, reason being, the aftermarket arms come with poly bushings and correct some factory flaws, there are several options out there now, so I won't suggest a brand, although I use cognito stuff and have had good luck with their products.

Just my .02

FWIW
:hello:

 

[mackthehack]

Shit there are a lot of words in this thread already... I can't help much with the ifs stuff since I ditched mine over 60k miles ago. But I would stay away from fabtech stuff. I've heard too many horror stories about their crappy products. Maybe James will chime in here and give some feed back for you.

 

[blitzin247]

After cocoal'a novella :hug:

I am not a huge fan of fab tech anything, there are much better brands out there, rare parts would also be my first choice for tie rods. I replaced my front end with everything moog pro grade and have been happy....untill I put on blistien's and 265's my truck rides like a bucking bull off road or in construction and I have no idea why so MANY people on DF rave about them, by far the worst mod I've done on my rig, so go with the rancho's. unless its a puller mainly I wouldn't get a straight centerlink, the on road ride eats tires a bit quicker and kills your turning radius. Slotted rotors are great, a lot of people like to run R1 concepts with yellow, red pads, or stock. (I got 250k+ outta my stockers).

 

[Robby Avery]

Thanks so much for the quick replies keep'em coming! I just checked out rare parts TR's and omg the price is no where near what I expected! Is there say something a little more budget friendly yes they were nice but with everything costing as much as it will thats the most expensive thing so far just wondering? Just sitting here thinking if I do rare parts TR's and cognito UCA thats almost a cool grand ouch! Then adding up everything else my wallet is already screaming and I haven't even ordered anything:rofl:

 

[blitzin247]

Well....yes there are cheaper parts cognito makes some too that iirc are just a tad cheaper. Another thing to keep in mind is you can buy cheaper parts a few times or buy the best parts once. If you are on a budget you can do napa or moog pro grade's with tie rod sleeves to save some coin, they aren't bullet proof, they will go out, but they are lifetime warranty... Or they can get you by untill you get some cash saved up. Also I went with rock auto for my uca's with moog components and have been completely satisfied.:woott:

 

[Robby Avery]

Alright looks like I'll do the spend a lot now save alot later method! my wallet is going to hate now:rofl: So I take it that a straight centerlink is not the way to go unless its a deicated puller right?

 

[blitzin247]

Correct stay away from the straight centerlink unless its a dedicated puller or track demon. Also don't be afraid to visit rock auto for the uca's (you can prolong the life of ball joints but they still go out, so don't be afraid to go the cheaper route for that part).

EDIT: just read your sig and saw you have braces.

 

[Hot COCOAL]

Here's some options from dmaxstore.com just to throw some options at ya, and there are plenty more :hug:

http://dmaxstore.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=23_67

 

[Robby Avery]

Correct stay away from the straight centerlink unless its a dedicated puller or track demon. Also don't be afraid to visit rock auto for the uca's (you can prolong the life of ball joints but they still go out, so don't be afraid to go the cheaper route for that part).

EDIT: just read your sig and saw you have braces.

Braces were the first things done since I run 315's. I run raybestos pro grade ball joints put 400 bucks into uppers and lowers about a year ago and have a lifetime warranty on them from auto zone. What does cognito use? Dont really want to throw a lifetime warranty away with my raybestos?

 

[Robby Avery]

Here's some options from dmaxstore.com just to throw some options at ya, and there are plenty more :hug:

http://dmaxstore.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=23_67

Thanks buddy I already have P&I braces just need the tie rods and other things I've mentioned

 

[Robby Avery]

One last question the rare parts TR's have larger knuckles on the centerlink side and my fabtechs on my 2006 have larger knuckles that would hit the sway bar are the rare parts going to do the same thing? I know I can run taller swaybar end links but it looks as though cognito website dosen't offer the ones I need for stock/leveled setups

 

[Hot COCOAL]

That was one of the concerns I had when I ordered the aftermarket tie rods, I had heard that both the cognito and fabtech TR's would come in contact with the SB, I can say that I have never seen a mark on the rare parts TR on my truck or heard any contact off or on road.

EDIT: I forgot, duh, yeah, I had the cognito tie rods on an 07 classic 1500hd, and they hit the swaybar on the drivers side all the time, I did have a larger swaybar tho. Contact would happen just from turning, a bump in the road at the "right time" while turning made an audible noise, the contact would force all the grease out of the boot, I hated that, but it only happened at full crank or close to. The rare parts tie rods do not come in contact with the swaybar, and I have the same aftermarket bar that is slightly larger than stock that I had on the last truck.

 

[mreeves23]

Many options out there. Personally for a daily driven truck, I would stick with the stock center link, rare parts tie rods, gm or moog arms (gm preferred) since you have cognito pisk alreary with either new gm idler pivot or supersteer pivot (preferred) with weld in gusset on either. For bushings, I would recommend pressing in rubber bushings in lower arms since you have new bjs already. upper arms I would recommend cognito ucas. cognito hd sway bar end links are available for leveled trucks. bilstein steering stabilizer. Bilsteins (correctly valved shocks for your application, not just run of the mill) or Rancho 9000xls. good results out of both. the straight center link changes steering geometry for my liking on a stock truck. Dedicated puller or drag truck, they are fine. Consider replacing lower bump stops if you haven't recently. Prefer z71 gm pointed style but rounded stock replacements are fine too. Hope that helps.

 

[Robby Avery]

Sounds good guys! Mreeves what EBC brake pads would you suggest I need a good all around pad thats durable for towing/dd and performance but low on dust

 

[mackthehack]

Thanks so much for the quick replies keep'em coming! I just checked out rare parts TR's and omg the price is no where near what I expected! Is there say something a little more budget friendly yes they were nice but with everything costing as much as it will thats the most expensive thing so far just wondering? Just sitting here thinking if I do rare parts TR's and cognito UCA thats almost a cool grand ouch! Then adding up everything else my wallet is already screaming and I haven't even ordered anything:rofl:

You could save money and buy cheap shit and then when it breaks replace it again. Or buy quality parts and have your wallet disown you for a little bit. Remember you get what you pay for...

 

[Robby Avery]

My wallet hates me as soon as I wake up just as much as I hate it cause we both cause each other problems! :roflmao: I read the price wrong on the Rare parts TR and I'm a little more comfortable with the price of things now so I said the heck with it since I'm gonna blow the whole front apart again may as well install a E locker while I'm in there:thumb:

 

[mackthehack]

My wallet hates me as soon as I wake up just as much as I hate it cause we both cause each other problems! :roflmao: I read the price wrong on the Rare parts TR and I'm a little more comfortable with the price of things now so I said the heck with it since I'm gonna blow the whole front apart again may as well install a E locker while I'm in there:thumb:

:thumb:

 

[WVRigrat05]

One last question the rare parts TR's have larger knuckles on the centerlink side and my fabtechs on my 2006 have larger knuckles that would hit the sway bar are the rare parts going to do the same thing? I know I can run taller swaybar end links but it looks as though cognito website dosen't offer the ones I need for stock/leveled setups

My Cognito tie rods were identical to fabtechs and they were junk, I had to get Cognito extended sway bar links where it was tearing the tie rods up., So I went to rare parts and I couldnt tear them up, I don't know if they will rub the sway bar w/o the links as I already had them.

Alligator performance carries the cognito sway bar links you need. Im getting ready to order some for my new truck along with tie rods, braces, and maybe a centerlink. I had a straight centerlink on my LLY and I liked it, you could hear the tires getting chewed on a bit while turning at parking lot speeds, and I didn't loose enough radius to complain.