Cognito braces or dhd brace for DD/track duty?
- Thread starter WolfLMM
- Start date
I didnt care for the Cognito braces at all. Really screwed up my turning radius and I ended up breaking the pitman side after about 150 passes. Took them off and put them in the recycling pile.
Have personally installed both the Cognito and the DHD brace on dedicated competition trucks and weekend warriors. Either one works DHD is my preferred choice on my trucks, and for the price you can't beat it. Cognito's hardware seems cheap, and develops a corrosion coating not to mention the paint flakes off. Have seen 1.6-60ft times with each one as well. 
DHD brace, sleeves, and I make a plate/gusset for the lower "tower connectorer thingy" to strengthen it and prevent it from wanting to flex under hard launches/ good traction situations. Only way to go in my opinion, I'm totally against the coginto braces.
Just pick one Wolf... Your going to get the same stupid ass answer over and over... I like this one, no that one sucks, I like this one:rofl:
I've had Cognito braces on my truck for 8+ years and well over 100k miles. I don't remember losing any turning radius, and my truck seems to turn just as sharp as the stock trucks I drive. I've also never experienced any binding or broken steering parts. I'm not sure why some people are experiencing that, but if I had to guess, I would say maybe they are installing them on worn pitman and/or idler arms or they aren't getting the heim joints positioned properly causing the braces to side load the joints in the arms. I hope that doesn't sound like I'm blaming anyone for screwing up; it's just the only way I can think of that could be causing the problems being shared.
i installed a set of cognito supports on my buddies truck two weeks ago, they were used. the brackets were bent from incorrect install and i can very well see that putting a strain on the arms and causing the pitman arm to break. Like you said though, thats not to say everyone else posting about them here did not install them correctly. i also believe Moog had a bad run of pitman arms that had flaws in the steel as i saw people breaking them even without the cognito supports. for a couple years there, i only put GM arms on guys trucks. Im back to Moog at the moment though as i have yet to see any newer ones cause issues when setup right.
as for the binding or loss of turning radius, that very well leads me to believe the braces were not setup correctly when installed adding tention where it shouldnt be and not checking for clearance issues. Ive also see a worn idler arm support cause the braces to hit the frame and reduce turning radius.
I'm def going with braces. This time around.
Thanks, josh, Albert, Kyle, and the rest of you guys! (Even you james
You still got a PM coming, i just kept getting side tracked yesterday
Josh, Do you have road salt in Texas?
:hug: After the first winter the coating was off. Im almost 100% sure that rust is what caused the breakage. As for the binding problem, could it have been because my tbars were down the whole way? When I had them I could only get 1.5 turns of the wheel before it stopped, and there would a loud popping noise when turning right in reverse. They were on new pitman/idlers, but the idler support was never replaced. I certainly dont want to tell people they suck if its something I did wrong. Lol
I have cognito braces and sleeves on my LLY. They have been on the truck for 8 plus years. I have beat on this truck for 300k miles and nothing has ever broken. On hard launches at the track it can get a little interesting though. No affect on turning radius.
On my LBZ I have the full kryptonite competition front end with the cognito braces. Probably pushing 1000 1/4 mile passes and many more unofficial races. I cut low 1.6 in my heavy pig and it just goes straight. I did lose a bit of turning radius, but it is a truck. The throttle can always reduce you turning radius if it is a concern....
On my LBZ I have the full kryptonite competition front end with the cognito braces. Probably pushing 1000 1/4 mile passes and many more unofficial races. I cut low 1.6 in my heavy pig and it just goes straight. I did lose a bit of turning radius, but it is a truck. The throttle can always reduce you turning radius if it is a concern....
I have cognito braces and sleeves on my LLY. They have been on the truck for 8 plus years. I have beat on this truck for 300k miles and nothing has ever broken. On hard launches at the track it can get a little interesting though. No affect on turning radius.
On my LBZ I have the full kryptonite competition front end with the cognito braces. Probably pushing 1000 1/4 mile passes and many more unofficial races. I cut low 1.6 in my heavy pig and it just goes straight. I did lose a bit of turning radius, but it is a truck. The throttle can always reduce you turning radius if it is a concern....
that is due to the kryptonite centerlink though, not the braces.