What 4" Lift for LMM?

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May the farce be with you
Jun 9, 2012
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cognito 4" here, did great at 70mph in 4x4 with just the spacers.
Spacers? For the front driveshaft that connects the transfer case to the front diff:confused:

he is obviously going off norcal truck's site, which recommends new shafts. but they arent needed. obviously they are stronger because they eliminate the chance of wobble, but every other kit out their uses spacers, and they have been tried and true for a while now on all lift kit brands.
No, no I am not going off "nor cals site" I am going off cognito's recommendation, and the warning they place in the directions for the 4" kit. :rolleyes: after buying just the front box kit, and reading the directions and fine print, I purchased the drive shaft just to be safe. They seemed pretty adamant in the directions, stating in all caps, that a front drive shaft would be necessary for high speed use, so I bought it as a precautionary measure
 

arneson

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Aug 14, 2011
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No, no I am not going off "nor cals site" I am going off cognito's recommendation, and the warning they place in the directions for the 4" kit. :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

U read directions even tho you had someone else install the kit? Do that have the directions on website? Curious to there reasons why. Never seen the reason for a shaft on a small 4in lift.
 

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Yes I read the directions, I was going to install it, but decided that I would have the shop I was going to have install the new gears do it instead, since they would have to remove the front diff anyways, I like things to stay together rather than be taken apart and re torqued.
 

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Yes, cognito has a download of the directions for the 4" kit on their site, just make sure you are viewing the right lift, then iirc, in the upper left side of the screen tab for the lift there is a little page icon that is the directions
 

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arneson; said:
Curious to there reasons why. Never seen the reason for a shaft on a small 4in lift.

They drop the diff down 3.75" it adds alot of angle, not every lift drops the diff, this is the first NTBD lift I have seen, and the first one I have seen/used that drops the diff, it is also the first time I have used an aftermarket front drive shaft.Origionally, I purchased the front box kit with out the driveshaft, then as I stated before, I read the directions, called cognito, and per their recommendation, I then bought the driveshaft
 

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Maybe it would work without it? I don't know, I wasn't willing to risk the stock one failing and possibly tearing up other parts to find out:D
 

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Alot of the aftermarked shafts are actually worse than the stock ones!
http://www.duramaxdiesels.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43092

Wow!
Thanks, wish I had seen this before, may have to check into the cci shaft, I hate the vibration I get with this cognito drive shaft, I might just re install the stocker and see what happens. I wish I could fab a front driveline hoop like you did Swiss, that thing looked sweet, and did the job too, probably saved you from alot of damage as well:thumb:
 
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Swisstyphoon

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Jan 2, 2010
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Wow!
Thanks, wish I had seen this before, may have to check into the cci shaft, I hate the vibration I get with this cognito drive shaft, I might just re install the stocker and see what happens. I wish I could fab a front driveline hoop like you did Swiss, that thing looked sweet, and did the job too, probably saved you from alot of damage as well:thumb:

My truck did not vibrate with the cognito shaft, it was just to weak.
Yes that hoop sure did its job, and probably saved me alot of $$
 

RENODMAX

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Mar 4, 2008
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I have the tuff country 4". It came with everything needed to lift the truck. I can go as fast as I want in 4wd with stock drivelines and mine is set around 5"
 

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JD Dave

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May 19, 2008
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I had the 4" Cognito up until this year on my truck and the first 2 years I drove it on the street with my big twins and there was no vibration. You don't need the driveshaft. I do like the kit but if I had to do it again I'd look at something less pricey. I think Tough Country or whatever DHD sells is what I'd run. Cheaper and they don't miss a beat. That being said the Cognito never missed a beat either.
 

LBZ

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Jul 2, 2007
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It's not, it is just the front box kit. Then you need the rear block, or in my case I went with the DEAVER mini pack they were 400, and to utilize 4x4 effectively, you also need a front driveline for 550. And the NTBD(no torsion bar drop) is another $$$ option, like 350, add these to the advertised price of the front box kit, then you have a complete lift

The good side of cognito... Everything is super stout, nothing is cast it's all welded plate steel, the front lift kit only uses a 1/4" spacer to extend out the c/v axle so you don't loose hardly any of your turning radius(i can hardly notice it) and the ride and tire wear is really good, you get the pitman and idler arm brace parts and the HD sway bar end links standard, and I would upgrade the idler pivot assembly while you're at it as well. You can find better tie rods than what cognito offers, IMO.

FYI- With any 4" kit you will have to trim pretty good to fit 35x12.5 tires. And the more the kit pushes the front tires out, the more you will be trimming. Iirc, the rancho kit moves each side out over an inch! So look into that before you pull the trigger, there is alot more to consider than just price.

One thing to note as well, kits that retain the stock location for the front diff and front driveshaft may be better for 1/4 mile duty, that is the only thing I have not liked about the cognito 4" kit, it dropped the front diff down, which is why you need a new front driveline with compounded u-joints to accommodate for the added angle, and now I have a high speed vibration I am convinced is related to the driveline configuration.

Here's my truck with the cognito 4" 18x10 wheels with 4.5 bs and a -12 os with 285/75/18(35x11.5) and I had to trim a bit to fit them, but my c/v angles are flat, the kit is set at 4"
picture.php

No need for any new shafts for my 4-6" Fabtech. Over 160 000 miles with no issues on stockers. Set at 5" right now and taken over 100mph in 4x4 on pavement and lots of miles around 50-60mph in 4x4.
Mine is a torsion bar drop too.
 

duramaxdiesel

Dmax Nut
Oct 23, 2008
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Well I thank all you guys for the info provided here. I ended up getting a different truck with a lift already installed. 2008 Silverado LMM CCSB with a BDS 7" lift. Do any of you have any experience with this kit?


Nick
 

duramaxdiesel

Dmax Nut
Oct 23, 2008
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I'll get a few pics on here tomorrow after work. I noticed the shocks were Fox Racing. It handles pretty good. I'm kind of glad this deal showed up when it did.


Nick