Who has the "Hot Ticket" idler & pitman arms these days?

[AKlowriderZ71]

Front tires are starting to cup a little bit, but I've been lazy and have not rotated my tires for almost 11000 miles. Took the time yesterday, rotated them & shook down the front end. Found my idler arm & pitman arm are both way sloppy.

The truck is a 2001 4x4, stock suspension(no lift), with 33x12.50R18 tires. It got new Raybestos ball joints and inner tie rod ends with sleeves a couple years ago, and they are all in good shape still.

So, what are the forum favorites? Thanks in advance.

 

[ALLY Fox]

Sub'd. I need 'em too.....

 

[Tyler_LBZ]

subbed, looking to replace mine after the new tie rods

 

[duramaxzak]

I think for the pitman and idler arms, GM is the best option for stock replacement.

 

[CarolinaHD]

Im running a GM pitman arm and the "Ultimate Idler Arm" made by a guy on dieselplace. I can 4wd launch without any toe in and the steering feels very solid now. It's not much more than a regular idler arm and is rebuildable so that's why I went with it.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/15...860-ultimate-idler-arm-gm-hd-trucks-suvs.html

http://highrollerperformance.com/shop/


Im also running the DMAX store centerlink and tie rods.

 

[Tyler_LBZ]

I know that Dmax store has a idle/pitman arm kit with the cognito braces available with their lifetime "kryptonite" no questions warranty, but its priced around $400

 

[duramaxzak]

Im running a GM pitman arm and the "Ultimate Idler Arm" made by a guy on dieselplace. I can 4wd launch without any toe in and the steering feels very solid now. It's not much more than a regular idler arm and is rebuildable so that's why I went with it.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/15...860-ultimate-idler-arm-gm-hd-trucks-suvs.html

http://highrollerperformance.com/shop/


Im also running the DMAX store centerlink and tie rods.

Wow, the price on the ultimate idler really came down from its original release!

 

[CarolinaHD]

Wow, the price on the ultimate idler really came down from its original release!

That's because he changed the design from being machined out of billet and went to casting.

Here's a photo to make you drool... In the process of increasing production output and trying to make things more economical for everyone, we changed to a casting from CNC billet.

The billet steel yielded on the same test as pictured below at 15 Tons of pressure. At 10 tons of pressure, the billet deflected by 0.040" At 15 tons, it would bend to the presses will.

The cast piece, as pictured, deflected the same amount at near 10 tons, and fully yielded at 13.5 tons.

So with our idler arm, you could hang near one and a half 3/4 ton trucks on the arm without it yielding. We have since X-rayed the arm, and there are no stress cracks evident.

So while the casting might be a little weaker, it's much more economical than CNC billet.

Production pieces should be here shortly, which will then be inspected and sent out to powder coat, then arrive back for final assembly.

With switching manufacturing methods, pricing will be dropping dramatically!!!

 

[N2BRK]

Ultimate Idler here too (as well as a lot of other parts!) and it made a dramatic improvement.

 

[quinton]

Subd

 

[AKlowriderZ71]

That "Ultimate Idler Arm" is interesting, but I have never seen a factory idler arm bend or break on a typical street driven/tow/light off-roading truck. I'm sure the added strength would be welcome in drag racing or sled pulling, but my truck will never do either of these.

Has anything been improved in the design of the idler arm pivot? That is where I have always seen the component wear out. I didn't see much info on the website.

Thank you for the information so far, I had never even heard of the "Ultimate Idler Arm" before.

 

[Chevy1925]

That "Ultimate Idler Arm" is interesting, but I have never seen a factory idler arm bend or break on a typical street driven/tow/light off-roading truck. I'm sure the added strength would be welcome in drag racing or sled pulling, but my truck will never do either of these.

Has anything been improved in the design of the idler arm pivot? That is where I have always seen the component wear out. I didn't see much info on the website.

Thank you for the information so far, I had never even heard of the "Ultimate Idler Arm" before.

The idler arm support becomes the next part to wear out quickly like you say AK. Which means upgrading to the super steer, Dmax store or another. Then a brace on the bracket as the bracket will then start flexing. The stock centerlink will still flex once all the upgrades are done and bend. There is just too much leverage with the bends it has. So an upgrade to Dmax store style kryptonite setup or a centerlink like PPE would be needed.

It's quite the circle.

 

[c20elephant]

I have read about the previous items, what about the pitman arm..?

 

[N2BRK]

My Henderson Super Steer has had a lot of hard use over the past 5 years. I recently removed it when I did the Ultimate Idler arm, and it moved and felt as tight and smooth as when I put it in.

As for the Pitman arm, is there any validity to what I've read about it needing to have a little flex to avoid damaging the steering box?

 

[CaptPhil]

Is that much strength really necessary? What is the yield point of the stud that secures it to the centerlink? Definitely less than 13.5tons. I can see it being nice that the bearing is self serviceable, but other than that it doesnt need to be that stout.

THe idler pivot and mount brace is a better area to beef up IMO. I have the SuperSteer pivot and brace on my truck, much smoother than the stock one.

 

[Chevy1925]

Is that much strength really necessary? What is the yield point of the stud that secures it to the centerlink? Definitely less than 13.5tons. I can see it being nice that the bearing is self serviceable, but other than that it doesnt need to be that stout.

THe idler pivot and mount brace is a better area to beef up IMO. I have the SuperSteer pivot and brace on my truck, much smoother than the stock one.

it may not be nessacary but when your limited to MFG a steering part in single sheer only due to patents from your competitor and you can make it very ridged while still sold at a very low price, why not? id much rather have it overbuilt and not worry about it. from what i remember reading on the stud, its been thoroughly tested and under the forces of what a centerlink will put it through, it surpasses it well beyond what it needs to.

you guys have to remember, cognito went about patenting that brace kit of theirs VERY well and you can not double sheer the centerlink points without infringing on that. if you could, there wouldnt be a need for a idler arm like this. i have one of the few EXAXT kits that made it here to the US before they were told to stop selling here by cognito. its a hell of a peice and uses a 1/2" billet steel brace on the idler arm. my pitman arm finally wore out after 55k from in and out play. it had 0 side to side like you normally get. im still on my original idler arm from when i installed the kit 75k ago but my idler arm support is finally showing wear so ill be upgrading. So if that idler arm will hold up like the setup i have, its worth the price and the overbuilt structure.

 

[SoCalMike]

If you use the ultimate idler arm is a cognito brace still needed on the pitman arm?

 

[c20elephant]

If you use the ultimate idler arm is a cognito brace still needed on the pitman arm?

I was reading on DP a few weeks ago the Cognito brace does not work with the Ultimate idler, the combination of the super steer idler support and the arm is suffiecent. I'll see if I can find his response to this question later, it's quite a long thread...

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/6833105-post170.html

You could add one of these to take care of some of the flex on the idler support tabs

 

[plowboy_lbz]

it may not be nessacary but when your limited to MFG a steering part in single sheer only due to patents from your competitor and you can make it very ridged while still sold at a very low price, why not? id much rather have it overbuilt and not worry about it. from what i remember reading on the stud, its been thoroughly tested and under the forces of what a centerlink will put it through, it surpasses it well beyond what it needs to.

you guys have to remember, cognito went about patenting that brace kit of theirs VERY well and you can not double sheer the centerlink points without infringing on that. if you could, there wouldnt be a need for a idler arm like this. i have one of the few EXAXT kits that made it here to the US before they were told to stop selling here by cognito. its a hell of a peice and uses a 1/2" billet steel brace on the idler arm. my pitman arm finally wore out after 55k from in and out play. it had 0 side to side like you normally get. im still on my original idler arm from when i installed the kit 75k ago but my idler arm support is finally showing wear so ill be upgrading. So if that idler arm will hold up like the setup i have, its worth the price and the overbuilt structure.

Got me one of them Canadian pieces also. Defiantly beefy.

 

[Chevy1925]

If you use the ultimate idler arm is a cognito brace still needed on the pitman arm?

no its not needed for most. i would run one still though if you like to launch in 4wd hard as the stock centerlink is not known to be strong.