Upgrading the steering

[Quijy]

From what I have read the quality of the MOOGs are better than OEM. They last longer than OEM as well. I had 52k on my stock parts and they did have some wear but not enough to be concerned with.

[tomp]

Main difference in Moog vs OEM is on the Idler arm. It is much thicker arm than the OEM arm, so less flex in the arm. Also, the joints are stronger than OEM on both P&I arms

[tomp]

The rare parts tie rods are better than the chinese crap metal used in both the Fabtech and Cognito rods. When fabtech first came out with them, they were great but China changed the type of metal and now they dont last even marginally amoutn of mileage - total junk now!

Rare parts are made in US wqith high quality hardened American steel. All part are also available seperately so you only have to but the parts you need to rebuild them down the road! Try doing this with Fabtech (have to buy entire kit again) or Cognito (will sell them but you have to but them at almost cost of buying the entire kit!) The Cognito heim joint version is decent if you dont live near salt or sand areas but be warned that even mud is gritty in texture and always ends up all over the heim joints

[Scarsman]

So Rare Parts are the ones to go with these days? I just found out my stock ones are starting to get a little play in them, so I will need to replace them soon. I will be upgrading them, and I am researching options right now.

[KT2T]

I am starting to put together a parts list right now for my front end as well. It's good to know about the quality of the Rare Parts, and even more so the decline in quality of the Fabtechs! There is a ton of information around, but nothing that I could point to and say "yup, this is the definitive list of upgrades for the H2 front end", so I am going to try and make such a list with the help of you guys. It may not be applicable to everyone because I also want to level the H2 by raising up the front end a little bit.

So far, I have (Cognito parts listed):

o UCAK100044 (H2 Uni-ball Upper Control Arms)
o UCAK100001 (front end level kit)
o BILSTEIN-BE5-E381-T0 (longer-than-stock shocks for use with o UCAK100001)
o SBELKHD-1000 (end-links for use with UCAK100001)
o PISK2008 (pitman/idler support kit)
o IPAWG8 (Idler Pivot kit)
o TRK100045 (tie rods)

Based on what I have read thus far in this thread, I will dump the TRK100045 tie rods for the Rare Parts (part number anyone?).

Please keep the suggestions coming guys, thanks a ton!

[seventwozero]

I was looking on the rare parts site and have seen their tie rods, they also make their own pitman and idler's among other parts. Does anyone have anything to offer regarding their parts? I wonder if the Cognito support kit would still fit with the rare parts p/i arms.. and if the added cost is worth it? For what its worth, I probably won't be doing extreme rock crawling or anything like that.

edit: since I'll need an alignment after the work is done, I'm trying to do the majority of it at once.

[VegasGuy]

Originally Posted by Scarsman

So Rare Parts are the ones to go with these days? I just found out my stock ones are starting to get a little play in them, so I will need to replace them soon. I will be upgrading them, and I am researching options right now.

When I get some time in my schedule this is the combo I am going to go with. The price seems pretty good:

http://dmaxstore.com/index.php?main_...roducts_id=273

[seventwozero]

Originally Posted by VegasGuy

When I get some time in my schedule this is the combo I am going to go with. The price seems pretty good:

http://dmaxstore.com/index.php?main_...roducts_id=273

The price is pretty dang nice, I think from Rare Parts the rods are about $200/ea and the Congnito kit is $200'ish as well. (correct me if I'm wrong) Will you replace your p/i arms with OEM replacements or something else?

[KT2T]

Update, and a question...

o UCAK100044 (Cognito - H2 Uni-ball Upper Control Arms)
o UCAK100001 (Cognito - front end level kit)
o BILSTEIN-BE5-E381-T0 (Cognito - longer-than-stock shocks for use with UCAK100001)
o SBELKHD-1000 (Cognito - end-links for use with UCAK100001)
o PISK2008 (Cognito - pitman/idler support kit)
o IPAWG8 (Cognito - Idler Pivot kit)
o RP28559 (Rare Parts - Xtreme Duty Tie Rods)

Ok, so I found the part number for the Rare Parts tie rods and listed it above, but while looking at the DMAX store I also noticed the DMAX KRYPTONITE Series Tie Rods. The cost is $70 more than the Rare Parts tie rods, but not sure the cost is justified.

Thanks guys, keep the suggestions and ideas coming. Once the list is honed then maybe I/we can do a complete kit deal search.

[VegasGuy]

Originally Posted by seventwozero

The price is pretty dang nice, I think from Rare Parts the rods are about $200/ea and the Congnito kit is $200'ish as well. (correct me if I'm wrong) Will you replace your p/i arms with OEM replacements or something else?

Mine are fine for now and I've never heard of them breaking (like the tie rods will). So if it ain't broke . . .