King OEM and Cognito UCA Review

kennerz · March 13, 2019

Bit the bullet and went for the King OEM shocks on my 2015 Silverado CC Regular bed. Really Wanted the 2.5 Bilsteins, but those have not materialized for our trucks so I researched shocks for months trying to decide which way to go. I know most people spend a lot on lifts and stereos and things of that nature. I like good suspension. With cars and bikes I have always spent the money to have good suspension with really positive results. Almost always transforms the vehicle, in fact I would rather have good suspension over a built engine, just me.

Went for the Cognito arms because they seems to offer the most quality for the price. Was looking at JBA's (big in the Toyota world) and they had awesome features but were $175 more, and at the time they were moving their shop and I couldn't talk to anyone about them. Plus Cognito is known to stand behind their products an productsd are not a fly by night operation.

I have been around the off-road industry for many years and firmly believe that most aftermarket companies make crap products and have learned the hard way the "spend once" concept. Now not ever going to put down anyone's budget, and good stuff is never cheap, though expensive guarantees nothing.

Shocks (extended travel OEM) are made to order I got them from filthy MS(they require a new UCA). took 4 weeks as promised and got black hoses because I just didn't want all that blue on a blue truck. They did not come adjusted and I have not adjusted them to get the rest of the lift they provide yet. I have only installed the fronts , the rears are in the box still. have to decide how much to lift the rear, if at all.

* will need to remove them to adjust as there is not enough room to rotate the collar with the hose mounted in the middle, a little disappointed because I thought you could do this on vehicle.

* the initial plushness is not much better than stock.

* once you hit anything larger than a small crack/ripple you feel a dramatic improvement in dampening. concrete expansion joints close together are smoothed out.

*excessive body roll and unwanted chassis movement is nearly gone.

*speed bumps, what speed bumps?

*build quality is close to that of aerospace and defense level of MFG. no joke.

*overall ride and handling is excellent.

**Caveat is do not bolt on shocks and a arms and expect a trophy truck, not even remotely realistic. Now go with a 3" internal bypass with uniballs would be a entry level pre-runner to me, just this set up will not get you there if that is your plan (hardcore off road, constant whoops, drop offs, and jumps... but rough trail and fire roads- are all day perfect). Pretty darn good but not at the level of a true desert truck IMHO and to me for comparison a raptor on stock shocks is not a true desert truck. they do make a 3" IBP by the way...

* for a mixed street/offroad vehicle that is used everyday they are simply great!

The upper control arms from cognito are very well built as well. Got them through amazon, hard to beat what you get for the price. Went with ball joint style for many reasons, but basically there are high quality replacement available that have near or better range than the uniballs (I researched this, check out JBA offroads ball joints) Also uniballs are overkill for my purpose of use, and are very high maintenance and do not offer any range of travel/angularity that I need or can use with this length shock set up.

*cut the service perch to gain the down travel

*after a month of driving I noticed contact with the frame(upon visual inspection) When I did the zone trim plates- did not notice contact when driving) I notched the frame slightly where I saw contact. Not that big of deal to me but also expected Cognito to improve the design after many others have experienced this. I'll take away half a star for that , but I know to many people that is unacceptable.

From my many (over 35 years) of off-road I expect to have to tune and mod to get things right where you want them to be, and dialing it in is part of it all (not that I enjoy that part, I just like driving stuff that feels right). And agree for how much this stuff cost you shouldn't have to do anything but that is not living in reality.

Overall no regrets, only hurts initially on the cost, but this truck isn't going anywhere and compared to the cost of the vehicle or what a good lift or stereo, or engine mods it's not that bad. (that's what I told myself). seriously it is good stuff.

Edited March 29, 2019 by kennerz

kennerz · March 13, 2019

you can see where the contact was (right above the cognito plate on the inside)and where I slightly notched it. Below still trying to figure out how much to lift the front (probably an 1" or so to go on adjustment to hit the 2.5" recommended max) rear is factory Z71. I have a 2" motofab waiting to go on but am thinking a 1" or nothing may be better. But Filthy MS actually recommended 2" increase to allow for more shaft travel on the shock.

Edited March 29, 2019 by kennerz

kennerz · March 29, 2019

Got around to the install of the rears. Was super easy. Took maybe a half hour and most of that was jacking the truck up and finding wrenches. Felt dumb for waiting.

That said they were initially stiff. Are getting really good with some miles. The truck seemed to lift some, does not need any blocks (had a 2" motofab waiting).

Got to take the family out to the desert to off road the truck and ride our baby quads (90's). ( save the big boy bikes for with the guys). All I can say is between th increase in size of the ridge grapplers and the improve capabilities of the 2.5 Kings - the truck worked really well off-road. Scared the wife with a couple of hill climbs that the truck powered up effortlessly.

Actually took the truck on a district 38 race course (the race was the next day (after hours)) and it was no problem running at a fair pace that would have been hell/not possible on the stock ranchos. This is the spot where both King and Fox come to tune (Ocotillo/plaster city) so I'm really not kidding when I'm saying this is getting offroaded. No not rock bouncing or hammering whoops, (it managed sandy medium sized whoops really well BTW) but real desert off road conditions.

The front could come up a little (I have full adjustment available). but have to measure to keep the geometry correct. Added a real pic in the post above from the same parking lot where you can see the tires and that they truly are not pizza cutters though still lower in profile.

kennerz · March 29, 2019

With the little bikes in the back

Lsgun1 · March 29, 2019

Jealous, those look so nice.

L86 All Terrain · March 29, 2019

That's my dream set up right there. But I never keep my trucks long enough to pull the trigger on expensive mods due to Canada's harshness on modern, thin-metal vehicles. My 2010 had to be repainted at 70,000 highway miles so I turn and burn them ever 4-5 years.

Edited March 29, 2019 by L86 All Terrain

TXGREEK · March 29, 2019

Bit the bullet and went for the King OEM shocks on my 2015 Silverado CC Regular bed. Really Wanted the 2.5 Bilsteins, but those have not materialized for our trucks so I researched shocks for months trying to decide which way to go. I know most people spend a lot on lifts and stereos and things of that nature. I like good suspension. With cars and bikes I have always spent the money to have good suspension with really positive results. Almost always transforms the vehicle, in fact I would rather have good suspension over a built engine, just me.

Went for the Cognito arms because they seems to offer the most quality for the price. Was looking at JBA's (big in the Toyota world) and they had awesome features but were $175 more, and at the time they were moving their shop and I couldn't talk to anyone about them. Plus Cognito is known to stand behind their products an productsd are not a fly by night operation.

I have been around the off-road industry for many years and firmly believe that most aftermarket companies make crap products and have learned the hard way the "spend once" concept. Now not ever going to put down anyone's budget, and good stuff is never cheap, though expensive guarantees nothing.

Shocks (extended travel OEM) are made to order I got them from filthy MS(they require a new UCA). took 4 weeks as promised and got black hoses because I just didn't want all that blue on a blue truck. They did not come adjusted and I have not adjusted them to get the rest of the lift they provide yet. I have only installed the fronts , the rears are in the box still. have to decide how much to lift the rear, if at all.
* will need to remove them to adjust as there is not enough room to rotate the collar with the hose mounted in the middle, a little disappointed because I thought you could do this on vehicle.
* the initial plushness is not much better than stock.
* once you hit anything larger than a small crack/ripple you feel a dramatic improvement in dampening. concrete expansion joints close together are smoothed out.
*excessive body roll and unwanted chassis movement is nearly gone.
*speed bumps, what speed bumps?
*build quality is close to that of aerospace and defense level of MFG. no joke.
*overall ride and handling is excellent.
**Caveat is do not bolt on shocks and a arms and expect a trophy truck, not even remotely realistic. Now go with a 3" internal bypass with uniballs would be a entry level pre-runner to me, just this set up will not get you there if that is your plan (hardcore off road, constant whoops, drop offs, and jumps... but rough trail and fire roads- are all day perfect). Pretty darn good but not at the level of a true desert truck IMHO and to me for comparison a raptor on stock shocks is not a true desert truck. they do make a 3" IBP by the way...
* for a mixed street/offroad vehicle that is used everyday they are simply great!

The upper control arms from cognito are very well built as well. Got them through amazon, hard to beat what you get for the price. Went with ball joint style for many reasons, but basically there are high quality replacement available that have near or better range than the uniballs (I researched this, check out JBA offroads ball joints) Also uniballs are overkill for my purpose of use, and are very high maintenance and do not offer any range of travel/angularity that I need or can use with this length shock set up.
*cut the service perch to gain the down travel
*after a month of driving I noticed contact with the frame(upon visual inspection) When I did the zone trim plates- did not notice contact when driving) I notched the frame slightly where I saw contact. Not that big of deal to me but also expected Cognito to improve the design after many others have experienced this. I'll take away half a star for that , but I know to many people that is unacceptable.

From my many (over 35 years) of off-road I expect to have to tune and mod to get things right where you want them to be, and dialing it in is part of it all (not that I enjoy that part, I just like driving stuff that feels right). And agree for how much this stuff cost you shouldn't have to do anything but that is not living in reality.

Overall no regrets, only hurts initially on the cost, but this truck isn't going anywhere and compared to the cost of the vehicle or what a good lift or stereo, or engine mods it's not that bad. (that's what I told myself). seriously it is good stuff.

Thank you for taking the time to write this review. Initially, I too was looking at doing the same thing by installing CST or King 2.5” leveling coil overs as well as new uca’s but decided to just go with the 4.5” CST Lift instead which I’m very glad I did go this way considering the excellent ride quality keeping stock geometry. Currently, I’ve got 2.5” front coil overs and rear Piggybacks. I’m very impressed with how the coil overs handle big dips with ease but not crazy about hard speed bumps feeling a bit jarring but excellent off-road going over dips. I’m thinking of doing what you did changing out my uca’s will help with articulation and have more control over hard hits from tall skinny speed bumps.

Here’s my front and rear setup

Please do keep posting your results from anything else you may encounter

Sent from above

kennerz · March 30, 2019

Tx - Think you made a really good choice. The main benefits are that you can run a larger tire (larger than a 33") and still have full suspension articulation. (You have some great mods on your truck BTW).

I don't have any regrets with the Kings, just there isn't much meat left on the table to go to a larger/taller tire set up without at the very least a differential drop and some more mods. (spacers, longer/extended shock ends, etc.. )

I'll keep this post updated as I continue to dial it all in.

Edited March 30, 2019 by kennerz

jgraves13 · March 30, 2019

Thank you for taking the time to write this review. Initially, I too was looking at doing the same thing by installing CST or King 2.5” leveling coil overs as well as new uca’s but decided to just go with the 4.5” CST Lift instead which I’m very glad I did go this way considering the excellent ride quality keeping stock geometry. Currently, I’ve got 2.5” front coil overs and rear Piggybacks. I’m very impressed with how the coil overs handle big dips with ease but not crazy about hard speed bumps feeling a bit jarring but excellent off-road going over dips. I’m thinking of doing what you did changing out my uca’s will help with articulation and have more control over hard hits from tall skinny speed bumps.

Here’s my front and rear setup

Please do keep posting your results from anything else you may encounter

Sent from above

You won't get any more smoothness out of the front end with new arms. They'll just save your balljoints if you use the full travel of the shocks frequently

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TXGREEK · March 30, 2019

You won't get any more smoothness out of the front end with new arms. They'll just save your balljoints if you use the full travel of the shocks frequently

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m thinking should’ve had the adjustable versions installed then I may have been able to test them although they’re great everywhere but that one specific jarring speed bump. Anyway, hope you’re enjoying your King setup, nice colors too

Sent from above

kennerz · March 30, 2019

Ball joint angles and suspension geometry go hand in hand. The increased rigidity of the arms is noticeable, plus the zerked bushings does improve "feel" some . Stiffer structurally but smoother at the same time. That said larger coil overs loose a small amount of initial plushness; so there offsetting each other some.

TX - yes makes the truck more enjoyable. This truly is a everyday dual sport type set up, the on road handling, and overall ride is considerably better than OEM (actually makes it safer/more controlled). The only warning is those expecting a pillow type ride - this is not it, it is a controlled well dampened ride. Also with the extended travel and no pre-load there is a bunch more down/droop travel 2+ inches over stock that make it work awesome even though there is minimal total lift. ( that is where the UCA's are mandatory to make it work).

Edited March 30, 2019 by kennerz

kennerz · April 7, 2019

Got around to adjusting the front shocks. The fender height I measured before adjustment was 37 7/8ths. I bought a King T-handle tool for 2.0 & 2.5 shocks - this made it possible to adjust the shocks while on the truck. And I still took the wheels off and jacked it up to take the pre-load tension off the spring.

I turned the threads 6 turns down from fully topped out (no adjustment)on each side. Now I'm at 39 to 39 & 1/4" on both sides. Still have a lot of adjustment left and could easily hit 40~40.5".

Truck is pretty much level at this point with only a half inch of rake. Drives even better with the pre-load added. A small increase in initial stiffness, but then just rides/drives beautifully. Even better big bump absorption.

kennerz · April 7, 2019

trying to get some other angles

Edited April 7, 2019 by kennerz

kennerz · April 7, 2019

48 minutes ago, kennerz said:

trying to get some other angles

JonMS · August 23, 2020

Reviving this thread.

Kennerz, how have things held up with this setup in the last year? This is almost the exact setup I am looking to do for my truck soon. What made you go for the extended travel OEM vs the non as I'm currently trying to decide between the two. Plan is to use these Kings with kryptonite UCAs and my factory 20" wheels. I simply want a level (the right way).