Cognito 4” Performance or BDS 6.5

Cardsfan · December 17, 2020

First off, wanna say this forum has been very informative. I’m ordering a 2021 GMC 3500 AT4 diesel and I wanna get it lifted. I’m torn between the Cognito 4 inch performance lift and the BDS 6.5 lift. I like the fact that the Cognito comes with the UCAs, idler and pitman arms but, I like the warranty of the BDS. I’ve called both companies and was told that they have not tested their lifts on 2021s yet, but how much could the suspension change between years? They didn’t redesign the suspension between last year and the 2021 that I’m aware of. I’ve got the rims and tires (Fuel Vapor 20x9 with 1mm offset and Fuel Gripper AT 37x12.50 R20) picked out. I also would like to do the least amount of trimming as possible. I don’t wanna do a leveling kit, I would like to keep the ride as best as possible. I did a leveling kit (UCAs keys shocks) on an 2500 avalanche and I didn’t care for the ride, so a leveling kit is out of the question. Pros, cons on either one of these would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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brockhals · December 17, 2020

I can't speak to Cognito, but I've had two BDS lifts and they're great! Solid and they do stand behind their product. Are you thinking coil overs with the BDS? That brings the price in line with Cognito and you can always upgrade the UCAs if you wanted/needed to later.

gSwift · December 17, 2020

I think it comes down to how much lift you want. 2.5" more lift is a pretty decent amount.

I went with the Cognito 3" Premier leveling kit that has the pitman and idler arm support kit and the Fox shocks with external resi's and UCA's and can tell you, it rides leaps and bounds better than the stock suspension. Mostly because you can adjust the dampening on the shocks.

I originally ordered the Cognito 4" lift but due to Covid, the order kept getting delayed. Well, while I was waiting (2 months) I kept second guessing the lift I chose, and in the end, I decided to go with the Cognito 3". Not because money was an issue for me, but because I can tell you that there's no way in hell I could justify an extra $1700.00 to get 1" more lift. I have no problem spending 4-5K on a full blown big quality lift kit, but theres no way i'm spending almost $3800 on a glorified leveling kit.

As for BDS, I originally was going to go this route because at first I wanted anywhere from a 7-9" lift, but i'm not sure how well that would work if we got the 5th wheel toy hauler we were looking at, so I settled for a high quality leveling kit and 37's. I can tell you I had the BDS 6" with Fox coilovers on my 2016 Sierra 1500 and it rode like a dream.

Cardsfan · December 18, 2020

Thanks for the input. I don’t believe they have the coilovers for the 1 tons. I was talking to guys at work this evening, and they gave the BDS rave reviews. I know the BDS does have the UCAs that you can add on and I could probably just get a different set of pitman and idler arms. And thank you.

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