We’re installing a $4,000 leveling kit on this 2020 Duramax. The customer had one specific request: make this truck ride as smooth as possible. He said, and I quote, he wanted it to “ride like a Cadillac” but didn’t want it to be any taller since he tows his camper with it. As you can see, he has three car seats back here, so height was a big concern. The truck already had a leveling kit installed by a local shop, which we’ll talk about once we remove the wheels. It’s actually pretty funny when you see what they did.

 

Here, we have the Cognito Elite leveling kit with Fox 2.5 shocks. Just look at how beefy these shocks are! For comparison, we also have the Fox 2.0s right here. You can see the size difference in the reservoirs—it’s quite significant. Even the rear shocks are massive, and we’re pairing them with Cognito upper control arms. Note that these control arms come with a cap, and you don’t need to remove it since there’s no grease fitting for these ball joints. This is Cognito’s new style, with ball joints that are pre-greased and require no maintenance, designed to last up to 100,000 miles or more. There’s a video on Cognito’s website explaining this design, detailing how the larger ball inside the joint increases durability and minimizes the risk of failure from over-greasing, which used to be a common issue.

We’re also installing the Pitman and idler arm solution, also known as the PISK kit, which will really tighten up the steering. Given that this customer uses his truck to tow his camper, this upgrade is crucial for ensuring stable handling and reducing any sway on the road—a common issue with GM vehicles. To beef up the front end even more, we’re adding heavy-duty tie rods.

 

Now, let’s get started. First, we’ll remove the wheels and tires. This is where it gets funny—the leveling kit the previous shop installed is just factory upper control arms and Rancho shocks. They basically just added torsion keys and called it a day. I’m not even sure if they actually swapped the keys because you can achieve a leveled look by just turning up the factory torsion keys a bit.

When we install leveling kits, we do the full package—Cognito or Kryptonite upper control arms, and most importantly, upgraded shocks. These factory Rancho shocks are terrible; they bounce like crazy. If you’re going to spend money on a leveling kit, upgrade the shocks—go with Fox 2.0s or, in this case, Fox 2.5s. This Cognito Elite kit is one of the best you can get.

 

Now, let’s remove the upper control arms and swap in the Cognito ones, followed by the shock swap.  Per Cognito’s instructions, we’re going to cut the bump stop here. You need to measure about a half-inch above the brake line bolt and make the cut. This will give more room for the upper control arms to travel down.

Alright, the Rancho shocks are out, and as expected, they’re pretty slow to rebound. You can see the difference right away—these shocks barely have any resistance. The Fox 2.5s are much better, taking some effort to compress and rebound. Now, let’s get these installed on the driver’s side. It’s going to be a bit tricky with all the wiring harnesses in the way, but we’ll get it done.  

 

We’ve got the Fox 2.5s installed, and it wasn’t easy. The wiring harnesses were definitely a challenge, and I’m not looking forward to mounting the reservoirs up top—it’s going to be a tight squeeze. Next up, we’re installing the control arms, tie rods, and the PISK kit. We’ve already cut the perch as you can see, so we’re ready to move on.

Alright, let’s move the tie rods into place. Devin pointed out that the previous shop did install a diff spacer up front to drop the front differential for a better CV angle, but they didn’t address the upper control arms or shocks, which should have been the priority. Instead, they focused on the diff spacer and torsion keys, which isn’t how I would have done it. But, to each their own.

 

Now, we’re removing the factory tie rod, and you can see the size difference compared to the new ones. The new tie rods are much beefier—the size of the nut alone is impressive. I’m going to adjust the new tie rods to match the old ones’ length as closely as possible to keep the toe alignment from being too far off.

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Alright, we’ve got the Pitman and idler arm support kit installed. The first step was to loosen the gearbox to give us a bit of wiggle room to get the nut out and install the brace. Now that’s done, we also have the rear shocks installed, which are also pretty beefy. The shocks are adjustable at the top, so I’ll leave that to the truck’s owner to tweak.

 

The final touch—putting the wheels back on. Once the truck is back on the ground, we’ll tighten up the upper control arm bolts and reinstall the skid plate. Yesterday, we realized that the tires were rubbing against the Cognito upper control arms, which is surprising because these are 35s. This is usually an issue with 37s, but it might be because these are 35s on 18s, giving them a more bubbly look. To fix this, we added a quarter-inch spacer, which should solve the problem. We didn’t want to use 2-inch spacers since this truck is primarily used for towing, so the quarter-inch spacer was a safer option.

Here’s what the quarter-inch spacer looks like installed—you’re still getting plenty of thread engagement, so no worries there. After installing it, the tire is still close to the control arm, but once we adjust the camber and caster, it should be fine.

 

We’ve completed the installation of the 2-3 inch Cognito Elite leveling kit with Fox 2.5s and Cognito upper control arms. We also added the quarter-inch spacer for good measure. Check out the clearance now—it’s much better. We haven’t adjusted the shocks yet because I want to leave that to the owner. He can set the ride to be stiffer or softer depending on his preference.

Let’s take it for a spin and see how it handles. Backing out, we’ve got a bit of off-roading here—just a little, but enough to feel the difference. Mondo’s done King shocks on a Ram before, and driving through the grass, you couldn’t feel a thing—it felt like pavement. Let’s see how this setup compares.

 

First drive impressions—it’s definitely a bit stiffer, but let’s see how it handles that dip at the end of the driveway. The great thing about these shocks is you can adjust the stiffness for both high and low speeds with a simple dial. That wasn’t bad at all—actually smoother than I expected. My truck rides much rougher than that. We’ll definitely need an alignment, though. The steering wheel is way off, but that’s just due to the toe being off after we swapped the tie rods.

On the road, it’s surprisingly smooth. The airbags in the rear do add some stiffness, but overall, it’s handling very well. The steering feels firm—there’s no play at all, which is a big improvement over the typical GM steering. Normally, with GM vehicles, there’s a lot of play in the steering wheel before the truck actually changes direction, but not with this setup. Every little movement translates directly to the wheels, making it feel much more precise.

 

So far, I’m impressed with how it’s handling even on this rough road, which is usually beat up by 18-wheelers and dump trucks all day. The front end feels solid—there’s no jarring or bouncing in the steering wheel, even over bumps.

Alright, now that we’ve wrapped up the installation, I want to show you the CV axle angle. As you can see, it’s pretty flat, thanks to the diff drop spacer that was already installed. This has given us a much better angle, and for a 2-inch level, it’s not bad at all. The Cognito kit doesn’t come with a diff drop spacer, so without it, the CV angle would be closer to the tie rod angle, which isn’t terrible but not ideal. 

 

Let me know in the comments what you think about this truck and how it sits. And if you’re interested in getting a kit like this installed on your truck, shoot us an email or a DM. We’re always looking for more vehicles to feature on the channel.

To wrap this up, what do you think? I love it—I’d definitely install this on my Denali. Do they make these shocks for a factory setup? I thought this truck had a leveling kit on it. Yeah, but it’s only a 2-inch kit. This setup is something I’d recommend for a tow rig because of how smooth it is. And you can always stiffen up the ride if needed, especially when towing heavy loads.

 

I know some people will suggest just getting a 4-inch BDS kit and turning it down, but honestly, the way this rides, I’m not sure

 it would be any better. Different setups suit different needs, and this customer didn’t want his truck any taller. He was already concerned about the height when towing, so a lift kit was out of the question. This Cognito Elite kit achieved exactly what he wanted—keeping the same height while improving the ride quality.

 

So, let me know what you think in the comments, and if you’re interested in getting your vehicle featured and having parts installed, send me a DM or email. As always, I’ll see you next time. Peace.

 

This version keeps the original structure and details but reads more smoothly and professionally.