Liberty KJ thread

[calamaridog]

So let's talk about my other vehicle a little. I know there are some KJ folks hanging around. Post your pics, mods, and impressions here. Also list your problems, likes, and dislikes here.

Mine is a 2002 Limited with the 3.7 v6 and selectable 4wd system. It's stock, except for REVOS, and will remain so for at least the next few years. Someday I'll do OME suspension and one size larger tire I suppose.

Our only offroading has been mild stuff and fire roads in this one, but I know some of you have done more challenging terrain.

For longer trips, I hate the small capacity in the cargo area. Anybody have suggestions for the roof? For longer trips I love the gas mileage, that has been consistantly over 20mpg vs. 14mpg in the Land Cruiser.

I like the selectable 4wd system, the drivetrain, and the small, easy to manuvre size. I do enjoy driving this vehicle.

I dislike the trim falling off, the 3 ball joint recalls, the wind noise on the front doors, and the mild "pull" to the right, that nobody can fix and Jeep claims doesn't exist.

Overall, it's been a decent vehicle and a good new vehicle value for a 4wd at only $22k.

[FourByLand]

I am a Cherokee enthusiast, so the Liberty frustrated me.

[calamaridog]

I am a Cherokee enthusiast, so the Liberty frustrated me.

With the introduction of the 4 door Wrangler, the concept of a solid axle Jeep SUV makes even less sense. I had Cherokee for a short while and the build quality of the Liberty is much better.

I'm not a fan of the Liberty IFS and the component strength leaves much to be desired (think Dana 30/35), but at least they use 8.25 corporate and D44's in the rear of the Liberty.

I think the styling skipped a generation too. They could have made the Liberty look a little more like the Cherokee.

[Scott Brady]

The Cherokee left a very positive impression on many buyers. Look at the new Patriot.

http://www.edmunds.com/media/il/features/general/06.new.york.auto.show/jeep.patriot.front.500.jpg

[jeffryscott]

I seriously considered the Liberty as a replacement for the Suzuki. Drove some several times and have to say I liked them. What held me back, fortunately, was its size. It was only a few inches bigger in the rear seat and cargo area than the Vitara and I just couldn't get myself to buy one even though there were some great deals to be had (fortunately, I got an even better deal on the 4Runner).

They have above average reliability ratings, minus the ball joint recalls, and modifications, albeit limited are fairly inexpensive. The vehicle is limited to about 2.5 inches of lift and you have to use a BFH to get anything bigger than a 245/75/16.

From what I've read and heard, I do think they are underrated as a 4wd, much as the Suzuki was.

[Allahades]

Here's my mother's Liberty, with her driving Little Medano Pass in Colorado. She uses her Liberty as a backcountry access vehicle to visit to rock art sites and remote trailheads, and it performs beautifully. We put on aftermarket skid plates because it bottoms out fairly easily, but otherwise she's left it stock.

I like them a lot, although they do seem a bit dated compared to newer vehicles in the same price range that have electronic traction controls and even rear lockers. But a Liberty can be had for cheap on the used market, and there's a lot of aftermarket support for them (I'm comparing the Liberty aftermarket to the Nissan aftermarket here). As more people buy them used and build them up, I think soccer-mom connotation will fade.

[FourByLand]

but at least they use 8.25 corporate and D44's in the rear of the Liberty.


Cherokee came with a Chrysler 8.25 and there was nothing wrong with it. The only think I didnt really love was the uni-body didnt feel right welding/bolting parts that were going to be under stress... but a great truck.

[Signcutter21]

KJ owner here, love taking my little Libby out for a challenge. The 8.25 in the rear is fine (no D44 from the factory), though more than a handful have blown the 30a in the front. (mostly due to tire spinning in the air and coming down on it). My KJ has taken me through many Moab and AZ trails as well as a couple in CA too. It keeps up with the big boys alright. check out the LOSTKJ site for more info.

later, mike

2.5 Frankenlift
245/75R16 GY MTRs
Skids underneath
Front and rear recievers
Cobra CB
10# Powertank
Rocklizard bumpers soon
Custom roof rack
other odds and ends

[2006KJSPORT4x4]

Here showing off some Jeep Liberty love by displaying my rig...

Has a Rocky Road Outfitters 2.5" lift
BFGoodrich 255/70/16 Mud-terrain tires
Yakima Jeep Roof Basket
Mopar Rock Rails
Mopar slush mats and cargo mat
Mopar Tail light guards
Jeep KJ Renegade fog lamps
LOTS of brush pinstriping

http://photos-460.ak.facebook.com/ip005/v17/100/11/56400045/n56400045_30052460_5836.jpg

http://photos-463.ak.facebook.com/ip005/v17/100/11/56400045/n56400045_30052463_8113.jpg

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h115/nolakj/Paradise%202006/10-17-2006-16-1.jpg

[calamaridog]

The 8.25 corporate rear end is great. The only complaint about my 2002 rear end is they switched to disc brakes in 2003:drool:

I swear saw some D44's under a few of the 2002's but I can't remember what package they were with.

Regardless, I think the 8.25 corporate is just as good as a D44, so it's a wash anyways.

[JPFreek1]

You KJ folks ought to check out www.kjexpgroup.com. I found it about a month ago and it's a great spot for KJ folks who enjoy expedition travel, and the owner lives in Canada so for your northwest folks, you can probably organize with him a trip in your area.

[Signcutter21]

ditto on the site JPFreek. Love it.

[805gregg]

Ive got an 06 KJ and I love it, it's a CRD with 2.5" Frankinlift, with a rear cargo carrier. I installed BFG All Terrain but ket the stock size to keep my mileage up. Average 25 mpg. I am looking at adventure trailers.

[calamaridog]

Greg,

Sounds like a good story how you got a CRD Liberty in California:REExeSquatsHL1: I bet that took some work.

I just wish there was a few extra inches of cargo room in the rear. Otherwise, it's been a good SUV.

[toyrunner95]

that looks amazingly close to scotts expeditions west page, even the "adventure, discovery, exploration" part. nifty site though

[2006KJSPORT4x4]

true that it is.....amazingly enough though, the guy created it without even knowing about scott's though....located in canada....great group though, we're heading to Moab this summer for an extreme heat ride..we'll be letting yall know what happens once plans get finalized

[calamaridog]

I need to bump this thread to the top folks.

Trying to sell the Land Cruiser so the Liberty will become the new default exploration vehicle. I need some motivation, so any cool pics of your Liberty in action will be much appreciated!

Thanks:)

[bmonday]

I traded in my BMW 528i for a Liberty after 9/11. I wanted something American made, and with a bit more capability than the Bimmer.

In those early days, everyone was figuring out what would work and what wouldn't. Due to the IFS, about 1" was all we could go lift-wise without causing CV problems, and with the unibody design there is no such thing as a body lift on a KJ. Some people were squeezing 32" tires under their KJ in those days, but only if they didn't mind rubbing or cutting.

Here I am with a group from LostKJs in Moab:
http://bmonday.com/images/25/r_DSC00013.jpg

This is me on Rock Chucker, also Moab. (no, I didn't make it up. Even though I had ARB lockers at both ends, my ARB bull bar prevented me from getting a good grip on the wall):
http://bmonday.com/images/25/r_DSC00043.jpg

Some other Moab shots:
http://bmonday.com/images/25/r_DSC00120.jpg
http://bmonday.com/images/25/r_DSC00042.jpg
http://bmonday.com/images/25/r_DSCN0057.jpg

When the LJ came out, I was first in line to trade my capable, but limited (pardon the pun) Liberty in for a real Jeep that still had the KJ's cargo capacity, but pretty much worked with the bulk of the Wrangler after market products.

It looks a bit like this now, some 4 years later:
http://bmonday.com/images/25/r_DSCN0289.JPG

[Zeero]

Wow, I got on this thread a little late....thans JPFreek for the pump...umm two years ago....yikes.

True that it is....we created KJ Expeditionary Group without even knowing at all the Expeditions West existed....great minds think alike.

We did Moab last year, we had two Liberty's in our possesion at the time...both Renegade packages, and both were lifted etc etc.....out of a shortage of sponsors we only ended up taking one, and meeting another one down there.

We've since changed our name to "Overland Expeditions" and are now running the 4 door Unlimited Rubicons.....we have two and they are coming together with a few sponsors slowly.

Anyway, heres pictures of our "Moab Liberty":

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/zeerotoo/017redrockchallenge.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/zeerotoo/062redrockchallenge.jpg

This what we are running now:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/zeerotoo/DSC_3914.jpg

Alot of people "complain" about the IFS in the Liberty, I think you'll find that these are the people who are usually into the rock crawling and single trail runs.

We did a TON of research on how to make the Liberty's a capable and competitive expedition vehicle.....and we found that having the IFS was infact a big bonus.

Through our reseacrh we determined that lifiting it 2.5" inches was perfect....any less and you botton out all the time, anymore and you mess the CV angles pretty bad.

If you will be on expo with this machine, go with the OME 2" HEAVY DUTY spring lift....we experienced load issues on this Liberty, not to bad, but we could have used those springs....almost 1000 LBS over stock in load weight.

The Libertys we ran proved to be surprising and very capable trucks, and would recommend in an instant to anyone looking at one.

There is more information than I can type here from the research we did, however if you have any questions feel free to ask....

If you check out our site...its still www.kjexpgroup.com we still have alot of useful info on there....

Another group I recommend you vist to is www.lostkjs.com very large and active Liberty owners group and forum.

[calamaridog]

Thanks for the feedback guys (and the pics). I've been registered at LOST for a while and spent some time reading today.

I know there are some more LOST folks here, so I'm sure more will chime in.

[scottg]

Thanks for the feedback guys (and the pics). I've been registered at LOST for a while and spent some time reading today.

I know there are some more LOST folks here, so I'm sure more will chime in.


Yeah, im on their too, more of a lurker on both sites


ScottG

[tommudd]

I am on LOST and here as well, mines been great over 104,000 miles and not one problem never been in a shop . I replaced my own lower ball joints with moogs. still have priginal brakes/calipers etc, just regular oil/ fluid changes through out and spark plug changes . I have the OME Lift with ranchos struts/shock (on for over 65,000 miles) and still rides great Oh did the clevis etc and its sitting just an inch lower than JeepinBy Als 4 inch lift.
Had Cherokees before but like the KJ better wish it had the SFA but it gets the job done!

Tom

[Zeero]

Dont underestimate the IFS.....it improves on road driving imensely, and for expedition use its exactly what you need.

If you're looking for more flex, remove the front bar completely....and presto, you can flex that front end until you feel like stopping.