'02 Jeep Liberty Mods

    Hey, Everybody. One of my friends suggested this website for information for anything Jeep related. I'm not incredibly knowledgable with vehicles, so I need some help figuring out exactly what parts I should get for my 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport. If anybody can help me out, I'd really appreciate it!


    So... As I said I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty Sport. I like it as it's a good around town vehicle, can haul all of my stuff, and can do what off-roading I need it to do. Although I'm interesting in putting some after market equipment on it. I already have a Grille Guard, Tail Light Guards, and Fog Lights on the way, but I'm interesting in a Lift Kit. I've seen some online, but I don't know exactly which one to purchase. I should note that I would like to keep my current tires (P235/70R16) for the time being. Perhaps down the road I'll upgrade to some slightly larger tires, but for now that gas mileage is bad enough. I'm also interested possibly in getting some new black wheels.


    My question is does anybody have any suggestions on which Lift Kit I should go with? Should I buy it locally or online? Where can I have it installed near Newark, DE? And what kind of suggestions does anybody have for the wheels and where I could get them?

    When I joined DeJa, I had a 2004 KJ. Your 2002 is already almost 2" taller than mine was as stock because they actually lowered them a bit between 2002 and 2004. At the time, there were three of us, me (DrJ-white sport), DISH (silver 2003 sport), and Woody (2004 Renegade). There have been a couple of others, but we three took ours off road lots and did very well with them. Be careful on buying a lift, you may not net much difference if you pull all the OEM parts and replace them. Call the company (not the catalog) and ask them about NET results of lift, you may want to piece your lift together yourself from Daystar, Rocky Road, Terraflex, etc. to get the best result. You'll have a lot more to choose from than we did back then, AND might be cheaper since there is a new Libby now.


    WELCOME!!!! (I miss my KJ...)

    Check out http://www.lostkjs.com. It s entire site dedicated the the KJ. Everyone will haev their own opinion as far as lifts, but stay away from spacer lifts such as the Rocky Road OTT or the Rusty's spacer lift. They will cause unwanted upper ball joint contact and will cause the UBJ to fail. All J Products "Frankenlift", OME's 2 inch lift and Rusty's Offroad Spring lift are the better of the lifts out there. Your Jeep is most likely a prelowered KJ as the lowered the 2003+ KJs 1 inch for so called roll over safety. Never had such a problem and I have had a 2.5 inch lift on for 4 years. http://www.Jeepinbyal.com also has just introducted a 4 and 6 inch lift and they are still pretty new, so I dont have any info on them as far as reliablity. If you dont have them, get some armor and rocker guards as the KJs tranny is very vulnerable and the KJ sits kind of low and the rockers are very expensive to replace. Kind of nice when you land on a rock and hear a bang or thud and the jeep is protected by the armor. I have wheeled with and without a lift and with and without armor. The lift is nice and helps you keep from dragging over every obstacle, but you will hit something guaranteed and it is nice to have the armor there protected the parts that make the jeep go.

    Woody

    Thanks for the suggestions and input, guys! Again, I don't really know much about any of this stuff and I'd like to do it right the first time so I really appreciate the warnings on what not to do.


    I'll keep checking that site dedicated to the Liberty, although it appears to be down for the moment...

    Looked around based on the suggestions given and I like the Rusty's 2.5" Suspension. Any suggestions as to where I should pick one of these up (or can I only get them from Rusty's website?) and where I can have it installed locally?

    Get it from Rusty himself. If you dont need it immediately and want to save on shipping, see if he will bring it up with him when he comes to PA Jeeps in July. I had him meet me at a Neuroc event at Paragon ORP and it save me quite a bit on shipping.


    If you go with Rusty's, buy some rear bump stops as well as they kit does not come with it. I have Rusty's lift on mine and I am now suffering a little sage on the rear drivers side most likely due to over compressing the rear springs as I have no bump stops.


    I also will stess again to get some armor up under the KJ. It will make offroad way less stressful.

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