How did you modify your Jeep Liberty?

What I did to my Liberty took about 6 months of fitting and fabrication.  Essentially what I did was put a 2 inch tube spacer between the KJ unibody and the engine carriage dropping the entire engine front differential, steering rack down 2 inches.  I used the front Skyjacker shock and built my own mounts to get the proper strut/spring connection to the lower a-arm. I have the upper a-arm in the original pockets and installed my Gen 4 arms.  For the back I used custom 6 inch lift springs and Skyjacker 8000 shocks. 

With these changes how much lift did you get?

My lift is like 5.5 inches, close to 6 inches.  The way the lift is I did not have to change the half shafts to run the 33 inch tires, I needed to trim the fenders in the front and rear, remove the inner plastic fender well and beat in the pinch weld.

What tires do you have?

BF Goodrich All-Terrain LT285/75R16 (32.50 inches) for on and off road. 

What wheels do you have?

The stock Rubicon Moabs, the stock steel ones will not work well with a wider tire such as the 295R75.

What lift kit did you use?

I custom built front struts with Skyjacker shocks with Skyjacker rear shocks and custom springs.

Did you use wheel spacers?

No, the NHRA drag racing body doesn’t allow them for good reason, so I don’t recommend using them either. This statement will cause some debate, because the real good wheel spacers (ie expensive ones) have worked well on rock buggies for years!

Did you do anything with the axels?

I am making aluminum collars for the front to fit around the pinion bearing pocket to reinforce it from splitting the case.  I have the true track limited slip in the front.

For the rear, the 8.25 is stout enough for anything you do with the KJ.  I have a full locker in the rear.  Both axels have the 4.10 gears

You need a longer drive shaft, a new tri-link to replace the factory the upper rear ball joint unit (or a shim plate to adjust the pinion angle), and new long rear adjustable lower control arms.

Can I buy a kit to make my KJ like yours?

We are working on a kit with step by step instructions to lift a KJ 5-6", this kit should be ready for the market in Sept. 2007. If you would like to get one of the first releases of this lift kit or info about the lift kit when it will be available, send me an email liftmykj6in@jeepinbyal.com