2005 Jeep Liberty Front Shock/Strut/Coilover Suggestions

[Whelan]

After completing the rear shock/spring changeover last night and noticing the immense improvement in ride/handling I'm going to take on the front sooner than later. I'm looking for suggestions and would like to remain pretty much OEM. For the rears I did MOOG springs with KYB Excel shocks.

I found a KYB front setup but there was no picture and could not find it for sale anywhere, one of the products was SR4200. I also found a Monroe "complete" drop-in that comes assembled and ready for bolt on.

So, whats a decent brand/setup to go with I am leaning towards the complete assembly but so far have only seen the Monroe setup.

 

[Whelan]

Allow me to update as I have found a MOOG Complete assembly which is what I am looking for as I am going to replace both spring/strut and figure it's easier to do it this way than deal with a spring compressor. Plus I already have MOOG springs in the back so it seems a natural progression to keep it the same brand.

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[tommudd]

Allow me to update as I have found a MOOG Complete assembly which is what I am looking for as I am going to replace both spring/strut and figure it's easier to do it this way than deal with a spring compressor. Plus I already have MOOG springs in the back so it seems a natural progression to keep it the same brand.

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Like mentioned before I have a brand new set of them someone traded in on a full OME setup
While OK and I suppose as good as stock , I ran them on the 03 for a week, same as stock, slow way down for RR tracks, bottomed out on dips etc
But if stock feel and ride is all you want, there you go , just the same

 

[guth_64]

I currently have these installed on my wife's liberty. Ride is more rough than OEM

 

[guth_64]

I currently have these installed on my wife's liberty. Ride is more rough than OEM

it could also be that the old suspension had 150k on it

 

[Whelan]

I picked up the Moog set from Rock Auto. I plan on the ride being a little stiffer as the originals have 150k on them, but since I am looking at a full replacement these seemed the easiest and best for the $.

I'm not planning on doing more than the standard driving duty so no lift, off roading, etc. Should be here Friday and the install seems a lot easier than I thought;

-Remove airbox/battery/tray/fuse box
-Remove wheel
-Remove knuckle from upper ball joint (no need for pickle fork)
-Unbolt fork from strut, then unbolt fork from control arm
-Unbolt top coilover mount
-Reinstall with new part

I also have a nifty link for torque specs, seems everything should be 80ft.lbs.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Jeep_Liberty/Torque_Specs_&_Socket_Sizes

 

[jeeplib05]

I picked up the Moog set from Rock Auto. I plan on the ride being a little stiffer as the originals have 150k on them, but since I am looking at a full replacement these seemed the easiest and best for the $.

I'm not planning on doing more than the standard driving duty so no lift, off roading, etc. Should be here Friday and the install seems a lot easier than I thought;

-Remove airbox/battery/tray/fuse box
-Remove wheel
-Remove knuckle from upper ball joint (no need for pickle fork)
-Unbolt fork from strut, then unbolt fork from control arm
-Unbolt top coilover mount
-Reinstall with new part

I also have a nifty link for torque specs, seems everything should be 80ft.lbs.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Jeep_Liberty/Torque_Specs_&_Socket_Sizes

Yep it's that easy
You don't need to off-road in order to lift your Jeep
People claim that that means you're a mall crawler but I just don't have the time nor the correct tires and other components in order to do so ATM
I lifted my KJ to have it how I wanted it to be and that's all that matters
Oh and if the UBJ is being a pain to separate from the knuckle just give it a good whack or two on the center of the UCA right above the UBJ and it should come out
Mine was in there pretty good even with the UCA being almost new from the PO and I still had to pound it in order to get it out
Since you got the preassembled coilover, it should take roughly an hour or so to finish without doing it before
I saw a video where they had the JBA adjust-a-strut and did it all in about 5 mins (with everything disconnected already)

 

[Whelan]

Yep it's that easy
You don't need to off-road in order to lift your Jeep
People claim that that means you're a mall crawler but I just don't have the time nor the correct tires and other components in order to do so ATM
I lifted my KJ to have it how I wanted it to be and that's all that matters
Oh and if the UBJ is being a pain to separate from the knuckle just give it a good whack or two on the center of the UCA right above the UBJ and it should come out
Mine was in there pretty good even with the UCA being almost new from the PO and I still had to pound it in order to get it out
Since you got the preassembled coilover, it should take roughly an hour or so to finish without doing it before
I saw a video where they had the JBA adjust-a-strut and did it all in about 5 mins (with everything disconnected already)

Backtrack one second on that, UCA? Sorry I know most acronyms but that one eludes me. I was planning on giving the knuckle a good whack that the UBJ slides into right where the #5 arrow is but it sounds like your suggesting something different, pic thrown in so point away.

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I was also tempted to do a small lift but since I'm doing the work now and she is still driving it I figured leave it stock. Around here a lot of people go for the "look" of being ready for rocks which isn't so bad but I have other things I'd rather do like an LED light bar, yellow fog lamps, upgraded headlights, and very tempted to paint the fender flares with plastdip matte black.

 

[jeeplib05]

Backtrack one second on that, UCA? Sorry I know most acronyms but that one eludes me. I was planning on giving the knuckle a good whack that the UBJ slides into right where the #5 arrow is but it sounds like your suggesting something different, pic thrown in so point away.

You must be registered for see images

I was also tempted to do a small lift but since I'm doing the work now and she is still driving it I figured leave it stock. Around here a lot of people go for the "look" of being ready for rocks which isn't so bad but I have other things I'd rather do like an LED light bar, yellow fog lamps, upgraded headlights, and very tempted to paint the fender flares with plastdip matte black.

The UCA is the Upper Control Arm, also referred to as the "A-Arm" or #3 in your picture
The UBJ is part of the UCA and also is what you need to separate from the knuckle
You can hit the UCA right above where the UBJ is and you can hit the knuckle (I had to hit both)
That's why I was telling you to hit that as well if the UBJ still doesn't come out after hitting the knuckle
Even after you install your MOOG suspension, you can add lift later down the road very easily
It just won't ride like an OME one would

 

[Gyro]

Link to fsm with torques http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/2005JeepKJServiceManual.pdf

Measure the clevis pinch bolt head size,if it is 16mm then it only takes 45 ft lbs,if it is 22mm it takes 100 ft lbs torque.
Some time in the 05 year they reduced the size of the pinch bolt(06-07 too),just an fyi.

Gyro

 

[Kal-El]

I put the Moogs on my 04...and after a few months the ride height is still just a bit short of 20 inches. Couldn't beat the price with the RockAuto discount. And as long as the wife is happy with the ride, I'm happy with the cost. For the install, I picked up a ball joint separator at Harbor Freight for cheap and it popped the UCA joint with a single minimal tap of a claw hammer. I'm not a big fan of the BFH pounding method.

 

[eradicator006]

A while back someone posted a guide on how to do the front suspension on an '04 using the monroe quickstruts and that person stated you don't need to separate any of the balljoints to change the shock assemblies. Any truth to that? I'll be doing my suspension sometime soon and had planned on using that post as a reference.

 

[tommudd]

I put the Moogs on my 04...and after a few months the ride height is still just a bit short of 20 inches. Couldn't beat the price with the RockAuto discount. And as long as the wife is happy with the ride, I'm happy with the cost. For the install, I picked up a ball joint separator at Harbor Freight for cheap and it popped the UCA joint with a single minimal tap of a claw hammer. I'm not a big fan of the BFH pounding method.

BFH is the best and proven method, one tap is all it takes
simple and effective

 

[tommudd]

A while back someone posted a guide on how to do the front suspension on an '04 using the monroe quickstruts and that person stated you don't need to separate any of the balljoints to change the shock assemblies. Any truth to that? I'll be doing my suspension sometime soon and had planned on using that post as a reference.

I'd really like to see how they would do that
Where did you see that at?

 

[eradicator006]

I'd really like to see how they would do that
Where did you see that at?

Here it is: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/front-suspension-replacement-learning-experience-55773/

 

[Kal-El]

Maybe...but I don't think I would even try it without separating the ball joint...considering it takes less than a minute and makes access SOOOO much easier.

 

[tommudd]

Here it is: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/front-suspension-replacement-learning-experience-55773/

So much bad information should be deleted

 

[Whelan]

I'm not sure how much easier it would be considering removing that one joint will allow the hub assemble to sag and let you slide out the component easier. I'm sticking with removal of the UBJ with a good whack in a few spots.

Rock Auto had the assemblies at a good price with free shipping, Amazon was close but charged tax. Luckily they are coming from the Bronx and will be here today instead of Friday so I can inspect them.

I'm putting aside 3 hours for the job, the rears took 1.5 but that was because the lower shock bolts were locked up good and it took some PB and a few whacks to get it free.

 

[Whelan]

Assemblies came in yesterday, a good 50-70lbs. of equipment, no pics yet but I will post during the job, maybe make a more up to date video/guide as well. I will say these look different than ones I have seen elsewhere, more robust if you will. The isolators and hardware seem pretty beefy in comparison to what I saw at Monroe and my local parts store.

One good thing to note was they stated to mark a bolt on the old assembly before removal and match it up by marking the same bolt on the new one. This way I ensure proper mounting, good tip.

 

[jeeplib05]

One good thing to note was they stated to mark a bolt on the old assembly before removal and match it up by marking the same bolt on the new one. This way I ensure proper mounting, good tip.

Pretty sure the mounts only fit one way for each side
You can't really mess it up
One side of the mount has the bolts closer together and the other farther apart
They'll line up with the holes in the frame
If all bolts slide through the hole once you put it in then you're all good