ARM vs K&N CAI?

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aduchini

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Which cold air intake (ARM Brute Force or K&N) is better for my 02' Jeep Liberty, and is this the best/cheapest path to take if I want more horsepower? What are the pros and cons of adding a CAI? Is there anything better that you would recommend over these two CAI manufacturers?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 

tommudd

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Neither are that good and will not increase horsepower or mileage
Good paper filter and the stock box flows as good as any of the CAI
All you get with them is more noise
 

aduchini

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Well that's not going to happen. If I wanted a v8 I would just buy a Grand Cherokee. There's absolutely nothing I can do to this car to up the performance?
 

aduchini

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I read about that too, how much is the cost of that? And where can I get that done? Like a local mechanic or would a 4x4 shop be better? And I also read something about 4.56 gears. Are 4.10s better for what I'm trying to do?
 

Ry' N Jen

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I read about that too, how much is the cost of that? And where can I get that done? Like a local mechanic or would a 4x4 shop be better? And I also read something about 4.56 gears. Are 4.10s better for what I'm trying to do?

For starters the front differential being the Dana 30A your only option to go lower is the 4:10 gear set. Spicer is the Only company that makes a 4:10 gear set for the Dana 30A front aluminum differential.
$307.99 from Jeepin by Al
JeepinbyAl.com - Detail1 - JBA-5066085AA - Spicer Ring and Pinion 4.10 - Jeep Liberty KJ (2002-2007) - JeepinbyAl.com
The rear 8.25" diff has more options.
Motive $363.68
Richmond Gear $365.87
Spicer $371.99
I bought from Jeepin by Al as he has excellent customer service.

Installation costs vary depending on the shop that does the work. Not cheap
I will add!
I'd guess about $750 to $1000.00 per axle for installation.

But if you are an avid off road enthusiast and plan on lifting your Liberty and fitting bigger 245-75-16 or 265-75-16 inch tires, re-gearing really is recommended/necessary.
The best way to go so the ****** doesn't hunt for gears on road and doesn't work as hard off road. Not too mention the possibility of the ****** over heating while off roading.
 
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tommudd

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4.10s are as low as you can go in the front diff. Now if you have a two wheel drive you're in luck as the 8.25 rear can go to lower gears
But a garage with experience sitting up gears and has the right tools to do them is needed, not just anyone can do it and have it turn out right.
Parts and labor would be 1300-1500 more than likely depending on the area
Now some wise shopping around could save you some green but may take longer
 

tjkj2002

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Which cold air intake (ARM Brute Force or K&N) is better for my 02' Jeep Liberty, and is this the best/cheapest path to take if I want more horsepower? What are the pros and cons of adding a CAI? Is there anything better that you would recommend over these two CAI manufacturers?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
HP is not cheap or easy to gain today since most engines already are pretty much at there max power from the factory without major internal mods,which cost alot of $$$ and more so for a engine with almost zero aftermarket support like the 3.7 in the KJ.

Regear for about $1500+,swap in a V8 at about $20,000+(legally),or trade for sports car.
 

jschenck

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Everyone always want to increase horsepower... Torque is the real motivator when it comes to putting pep in a vehicle's step. More horsepower just means your motor makes better use of the torque on the top end of the tach. This is why regearing is so beneficial, it makes better use of the engine's torque.
 

surfRenegade

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Has anyone gone down the exhaust path on their liberty? i mean from header back...not just a muffler. Just curious how beneficial it was
 

tommudd

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Less restrictive muffler helps some but not a whole lot, meaning you won't get 20-30 horse out of it. Seat of the pants feels better since your mind says it sounds better so it must be faster :happy175:
 

surfRenegade

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Less restrictive muffler helps some but not a whole lot, meaning you won't get 20-30 horse out of it. Seat of the pants feels better since your mind says it sounds better so it must be faster :happy175:

lol, yeah people tend to equate noise with more power. This is my first truck I started modifying, but with cars in the past the first steps if staying naturally aspired where to get a better intake solution, then start on exhaust. usually a cat back system and then headers. Then start boring out your manifolds and stuff like that. Just wondering if anyone on here has started that whole process. I personally dont think its worth it..usually alot of money spent for small gains, but just wanted to see what was going on out there in jeep land
 

jschenck

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Has anyone gone down the exhaust path on their liberty? i mean from header back...not just a muffler. Just curious how beneficial it was

There's a guy on here somewhere, don't recall his name now, but he has swapped the headers and everything back. Said he lost 2-3 mpg and some torque due to the strict parameters of the ECU. Said it sounds really mean though. The only way to get any benefit from headers back, or even changing the headers to is if you get your computer tuned. From what I've been learning on here, any bolt on mod reaps short term benefits, but the ECU eventually recallibrates and it's money wasted... Unless you do a tune. That's one thing I miss about my 98 grand Prix GTP. Had a few bolt ons and had gained some very noticeable improvements in torque and horsepower.
 

KJDevildog

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Your best bet would be a B&G ECU tune. You remove your ECU and send it to them (Or send one in from the same year Libby) and they remove the torque management, and tune your ECU for some pretty good gains. They can also tune it for your specific mods. I think it costs around $400-$450 for the reprogram, which is easily the most bang for the buck on these engines.

Also, Hypertech just came out with a hand held tuner that claims +24 HP/TQ on premium fuel, and has some pretty good dyno graphs to back it up. The upside to this is that you have a lot of options on the actual tuner itself, but I don't think that it removes the torque management which is what kills the performance of these engines.

Pair either of these with a good intake setup and less restrictive exhaust and you get a bit more power to the ground. Also, if you want you can get a performance torque converter and a shift kit to make your auto ****** shift better/faster.
 

surfRenegade

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wow, thanks for those last two replies. And sorry for hijacking the tread...didnt think about that before. That ***** the ECU is such a big hurdle. Never put a thought into that....never really had to worry about it before. I look into the ECU reprogram
 

Skidmark

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Which cold air intake (ARM Brute Force or K&N) is better for my 02' Jeep Liberty, and is this the best/cheapest path to take if I want more horsepower? What are the pros and cons of adding a CAI? Is there anything better that you would recommend over these two CAI manufacturers?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
I just installed a K&N on my 2010 and so far acording to the on board computer we are getting about 2MPG better and you can feel the power gain on a couple of different hills we drive all the time
 

tommudd

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They will show a slight increase at first until the computer relearns
but it will be back to the same in no time
 

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