06 Liberty AT tires & Replacement Shocks

[viking_driver]

Ok y'all, I owned a CJ from 85-97, then a TJ till 2000, then a Sport Trac until last friday when I walked into a Jeep dealership and less than an hour later had bought a KJ, $300 back of invoice together with a $4000 rebate [yeah, that was FOUR grand off after buying an 06 back of invoice], but I digress.

I'm looking to turn my KJ into a docile on road, sometimes off road machine. So I'm looking to replace the Wrangler HP's that came with the 17" wheels - which will be tough choice for new tires since I want AT's. Anybody have decent choices for AT's in the 17" size. TireRack shows only the Pirelli Scorpion as an A/T tire in the size - after than you go down to mostly highway and road tires like the Wrangler F1, Geolander, a coupe Michelins street tires and the inevitable Conti's - any tried any others?

I had a set of the Scorpion A/T's on the Sport Trac and they were GREAT tires for the first 20,000 miles but wore quickly- good grip will do that! Any tire certified for Porsche OEM can not be all bad.

I see that 245/65/17's don't rub 99% of the time and am willing to step up in size to gain a 1/2" of clearance - there are 3 decent tires in that size:

Wrangler Silent Armor
Pirelli Scorp ATR
Geolander ATPlus II

Thoughts? Comments?

I also want to get new shocks - are there any Rancho 9000's that work with the KJ? Can I part #s???

If Rancho does not have a shock, RSX or 9000's - what else are you guys using?

I got a 06 Limited with all the options for the price of an optioned Sport 4WD, so I just put on skid plates and 2 front two hooks, got a rear hook for the hitch, and figure with a sunroof, all the options, all I need to really do is get tires and shocks to get a decent off road trail machine, some muds and streams. I have my tow strap from TJ days and my skills are there somewhere in the back of brain - so I'm back in the jeepin' business!

 

[viking_driver]

I emailed Rancho and they got back to me telling that the shocks for the 02-04 Liberty fits the 05-06 as well - didn't Jeep redesign the suspension pieces a little in 05? I do not want to spend money on these if they won;t fit . . . this was their answer

Thank you for your interest in Rancho products. For your vehicle we offer shocks in all our series (RS9000X, RS5000, and RSX). The part numbers for each series are listed below:

RS9000X
front - RS99764
rear - RS99284

RS5000
front - RS5764
rear - RS5284


RSX
front - RSX17505
rear - RSX17080[-

and it looks like I am going to get the Geolandar AT-II Plus tires in 245/65/17 size - just a little wider and taller -

 

[especko]

ask jeepjeepster, he just bought a set of the geolanders, look in the thread listed just below this one call the tires are here

 

[JeepJeepster]

The geolander A/T +2 is a great tire. Thats what I was wanting to get but that have stopped making them and they didnt have any in my size. I got the tire that is replacing it which is the geolander A/T-S.

The suspension is the same for all year libbys. they did use a different springs in 02 but that has nothing to do with shocks.. O

 

[Stampey]

Pireli scorpion A/T's look cool, but not sure how they wear.

 

[HayaBuddha]

Seems like a lot of folks around here like to go to the smaller wheels for some reason.

If you're interested in going to the 16s so you can get a different size tire, let me know...I'd be interested in your wheel tire package for my 16" wheels and cash.