Just now getting in to Jeep liberty

[Randal Davis]

NOt long ago, my wife and i bought our first Jeep liberty .
2005 Liberty with only 98k miles on it, after having it inspected by the shop, seems the Frame on the drivers side right before the mounting for the lower control arm, is rusted out.

SO i found another Liberty Body, will be going from a standard liberty to a Limited body.
Only doing a motor, trans and transfer swap over ..
the frame is almost perfect on the other body..

Our 05 Liberty came stock with 16" rims, the other liberty has 16" after market rim..

anyway my question is, IF adding a 2.5" list to the jeep, what size rims and Tire can i run.
I do have a Ford Explor, that has 17" tires on it. I know i cant use the rims from the ford. but tires I want to say they are 265 or 285 /70/17 . What rims will work on my liberty with a 2.5" lift with out modding the frame work of fenders using 17" tires ..

 

[tommudd]

Well first are you going to lift it or not
Only lift currently worth installing is OMW 927/948 springs with either Bilstein or OME shocks
Then if lifting either 7 inch wide wheels with 4 inches of backspacing
or 8 inch wide with 5 inches of backspacing
Then 31 inch tall tires
and are you ready to regear to 4.10s ?
If not mileage loss, lose power, harder on transmission

265-70-16s work good on an 8 inch wide wheel
245-75-16s work great on a 7 inch wide wheel
both same height

Doesn't matter if 16 or 17 inch wheels, they have nothing to do with tire size just like comparing a Ford Exploder against a Liberty
two different things

 

[tommudd]

OH and 265-70-17s and 285-70-17s are a 33 inch tall tire, no lifts anymore will lift high enough to run them
PLUS
You'd need a very minimum of 4.56 gears which are not available for a KJ
nothing lower than 4.10s

 

[Randal Davis]

ok so what would be the Biggest tire i could run with a 2.5" lift on a 2005 Liberty..?
Sorry for the newbie question ..

 

[tommudd]

ok so what would be the Biggest tire i could run with a 2.5" lift on a 2005 Liberty..?
Sorry for the newbie question ..

Not a newbie question but answered it above
31 inch tall tire like 245-75-16 or 265-70-16s but ,

well read above instead of me typing it all out again

 

[tommudd]

By the way, same year KJ and your 05 ?
same transfer case etc

 

[Randal Davis]

I believe my buddie who has the body is only pulling the motor out , there rest is staying in . SO ill be just be dropping in my motor, his had a 3.7 and mine is also a 3.7 ...

 

[tommudd]

I believe my buddie who has the body is only pulling the motor out , there rest is staying in . SO ill be just be dropping in my motor, his had a 3.7 and mine is also a 3.7 ...

Some year motors etc do not play well in other years
for example 02-03 will play together but 02-03 will not in say 04s due to computer etc unless you tear into the motors

 

[tommudd]

Oh without doing a hack job no way to mod the " fenders " to make room for larger than what I mentioned in tires
You will need to pound over the pinch weld in behind the front tires for even 31s

 

[Doing10to20]

I'm able to run a 255/75/17 tires on my kj with a RRO lift with OME parts on..alot of people dont like RRO but they've been great for me ,use them on all my jeeps ,I daily the kj and offroad it more than most....good combo worth looking into regardless of the negative comments you'll read..you will lose a bit of power going bigger tires,nothing you cant live with,I'm in Az and havent had ****** problems or the jeep running extra hot ,mileage will go down..so you got options...got over 210k miles on mine and havent had major issues other than routine maintenance or breaking something on the trail once in a great while

 

[tommudd]

LOL

for WAY !!!!!!!!!! cheaper you can just use OME without junk RRO top plates etc

TRUTH

 

[Randal Davis]

thanks for the info.
I live in Indiana, and i don't see many Libs around with stuffed tires and a lift.
what i do see there all stock ..

 

[tommudd]

thanks for the info.
I live in Indiana, and i don't see many Libs around with stuffed tires and a lift.
what i do see there all stock ..

Used to be several in Indiana
Most of them ended up at my Monthly M&Gs over here in Ohio, lived in Northwest Ohio back then
Used to have a great group every month
One Badlands run we had 23 KJs I think having a bit of fun

 

[Randal Davis]

i found a 2.5 lift kit on ebay for less than 150 bucks, its pretty much spacers, but allows me to keep all else stock.
im just after tires and what can be stuffed under after the lift ..
wasnt for sure if the 17" tires i have on my dads old ford that was left to me .
after he passed and we replaced the tires on it ..
I mean if i have to beat the pinch welds, on the fenders ill do that, just dont want to cut a crap ton off it ..
until later on when i feel more comfortable with modding the thing ..

 

[Doing10to20]

thanks for the info.
I live in Indiana, and i don't see many Libs around with stuffed tires and a lift.
what i do see there all stock ..

Kj are cool they got their limits especially with the ifs why you'llnever see alot of modified kjs ,but with what I've done to it,never has it let me down, i got a few vids and pics from a few of my trips to moab ,AZ wheelin ect..you'll have fun with it however you lift it

 

[tommudd]

i found a 2.5 lift kit on ebay for less than 150 bucks, its pretty much spacers, but allows me to keep all else stock.
im just after tires and what can be stuffed under after the lift ..
wasnt for sure if the 17" tires i have on my dads old ford that was left to me .
after he passed and we replaced the tires on it ..
I mean if i have to beat the pinch welds, on the fenders ill do that, just dont want to cut a crap ton off it ..
until later on when i feel more comfortable with modding the thing ..

You pound the pinch welds over for what I told you, you can not run a 32-33 inch tire with the lifts we have available today and have enough room to flex out good
As far as spacer lifts go they are junk, the springs are very soft to begin with even brand new. They are rated at 310 lb, which they should of been at least 340-350 lb in front
With even 65-70,000 miles I have had them in my shop where they were 1.25-1.5 inches lower than new stock height
I've been offered 350 bucks to install a spacer lift and turned it down. I want satisfied customers not upset ones
I have installed around 60 KJ lifts using OME springs etc and never one complaint

You never have to cut anything if you build it right

 

[first&lastKJ]

thanks for the info.
I live in Indiana, and i don't see many Libs around with stuffed tires and a lift.
what i do see there all stock ..

Hey... I live in Indiana and the wife and I both have lifted Libertys with 245-75-16's

 

[Randal Davis]

Hey... I live in Indiana and the wife and I both have lifted Libertys with 245-75-16's

im in midwest part. and nothing here as far as lifted lib`s... everything around me is Chevy and ford, heck i even have a lifted Ford with a 5.0. that was my dads and its ok,a dang gas guzzler ..
ill be glad when the wife gets her auto so i can have the jeep back to do the motoro swap and lift it ... just buying time right now. before i order or buy anything for it ..
SO if there is some links of Good, cheap lift kits under 250.00 or cheaper. please by all means post em up ... looking for something other than ebay for good QTY parts at a cheap price ... even used ones for that matter and within 1 or 2 hours of my location ..

 

[tommudd]

There are NO good lift kits for under 250 at all
Just give up on lifting if that is all you want to spend.
Heck the longer rear shocks needed when lifting will eat up over half of that amount
Bumpstops another 100 or so
If you take a pole on here you will find no one likes spacer lifts unless you are just playing in your yard

 

[tommudd]

QUOTE

Kutter56

New Member
Messages:3
Likes Received:0
Joined:Mar 29, 2017
Location:Muncie, Indiana
When I rebuilt my ‘04 KJ, I rebuilt the entire front suspension and installed the Rough Country ( spacer lift ) 3” Lift and 31” tires. It looked great but the ride suffered.

It was a nightmare to install and after 50k miles I ripped it out and went back to stock. In that short period, both CV axels had already been replaced twice and the lower ball joints were toast.

Installation was so difficult that the shop I use didn’t even charge any labor to put in new stock components. They hated dealing with it that much.

My conclusion is... don’t do it!

UNQUOTE