New shout out from Germany

[xIceHoundx]

I am a US Army combat medic stationed in Germany and just got a new-to-me 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade 3.7L 6spd with 59k miles. Sold my 93 Mazda RX7 in the states because it wasnt practical for germany and knew it wouldnt be able to pass german inspections with as much modification as it had. This is the first vehicle ive owned that wasnt japanese make and modified for street performance so this is my first venture into the offroad world with a POV, but ive done a fair share in deployments to iraq and afghanistan with armored humvees, MATVs, and ATVs and dirtbikes as well. Any wisdom/info/advise yall can share with me about this vehicle, modifications, maintainance, typical problems of, or offroading oriented stuff please feel free to share, thanks.

 

[Leeann]

Welcome!

Yours has more goodies than mine

 

[Dave]

Welcome. Nice Renne. Looks like a US Spec one as the Euro ones I have seen only have 2 lights on the lightbar.

Dave

 

[yellocoyote]

(welcome)

 

[xIceHoundx]

Welcome. Nice Renne. Looks like a US Spec one as the Euro ones I have seen only have 2 lights on the lightbar.

Dave

Yea its US Spec, wouldnt be worth bothering with a Euro Spec vehicle because its a hassle bringing them back to the US when my time in germany ends.

Already found a few problems, previous owner says theres a leak coming from the front differential case he says to be a seal going from the Diff left side axel seal, so ive got a few seals on order right now waiting for them to show up in the mail. Apparently its fairly common to get front diff leaks from what im finding online? But typically I read that it comes from the pinion gear seal. Anyone have any insight oh the differentials and transfer cases and how troublesome it is to replace seals or potentially rebuild them.

Also ive noticed a sort of burning smell after driving home from work from outside the vehicle. I drive down a large long hill to go to work and dont notice any burning smell when I get there, but on the drive home up the long hill after I get home I can smell it when stepping out of my vehicle. Ive pinpointed the smell to the rear passenger side. I also noticed that the wheel/rim was very hot, while the other 3 wheels are just fine, im assuming/hoping this to be a wheel bearing because the heat doesnt feel like brake overheating as its toward the center hub section. This is also only noticed after the drive up the hill and not down. All of the driving ive done has been in 2WD.

 

[xIceHoundx]

pulled off the rear passenger wheel and went to work today, wheel bearing seems fine but the e-brake mechanism is rusted up and seized up so the pads were always engaged against the rotor. Pulled off the pads for now until I can get more time to work on freeing up the seized mechanism so for now no heat problem, also no e-brakes. Gotta order up some front and read diff seals

 

[TheBlueKJ]

I've changed the rear output shasft seal on the ****** case. It's a fairly easy and straight forward job, but there are some trouble spots like getting the oil slinger off without destroying it and bending it back to shape. You can get a new one for $4-5 online and I highly recommend doing it that way you don't have to worry bout keeping in tact and just go at it ripping it apart to get it off. There are youtube videos on it as well.

 

[xIceHoundx]

I've changed the rear output shasft seal on the ****** case. It's a fairly easy and straight forward job, but there are some trouble spots like getting the oil slinger off without destroying it and bending it back to shape. You can get a new one for $4-5 online and I highly recommend doing it that way you don't have to worry bout keeping in tact and just go at it ripping it apart to get it off. There are youtube videos on it as well.

Thanks for the advice, I'm probably just going to replace all the seals for the front and rear diff completely. Anyone know of a place that offers a set to order all in one?

 

[xIceHoundx]

Im interested and looking at the frankenlift kit, anyone with experience with it please feel free to chime in. How hard it is to install on your own? Im stationed in Germany so don't have the access to shop so i'll be doing it along with the help of a few buddies here. What kind of tire sizes can I expect to fit reasonably that wont overtax the diffs/trans/drivetrain? What kind of offroad capability will this lift kit allow for?