Old noobie buys a KJ

[sleazy rider]

In a time long ago, there existed in my garage a "real" Jeep - a 1978 CJ5 with a healthy 360 ci engine and manual trans. It was real fun throwing the windshield down and blasting mud puddles with it.

Fast forward 30 years and the second "real" Jeep came home with me yesterday. Yup, resurrecting a 2002 Liberty KJ with the 3.7l and an automagic trans. It's rotten in the rockers, the suspension is saggy like me and it was well abused by a teenage college girl. I've been spending money like a sailor on liberty (see what I did there?) for parts and fluids to make it whole again. The front driveshaft rattles like my knees, all the fluids are neglected, but it runs damn good. Did I mention the brakes are full of overcooked oatmeat? It just kinda squishes to a stop.

Stopped by Discount Tire today and ordered a wheel/tire combo to lose the rusted, rotted old wheels. RockAuto got some Christmas largesse and so did Amazon. Once the systems are all in good working condition, the welding and sheetmetal banging starts. New rockers, the MIG gets pulled out and a bunch of new patches will be formed.

Since I'm somewhat qualified to bend wrenches, toss ratches, lose 10mm sockets and use screwdrivers as pry bars, this should be entertaining for the long Michigan winter.

I found y'all with Google and have been reading intently on the intricacies of these sweet little SUVs.

The victim, err, new addition to the fleet. --->

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The water under it is residue from washing some "bird decorations" off the paint.

 

[sleazy rider]

Bad form replying to myself, but I also wanted to say thanks for the info shared here. It's got me off to a good start on figuring the issues with this beastie.

 

[tommudd]

Yes best thing for any noobie to do is read read and read some more till you look like you're 20 and just coming home off a good 4 day drinking " weekend"
Before you order too many things, this little monsters require some things that are not generic , like NGK copper plugs, HOAT coolant, moog greaseable lower ball joints etc
There are " cheap parts" out there but if you use them, they won't be cheap for long.
I have owned Jeeps and other 4x4s for the last 45 + years and these are the most fun to work on IMO
Bought the 04 new and the rest followed along just adding to the collection

Good luck and if ya need to know anything , just ask
Never a dumb question,.....although we may give ya a dumb answer

 

[sleazy rider]

Having tossed wrenches across shop bays in anger over stupid customers, I appreciate the value in buying OEM or like quality parts. Cheap means doing it twice and for a lazy man, that’s just not gonna happen.

Had one guy bring his two wheeled cruiser in because it was only running on one of two cylinders. First question was “what was the last thing you did to the bike?”

“I put a super tuner on it.” Disconnected tuner and dammit, it ran like new. Just gotta be smarter than a hunk of steel to succeed.

 

[tommudd]

Been there , heard that, seen that LOL

Just wanted to give heads up, too many do not look at quality but " look for 100 dollars I can get a full suspension rebuild kit with springs, shocks UCAs , LBJs etc etc,
Why should I pay that for ____ its only one part ! "

And then there is " LIFETIME WARRANTY " buddy of mine went cheap on a lifetime warranty radiator . In less than 2 years replaced it 11 times , Yes he saved a ton of money LOL but that lifetime warranty really paid off,....NOT

 

[sleazy rider]

No lift kit on this one for now. I ordered the KYB loaded struts and rear shocks for the suspenders. The blown muffler is getting tossed in favor of a DNA cat back kit. If that goes bad, I have a new universal Flowmaster in the parts locker. Just needs a flange added. Checked Autozone for stock parts and they quoted over $200 for muffler & tailpipe. Laughed and walked out.

 

[LibertyTC]

Welcome.
It's good to hear that it runs great. Another Jeep saved!
Wonderful that you can do the work yourself & restore the KJ back to very good condition again !
The KJ's are worth the effort & do very well in the snow.
Do you have the Part Time Command Trac Or the Full Time Select Trac transfer case?
You can get your free online build sheet by typing in your VIN # here : https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing

 

[sleazy rider]

Did that when I stumbled across the link earlier today. It’s the Command Trac system.

I located the KJ about 40 miles from home, so we had a nice get acquainted drive. Stopped at my local oil change shop and paid them to dump the gunk.

 

[LibertyTC]

Do you have the owners manual ? There is a Hidden slot in the glove box where the book can sometimes be found.

 

[sleazy rider]

Yup, found that straight away on the walk around prior to test drive. It’s all there and even has the OEM floor mats. The young lady had some leopard print seat covers on the front seats. Pulled them and tossed. Seats were reasonably clean, but I’m gonna toss the heater in the garage and power clean the entire interior some time in the next week. Lots of food residue. Yuck.

The brake bleed ports are rusted tight. I hit them with penetrating fluid and had dinner. Will spray again before bedtime and cross my fingers they break free. I really don’t want to replace wheel cylinders too. lol

 

[LibertyTC]

Seat covers probably protected them & always nice to have a clean interior!
BTW the command trac is a locking system & and should only be driven on slippery surfaces like snow mud etc.
Otherwise you can get binding, especially noticeable in turn. I avoid full hard over turns anyways.

 

[sleazy rider]

The entire logic behind this deal is to head up to the UP of Michigan and distant lands to trail ride and camp with my two little old dogs. I have a 2010 Transit Connect that was remodeled into a solo camper, but after two months on the road with it, it just got too small inside. Time to go back to the tent and cot.

 

[LibertyTC]

Cool, sounds like a relaxing time camping then.
I can pack the KJ pretty well & set up camp fairly quickly..

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[tommudd]

No lift kit on this one for now. I ordered the KYB loaded struts and rear shocks for the suspenders. The blown muffler is getting tossed in favor of a DNA cat back kit. If that goes bad, I have a new universal Flowmaster in the parts locker. Just needs a flange added. Checked Autozone for stock parts and they quoted over $200 for muffler & tailpipe. Laughed and walked out.

KYB as bad as stock really and that is bad
upgrade suspension to OME springs and either OME or Bilstein shocks
if no lift is wanted then go 925 front and 947 rear springs, rated at 350 lb in front right at what stock springs should of been from the factory instaed of only 310 lb. I run these on my 05 Limited since I use it to haul my 88 year old Mother
Flowmaster on one of these is nothing but a huge drone making machine,
ran one for a while on the 04, could not talk to someone beside of me due to droning sound

 

[MarksmanAkula]

This link will help you out immensely.

http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/

If you need diagrams, removal, installation, part numbers, etc. I've gotten most of my info from these and this site as well.

Specifically the Service manual portion and the Parts FICHE.

 

[sleazy rider]

This link will help you out immensely.

http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/

If you need diagrams, removal, installation, part numbers, etc. I've gotten most of my info from these and this site as well.

Specifically the Service manual portion and the Parts FICHE.

Oh, heck yeah! Thanks for that. Torque values are always a good thing. The service manual just got downloaded to the garage laptop.

 

[sleazy rider]

@tommudd

That's why the Flowmaster is still in it's box. I had a 2006 Focus that was breathed on and it was supposed to go on it. The body gave up the ghost due to salt and corrosion. I like a little rumble, but avoided Cherry Bombs back in the day too.

 

[MarksmanAkula]

KYB as bad as stock really and that is bad
upgrade suspension to OME springs and either OME or Bilstein shocks
if no lift is wanted then go 925 front and 947 rear springs, rated at 350 lb in front right at what stock springs should of been from the factory instaed of only 310 lb. I run these on my 05 Limited since I use it to haul my 88 year old Mother
Flowmaster on one of these is nothing but a huge drone making machine,
ran one for a while on the 04, could not talk to someone beside of me due to droning sound

Tomm, what's your preferred place to buy OME parts?

 

[sleazy rider]

How in the ever loving world do you put a tail light lamp holder in backwards???

The RR turn signal was fast flashing on my drive home with the new vehicle. Put a new bulb on the Big List of Things to Fix. Took it apart and the other holders came out relatively easily. I ended up pulling the entire assembly to figure out WTF. Ended up breaking the holder in pieces to pull it out. The bulb socket was black. /facepalm

 

[sleazy rider]

Well, that was simple! New catback system in, start to finish 30 minutes. Power tools are wonderful things.

I really probably should ask a mod to move all this work stuff to the Member's Journal.