Skids, Lockers, and a Lift ...Oh My

[fasto82]

Hey guys I have a very limited budget. However I want to make my libby more offroad worthy without spending an arm and a leg and sacraficing the comfy ride.

Skid Plates- What's the best bang for my buck? ive seen so many different one sout there for all sort of prices. which skids would work the best in terms of true protection and easy for oil changes and least expensive?

Lockers- What exactly does this do. Do i need them for both the front and rear differentials or woul djust th erear be good enough to get out of mud and getting over steep hills?

Lift- I've read so many topics on here about lifts and have no clue what would work best. I go ofroading maybe once a week. if im lucky. nothing too harsh but i do bottom out every now and again. I would like the peace of mind knowing that i wont get caught up on things or cringe everytime i hear it bottoming out or scraping the ground. i also do not want to lose too much comfort from the ride the stock suspension offers. also how much will my mileage go down from lifting my kj? I am kinda interested in the Rusty's 2.5" lift with rancho rsx shocks but am not sure if this will cause any premature wear in the rest of the suspension components. If anyone has this setup and can tell me about any maintainance issues encountered that would be great.

Thanks in advance for the help. Im trying to do all this on a budget of $1000 or less if possible but i think a more realistic number is gonna be around the $1500 mark. Also will any o fthese mods affect my factory warranty?

 

[CRD4Liberty]

Factory skids are the cheapest and hold up pretty good. If your mechanically inclined the Powertrax No Slip is the best bang for the buck as you just change the internals without messing with the settings that are important when you replace the center section with other lockers. Wouldn't put a locker in the front it breaks things in the Liberty. Rusty's spring lift will be a good value, the only really good spacer lift is the Daystar as it has all the bumpstops, etc included if you get the one the part number ending in a 15.

 

[JeepJeepster]

-Mopar skids are the bent bang for your buck.(jparts.com)

-Powertrax no-slip is a good locker. Kinda loud, but good. A good factory limited slip would also do you good if you dont like a loud drivetrain. You can get one for the rear or front.. All they do is help keep both rear wheels spinning..

-Lift: Rustys spring lift is a good cheap coil lift($400 or so).. Daystar puc lift is also good and cheap($250-300 i think?).

If you do not do a clevis lift with the rustys lift, the suspension/CV joints will be just fine. I didnt notice any drop in MPG with my lift..

Lift could cause a problem with warranty items such as cv joints and balljoints. They are having a recall on the balljoints so they must change the lower ones at least..

Skids- around $265
Powertrax locker-Around $400, I got mine for $200 used
Lift-rustys=$around 400; Daystar=around $250-300..
Need tires after lift-245/70/16 works best with stock gearing-Around $450 depending on type and brand you get..



O

Have fun on the trails!

 

[fasto82]

i was planning on keeping the tres i just purchased. they are revos. stock renegade size i dont remember it off the top of my head. would that affect anything with the lift if i were to retain stock tire size?

 

[JeepJeepster]

i was planning on keeping the tres i just purchased. they are revos. stock renegade size i dont remember it off the top of my head. would that affect anything with the lift if i were to retain stock tire size?

No, doesnt hurt a thing to have the stock size.. You probably wouldnt notice a difference in mpg.. The jeep handles so much better with 5" Back spacing on the rims rather than the stock 5.5in BS though.. \/

 

[Eddo]

Rusty's lift is a good quality lift. I've installed 3 of them so far. For 400-500 dollars it includes everything you need plus it has new Old Man Emu struts ( very high quality struts) and shocks.

The daystar lift is cheaper, but you will need new rear shock if you want and any kind of articulation offroad, plus it would be nice to upgrade the struts while you are at it for a better ride. So in the end the Daystar actually comes out more expensive.

 

[Emoto]

How about the road manners of the various lockers and lsds available for the Liberty? I'd like to add one, but I don't want to create problems in street driving, which is where it spends most of its life.

 

[ogfalcon]

How about the road manners of the various lockers and lsds available for the Liberty? I'd like to add one, but I don't want to create problems in street driving, which is where it spends most of its life.

The Detroit True Trac is awesome; you can't even tell it's back there when you drive on the road, but it can help you out of some sticky situations off-road. It is technically a LSD, but it doesn't uses clutches, so it should not wear out like others do. The part number for the Chrysler 8.25 is 912A553. I ordered mine from 4WheelParts.com with the full install kit that includes gaskets, seals, bearings, etc for $429.15 to my door. I'd recommend either having someone you really trust or the dealership to do the install because the 8.25 has some tricky adjustments that need to be done correctly.

OG

 

[CRD4Liberty]

The Detroit True Trac is a great unit, quiet, you'll not notice it's there. It works much more like a locker than most limited slips but not as solidly locked as a locker which makes all kinds of noises and causes excess tire wear sometimes. Also lockers don't work well on ice and snow on the streets, they cause a lot of swapping ends when you least need it. The best way to discribe a Detroit TT I guess is it's a non 100% locker, maybe a 90% locker.

 

[JeepJeepster]

A locker isnt to bad in snow. You just have to be careful on the skinny. Its best to keep it in parttime too so the front wheels help keep the rears from spinning. Who doesn't like to bring the rear around anyway? \/