The $500 ScienceMobile build

[Johnny O]

If you veer too far off course we are here to stop by and beat some sense into ya !
Many of us have been building these things for years now for ourselves and others so have made the mistakes and learned a " few " things along the way LOL
Saw a black JK today with 6 inches of lift and 33 inch tires on 22 inch wheels
wheels and suspension was all really bright green with red interior and outside was black OH DEAR it was horrible

Also, please stop me when I try to do stupid stuff. Please. Then again, no hand holding BS either. I’ll never learn if yinze give me the easy outs! When I break down in the middle of nowhere, if I can’t MacGuyver it to the motel, I have zero business being out there.Period.

Better to waste 3k with Enterprise for a crap FWD with free rescue on a 29 day excursion, than suffer the embarrassment of being equipped, but lacking by the knowledge. That crap is reserved for the YouTube generation IMO.

 

[tommudd]

Search for skid plates whilst you are at the discarded automobile resting areas as well
They'll come in handy at times
Mopar ones that came on some were engine, transmission , transfer case, and a very , very few gas tank skid

 

[Johnny O]

Search for skid plates whilst you are at the discarded automobile resting areas as well
They'll come in handy at times
Mopar ones that came on some were engine, transmission , transfer case, and a very , very few gas tank skid

Funny you should mention that. I was reading up on those exact items last night.

so far today I scored front seats in better shape than what I got. Not a single wheel to be found yet, but I may hit the yards in Lincoln and Iowa next week.

 

[tommudd]

Funny you should mention that. I was reading up on those exact items last night.

so far today I scored front seats in better shape than what I got. Not a single wheel to be found yet, but I may hit the yards in Lincoln and Iowa next week.

Front seats on 05-07s are terrible IMO
I run 03 Limited leather power seats in both the 03 and 04 , work great
looking for a set for the 05 , can not stand them for over 40-50 miles

 

[Irish429]

Hi gang... Just found all this interesting talk on the KJ.How do I tell by the VIN what version of Liberty I have? It's an 2006 with unpainted flares. It has cloth seat interior and I would love to upgrade the seats. It has 114,000 miles and runs great. Also what are these JBA's that are mentioned??

 

[Irish429]

Here is a 2006 Factory service manual that should help greatly. https://colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/2006-KJ-SM.pdf

Thanks very much for posting this manual!! I now have a comprehensive manual for taking care of my Liberty!

 

[Johnny O]

Hi gang... Just found all this interesting talk on the KJ.How do I tell by the VIN what version of Liberty I have? It's an 2006 with unpainted flares. It has cloth seat interior and I would love to upgrade the seats. It has 114,000 miles and runs great. Also what are these JBA's that are mentioned??

There are a number of websites that you can just plug the VIN into and get the basics. You can also get the infor via carfax, which costs a few bucks. Additionally, there a numerous manuals on and offline, that will help you decode your VIN.

 

[Irish429]

There are a number of websites that you can just plug the VIN into and get the basics. You can also get the infor via carfax, which costs a few bucks. Additionally, there a numerous manuals on and offline, that will help you decode your VIN.

Thanks for the info. I'll check with the manual I just downloaded and go from there.

 

[Johnny O]

So today I’m going all sorts of crazy on what my wife has taken to calling “the most entertaining thing to watch since she convinced me to let her stylist fix my hippie hair”.

Busted out the sawzall and grinders and welder to get rid of the fist sized hole in the driverside rear door well, and the cancer in both rear doors and the precancerous growths in the passenger rear well. She doesn’t comprehend that unibody oncology is easy for VW nuts…I even let her do some tack welds! (I’ll fix those when she gets done Instagramming about it and goes back indoors….)

Im spending two hours everyday studying manuals and reputable repair guides. I’ll likely not live long enough to know Liberty like I know flat four VWs, but I’m gonna try!

I even have had some fun watching various knuckleheads do horrible things to Libertys on YouTube…which made remember why I quit doing that with VWs years ago!

I got the driverside rear door window fixed! My first actual repair! Not going to lie, was easier than fixing Bug regulators, and am in process of disassembling the other doors to inspect/repair the others.

Raw materials for my bumpers got delivered today. Looking forward to the weekend to start fabrication. Those ARB bumpers are slick, but overkill for my needs…plus they don’t have the stuff I want like mounts for my insect sampling nets or storage for Nitric, Picric, and Sulphuric acid, reagents required for my field research…

I have had zero luck on used wheels. The factory alloys have serious galvanic corrosion issues on the contact surfaces to the point I don’t trust them at all beyond driving to work. Perhaps I’m overly paranoid, but I’m roughly 65 days from the middle of nowhere, and I’m not gonna have noobfails if I can help it.

I am having issues with the tailgate. Can’t get it to open, and the glass won’t latch…going to work on that once this beverage break and the first round of welding is done.

 

[Michael Wolfe]

A few links I find useful:

https://www.rocky-road.com/liberty.html

https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/cars/Jeep/2005/Liberty/car-parts.html (nice fiche, part numbers, etc.)

https://shop.sasquatchparts.com/vehicle/liberty-crd/ (For us CRD guys)

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/2002-2007-liberty-kj

I believe the stock roof rack system is Thule. I know they say the max capacity is 100oz evenly distributed, but I've had a lot on them, and never had any issues. Although my kayak racks are mounted out to the roof rails, my last load from Lowes consisted of (6) 16 ft trex deck boards, (2) PT 2x8x8's and (6) PT 2x8x12's

 

[tommudd]

Hi gang... Just found all this interesting talk on the KJ.How do I tell by the VIN what version of Liberty I have? It's an 2006 with unpainted flares. It has cloth seat interior and I would love to upgrade the seats. It has 114,000 miles and runs great. Also what are these JBA's that are mentioned??

You have a sport model

 

[Johnny O]

A few links I find useful:

https://www.rocky-road.com/liberty.html

https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/cars/Jeep/2005/Liberty/car-parts.html (nice fiche, part numbers, etc.)

https://shop.sasquatchparts.com/vehicle/liberty-crd/ (For us CRD guys)

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/2002-2007-liberty-kj

I believe the stock roof rack system is Thule. I know they say the max capacity is 100oz evenly distributed, but I've had a lot on them, and never had any issues. Although my kayak racks are mounted out to the roof rails, my last load from Lowes consisted of (6) 16 ft trex deck boards, (2) PT 2x8x8's and (6) PT 2x8x12's

I’m actually trying to avoid the socially acceptable rack…crazy, I know…but I don’t need or want it. However I Doo need steel rails as the factory mall crawling crap won’t support my insect, bar or bird gear.

likely hard for most folks to understand, but the ScienceMobile is a purpose built machine- if I cared about looks or credibility, I wouldn’t have bought it.

no offense but Beazlebug has cred.

Any mods on this project are a means to an end. If I wanted a Stomper, I’d have bought a Wrangler and pay more in insurance than the payment, and end up with just another bit of mall rated junk.

 

[tommudd]

A few links I find useful:

https://www.rocky-road.com/liberty.html
NO NO NO
https://www.factorychryslerparts.com/cars/Jeep/2005/Liberty/car-parts.html (nice fiche, part numbers, etc.)

https://shop.sasquatchparts.com/vehicle/liberty-crd/ (For us CRD guys)

https://www.quadratec.com/vehicle/2002-2007-liberty-kj

I believe the stock roof rack system is Thule. I know they say the max capacity is 100oz evenly distributed, but I've had a lot on them, and never had any issues. Although my kayak racks are mounted out to the roof rails, my last load from Lowes consisted of (6) 16 ft trex deck boards, (2) PT 2x8x8's and (6) PT 2x8x12's

 

[tommudd]

I’m actually trying to avoid the socially acceptable rack…crazy, I know…but I don’t need or want it. However I Doo need steel rails as the factory mall crawling crap won’t support my insect, bar or bird gear.

likely hard for most folks to understand, but the ScienceMobile is a purpose built machine- if I cared about looks or credibility, I wouldn’t have bought it.

no offense but Beazlebug has cred.

Any mods on this project are a means to an end. If I wanted a Stomper, I’d have bought a Wrangler and pay more in insurance than the payment, and end up with just another bit of mall rated junk.

Easy to weld up a rack, can go off of the ones Rock Lizard built, should be pictures of the two I had of his somewhere on here

 

[Michael Wolfe]

What's wrong with Rocky?

 

[tommudd]

What's wrong with Rocky?

LOL one of the worst for their lifts, parts and customer service
Owe my buddy over 400 bucks from back in 2005 yet
bought parts , didn't line up ( holes all drilled wrong ) sent them back and then they said it was his fault they didn't line up
Another good friend ordered a pair of UCAs from them and they would not fit back in the pockets, they said to put them in the vice and just bend them ! Yeah that will work dumbbutt
I called Marlin ( JBA ) he overnighted me a pair and they dropped right in ( so we could get his rig done and on the road so he could go to work Monday morning )
Tons of stories over the years of bad products, bad service etc
Only good part is they do use OME springs , but their OTT top plate is a joke

 

[Michael Wolfe]

Thanks for the info

 

[Johnny O]

LOL one of the worst for their lifts, parts and customer service
Owe my buddy over 400 bucks from back in 2005 yet
bought parts , didn't line up ( holes all drilled wrong ) sent them back and then they said it was his fault they didn't line up
Another good friend ordered a pair of UCAs from them and they would not fit back in the pockets, they said to put them in the vice and just bend them ! Yeah that will work dumbbutt
I called Marlin ( JBA ) he overnighted me a pair and they dropped right in ( so we could get his rig done and on the road so he could go to work Monday morning )
Tons of stories over the years of bad products, bad service etc
Only good part is they do use OME springs , but their OTT top plate is a joke

I was warned off rocky before I even joined here. I looked at LostJeeps, but realized I’m too noobie for there..also Rocky website looked like circa 1999 anglelfire crap…first red flag.

@tommudd and @tcliberty and others have taken the time to guide me and their web cred checks out. Not sure bout you KJ/KK folks, but in the VW world credibility actually counts for something…and they saved me over a grand without any Pms beyond “don’t get drunk and cuss knucklehead” on the forums. As one that knows the difference between empi and EMPI, I appreciate the sage advice, particularly when my build is purpose built…apparently they get I’m old and don’t care about looks…

Easy to weld up a rack, can go off of the ones Rock Lizard built, should be pictures of the two I had of his somewhere on here

I’m going to focus on front bumper skid plate/ brush gaurds for now, followed by roof rails. I don’t need a winch or recovery points at this time. My main issues are flying gravel and invasive cedars followed by my beloved Mexican Suburban Princess that can total a vehicle driving in rain….Sure does not look cool but is functional for my needs.

 

[Johnny O]

LOL one of the worst for their lifts, parts and customer service
Owe my buddy over 400 bucks from back in 2005 yet
bought parts , didn't line up ( holes all drilled wrong ) sent them back and then they said it was his fault they didn't line up
Another good friend ordered a pair of UCAs from them and they would not fit back in the pockets, they said to put them in the vice and just bend them ! Yeah that will work dumbbutt
I called Marlin ( JBA ) he overnighted me a pair and they dropped right in ( so we could get his rig done and on the road so he could go to work Monday morning )
Tons of stories over the years of bad products, bad service etc
Only good part is they do use OME springs , but their OTT top plate is a joke[/QUOT
One of the reasons I’m fabbing my own. Too cheap for ARB overkill, and they build for the tacti-cool crowd. Nothing against them, but I can weld what is actually needed and doesn’t weigh 399 Frakkin pounds and actually does the job. To be frank, sure ARB is the only name in the game, but I don’t wear real tree or mossy oak, and I’m actually worried about unnecessary damage to my vehicle rather than having a “mall rated” sticker. If I cared about looks, I’d restore Beazlebug to his pre- shattered leg and caved in face standard. I’m only building “that b$&@Liberty to do a job.

I get the distinct impression most of you have never had to MacGuyver your way home or let the forbids and coyotes pick your carcass clean.

Blunt and brutal I know, but someone needs to speak out against social media inspired builds. Sorry, sort of but not really.

 

[profdlp]

...but now I specialize in aquatic worms no one cares about...

You must mean Bosun Mates.

(former Machinist Mate here.)