My KJ

So I decided that I should put together a narrative of my little 2006 Jeep Liberty, AKA a KJ. So here it goes. In February 2018 while driving on a delivery for work I heard an ad on the local radio classified ads for a Jeep Liberty. I quickly pulled over to text the owner for an address to go check it out later that night. After viewing it and mulling it over I decided to make an offer for the Jeep. The guy was asking $500. It had been wrecked in the front end (looked like they ran into a pole). This accident caused the trans cooler to be pushed up into the radiator, which cut off air flow and caused the trans to burn up. The owner's son had "started" to take things apart thinking that he was going to make it a running vehicle again. In addition to being torn apart some, they had been storing bags of livestock feed in it. On Valentines day, I purchased the Jeep for $220. A couple days later I had my brother help me go load it on a trailer and bring it home. We used the hydraulic arms on the hay bed of his truck to pull the Jeep up onto the trailer. The Jeep then sat on the trailer until May as I worked out what I was going to do with it. Originally the plan was to just build it into a hunting/camping vehicle. No real concern about aesthetics and if everything worked well. And then my wife looked at it and found out that it was a loaded limited model. So the plans from being a hunting/camping vehicle became those of a daily driver fit to become a family ride. As I was trying to figure out where I was going to work on the Jeep, I was told space at my dad's building was going to be freed up since the current renter was leaving. Working on the Jeep outside my house in the gravel driveway just wouldn't have been very easy. Indoors and on concrete would be much better. So using my truck, I pulled the trailer down to the shop and pushed the Jeep into the building. Using a floor jack to help finagle the Jeep around I was able to get it in and turned 90 degrees so I wasn't taking up so much space so I could work on other vehicles in there in addition to working on my Jeep.

Working off and on on the Jeep by myself on nights and weekends that I didn't have prior obligations, I was able to get the old transmission out on my own. This KJ has the 42RLE transmission. And looking at what was available in the junk yards, it was pretty clear that a newly re-manufactured transmission was the correct choice. So saving what I could was next on the list. In the meantime, we used the space in the shop to work on dad's ZJ and my brother's S10. With the fall coming, hunting seasons took precedence over working on the KJ. Archery hunts started in August, I had a limited entry elk tag in September, plus we had muzzleloader deer tags at the end of September. Once we were done with our hunts, it was time to focus on working on the Jeep again.

I was still deciding where to get the transmission, so I started gutting the interior to clean up the years of neglect and storage from previous owners. I took out all the seats, the center console, most of the body panels, and pulled the carpet out. Many lost coins were found. The linkage to allow the key to be removed was reconnected. Carpet was scrubbed and pressure washed. All the seats were scrubbed down. All the plastic was cleaned. And then I was able to get it all back in.

All this took well into December. But I was finally able to get a transmission in, and everything put back together. Some interesting things had to happen. The front cross member behind the bumper had to be straightened out so I could put the entire front end back together. I pondered about how to do this for quite a while. I finally settled on backing my truck up to it and using some lumber skids as spacers to keep distance between the truck and the Jeep. Then I tried a ratchet strap first, but it wasn't enough umph to straighten it out. A chain and a ratchet binder was finally the solution. After getting things straight the grille support and other components could go back on and it could finally look like a vehicle worthy to be on the road again.

After buying a stereo for Christmas, I decided to put the time in to fix the wiring. The previous owner had cut out the factory plug at one point, and then used yellow wire nuts to put it back in. This took up a large amount of volume in a limited space, in addition to shortening the wires by about an inch or so. I found these nifty heat shrink/solder butt connectors on Amazon. They're awesome. They have low temp solder in the middle, and you just crimp that to hold the wires while you heat it up to connect it all back together. I installed a head unit that was just radio/bluetooth. There really isn't a need for a CD player anymore, and that helped with the lack of space behind the dash.

At this point it was January 2019 and I was ready to get it on the road and license it. Before getting plates on it, I took it in to the dealership to have a few recalls done on it. One was programming, one was installing new lower control arms, and another was to install a receiver hitch to protect the fuel tank. While there I had them flash the PCM just so the computer wasn't shifting based on the old transmission.

I was able to drive it some during the week before my wife wanted to use it for a trip to the city. She took it out on a Friday when there was a storm all weekend. She loved driving it around and being able to go through the snow drifts, and into unplowed/poorly plowed parking lots without the fear of getting stuck. The Jeep has the Selec-Trac Full Time transfer case. Throwing it into Full-time 4wd is simple and it does great wherever you want to go. Summer brought some adventures throughout the Uintas. As time went on, I could tell more clearance was needed. I knew the original springs were sagging. As well as the front lower strut mount bushing was worn on both sides. From the factory, there's supposed to be 19" from the center of the wheel, to the fender above. I had 18" in the front, and 18-1/2" in the rear.

A trip this spring was the kicker on needing more clearance and a better suspension. I took a trip in the desert with my wife and one of my daughters. While on a two track that I had previously been on the week before when alone, I smacked a rock that was hidden behind some brush in the middle of the road with the transmission. When we got back from a hike, I could see atf dripping in the sand. I was able to get home and top it off. I had only lost about half a pint or so. When I got to work Monday morning, I ordered a new transmission pan and a filter kit. I work at a Carquest, so it was nice to see that they had the parts available in the warehouse. A plus to the new Dorman transmission pan, is it comes with a drain plug installed. The down side is that the plug leaks. A new plug gasket is needed.

Finally, I found the lift springs that I wanted. They're advertised to be a 1.5" lift spring. Knowing I'd also get about an inch in the front by changing out the worn bushings, I decided that I'd also add a lift kit on top of the new springs. I was hoping to get about 4" in lift with the new springs and lift kit.

After waiting on parts to be shipped, it was finally time to work on the KJ lift. The first evening I worked on the front end. The goal was to pull the old strut assemblies so I could get the parts to a shop to put together the new struts and springs. Things went well. I skipped the majority of the steps that I saw others do in the videos on YouTube. My steps were simple as this, Remove the wheel, and remove the strut. I took the clevis off the strut and pulled them out as two separate pieces. Most videos showed a line or groove centering the clevis back on the new strut. My new struts didn't have that. They were smooth all around.

Evening two I worked on cutting off the guide points off the strut mounts so the lift could be bolted on top. Surprisingly, this only ate up one cut off wheel for my dremel. The shop installed the springs upside down, so I needed to take them back to have them flip them over. Many online say it doesn't matter which way a progressive rate spring is mounted if the coil buckets are identical. KJ buckets are identical, but one person had a valid point that mud can escape easier if the tighter coils are on the top. Also, the words on the coils were upside down. That alone was enough to convince me to have the springs flipped over.

Since I couldn't finish the front, I decided to install the rear springs and lift spacers. This was an easier said than done process. I was hoping to not need to take apart much, but that didn't work out as well as planned. This process required me to remove the caliper on the left side, so the brake hose wasn't pulled too tightly. Obviously shocks had to be disconnected. The part I didn't want to remove, but ended up needing to, was the upper control arm ball joint. That needed removed so I could get enough flex to get the springs and spacers in. After getting them in, the new challenge was getting the ball joint back in. I used a 1" ratchet strap to hold the ball joint lined up, and then a small bottle jack to push it into place. I was surprised at how high the rear of the Jeep ended up. It was about 4-5" higher than stock. The math wasn't adding up with the new springs and the spacers. I left them in so I could tackle things on the front end the next night.

Day three brought new challenges. I left work early since I was supposed to be going camping for the weekend. I still had to change the lower bushings, and install the new strut assemblies. Using a rented ball joint press, I pressed out the old bushing. I started on the passenger side and started with a driver that came in the kit. It wasn't quite small enough and ended up bending the body of the bushing. After wasting time getting things bent back so it could clearly travel through it's hole, I was able to use a 30mm socket to act as the driver. Seeing how well that worked, I was able to put the drivers side one in quickly. Now it was time to install the new struts with the lift on. I struggled to get the clearance I needed to get the strut in with the lift on it with the suspension still together. I popped off the upper ball joint, brake caliper, and the outer tie rod end. I was hoping that this would give me enough flex in the parts to get things put back together. I had read that if you lift a KJ more than 4" you would need new modified CV axles. After quite a while of fighting the parts, I found that I was getting more than 4" of lift and that the CV axles would be in way too much of a bind to be able to make it work. My only option was to pull the spacer off the strut and do just a spring lift. So I did that and was able to quickly put things back together. Since I couldn't use the lift in the front, I had to remove the lift in the back. I rented a spring compressor to make this easier. Once I got the spacers off, and things put back together I was done!

I have enjoyed the new feel of the ride so far. I am no longer bottoming out going through dips or gutters. I ended up netting 3" of lift in the front, and a bit over 2" in the rear. Now I just need to decide on tires, and I am "done" for now. And it'll be off to new adventures! I'm working on selling the lift kit locally before I send it back. I'd rather take a hit and sell it versus taking the hit in shipping costs and waiting for refunds. With the money from the lift kit, I'll add some airbags to the rear springs so I don't have the sag when I pull my trailers.