Cool kid's liberty (bunch of pics)

[cuban b]

The catchy title isn't really a trick. It's just a liberty that I'm making cooler for my kid . My daughter just turned 16 and last year I bought this rolled liberty for her to learn to drive in. It's a surprisingly fun little rig. Great for hunting, nice ride, decent mpg. I'm sad to turn it over to her. That said, I'm the dad, I'll take it if I feel like it

step 1 was the mess. This guy said he went airborn on black ice and landed on his lid in the snow. It collapsed the roof but didn't actually do a lot of damage.



Creative (free) body work time

 

[cuban b]

My old man muscles were feeling it after that one. next step was a little tig welding project to adapt a roof rack I had leftover from when I sold my
commander 🥺

Then, of course, we had to go shooting and test out the 4wd. It rode around like this for a few months while we made sure it could fish and duck hunt.

 

[cuban b]

after hunting and fishing were established, it was time for a lift and tires . Modifying more commander leftovers meant a free lift for the rear.

Not bad.

 

[cuban b]

Then it was on to the front. This turned out to be a workout. Simple, yes. Easy, NO.

To start with. Strut spacers are simple, right? Cheap ones will be fine....



after a couple rounds of tighten, then trim the bolt, tighten, then trim the bolt, and repeat...
We finally had the new 2 inch longer strut assembly. Cramming it in was a bear, but it went.

 

[cuban b]

Eventually got the front buttoned up and went with a set of 245 75 16 Duratracs. The tires just barely rub at full lock and they are almost a 31" for those who are counting. I've had these before and they're a pretty solid aggressive all terrain.

plus I scored a nice set for 200 bucks. 💰

It turned out great, the pics don't do it justice. Some of her little friends (dumb boys) say it's not a real jeep 🖕, well, they can try to keep up in their rusty civics and GEO prizms.

cool liberty for a cool kid. Goal achieved.

 

[cuban b]

For what it's worth. I'm into the liberty 800 bucks, and the lift and tires were 250 total.

In my opinion, it's just about the perfect high school kid car.

 

[glockman]

Nice work and nice write up! One mod I did for high school kid cars, put a bolt through the seat back hinge so they don't recline.

 

[cuban b]

Nice work and nice write up! One mod I did for high school kid cars, put a bolt through the seat back hinge so they don't recline.

As it is my daughter’s Jeep, I have some special tools to take care of those types of issues 💪🏼

 

[mesha]

Nice job! Darcy must love her liberty! Lucky girl.

 

[stimmie]

I'm in the process of purchasing parts to lift my liberty. I purchased mine a couple years ago for $220, but I put a transmission in it. Currently I'm into it about $2700. I ordered some H&R Springs that are supposed to be +1.5". I'm also doing new struts, the outer lower control arm bushings, and a lift kit similar to what you put on. I was just reading about people claiming that the over the strut lift kits are bad on the springs, causing them to sag. But since my suspension is stock, and has the same sagging problem, the issue to me seems to be poor quality springs. I'll be posting pictures of the process. I haven't decided on what tires to do yet. I have rims to go 16" or 17". In the year plus we've been driving it, it has been a great ride aside from the super low clearance due to the worn suspension.

I'll at least have another year and a half before my daughter will think she gets mine

 

[I Lean]

This is way cooler than a $1000 car is supposed to be.

 

[Bart]

Great write up and project. I think they look like fun little rigs.

 

[cuban b]

I'm in the process of purchasing parts to lift my liberty. I purchased mine a couple years ago for $220, but I put a transmission in it. Currently I'm into it about $2700. I ordered some H&R Springs that are supposed to be +1.5". I'm also doing new struts, the outer lower control arm bushings, and a lift kit similar to what you put on. I was just reading about people claiming that the over the strut lift kits are bad on the springs, causing them to sag. But since my suspension is stock, and has the same sagging problem, the issue to me seems to be poor quality springs. I'll be posting pictures of the process. I haven't decided on what tires to do yet. I have rims to go 16" or 17". In the year plus we've been driving it, it has been a great ride aside from the super low clearance due to the worn suspension.

I'll at least have another year and a half before my daughter will think she gets mine

So for what it's worth, you are probably right on the sagging springs. That said, the over the strut spacers left me with a pretty nice ride. This liberty has high miles and I've already done more work than I should have to make it better so I'm leaving it at that. I have tried inside the strut spacers in the past (on a different vehicle) and it rode like garbage so I will never do that again.

I stuck with the 16" rims because I had them, but finding a decent set of used tires for it was tough. It seems like 16's cater to heavy trucks. I'd go with the 17" rims if I had both, just for tire selection.

 

[stimmie]

Struts came Saturday, springs today, lift comes Thursday 😎

Gotta install sprinklers in my front yard after work this week, then work begins on the Jeep after a Saturday morning dump run. (Free dump week here.)