Liberty question

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Southern Gorilla
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Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

My wife's nephew has an '03 Liberty. He just had the rear upper control arm replaced because the truck was doing some strange clunking/jerking thing. I assume it was some sort of axle-wrap issue from the description he gave. But I don't understand why they needed to replace the entire arm instead of just the balljoints. Anyhow, he says he's still had the problem since the "repair". I climbed under his buggy to see what I could find. I found nothing. There's no slop in the driveshaft or any of the control arms. He also says the noise seems to be coming from the right side.

Anybody have any thoughts what it might be? I told them to get the alignment checked. I figure that might shine a light on a potential problem. Other than that, I'm thinking some sort of issue inside the diff. But a broken gear would be a continuous problem, not an intermittent one. I haven't driven the thing to see exactly what conditions it occurs under. That would definitely help the diagnosis.
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will e
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Re: Liberty question

Post by will e »

My wife has a 2002. It makes a strange noise from the right side as well. Mostly when going over speed bumps. I haven't tried to figure out what it is yet. I did take it to a really good shop a couple of years ago. They gave it a good look over and told me everything was fine and not to worry.
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Stuka
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Stuka »

Replacing the whole upper arm is cheaper than replacing just the upper ball joint and the two bushings. The whole arm assembly is $130 and is three bolts to put in. The ball joint requires being pressed out, and then the new one pressed in. Then you have to put in the bushings. The balljoints is $49, forget the price of the bushings.

As for the noise on bumps, most if the time it's the front sway bar. It had to put silicone spray where the sway goes through the two bushings every few months to quiet it down.

Bad rear shocks can also cause a clunk on bumps.


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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Stuka wrote:Replacing the whole upper arm is cheaper than replacing just the upper ball joint and the two bushings. The whole arm assembly is $130 and is three bolts to put in. The ball joint requires being pressed out, and then the new one pressed in. Then you have to put in the bushings. The balljoints is $49, forget the price of the bushings.

As for the noise on bumps, most if the time it's the front sway bar. It had to put silicone spray where the sway goes through the two bushings every few months to quiet it down.

Bad rear shocks can also cause a clunk on bumps.
Duh! I hadn't even thought about the shocks and swaybars. Being married to a blonde is starting to affect me I guess. :D I guess that makes sense about the cost of the labor in replacing those ball joints. But it's annoying that they don't seem to have checked other things before deciding to replace parts.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Oy vey!
It looks like I might "inherit" a Liberty. My mother-in-law says she's tired of pouring money into the thing. She's looking at buying a pickup to replace it. She wants me to come over and drive the Liberty myself to see what I think. She says I can either drive it around the block or drive it home, whichever I feel like.

While part of me is perfectly happy with the idea of a "free" car, most of me feels like it would be taking advantage of her. I told her I don't think the problem is serious. I passed along the information about the swaybars and shocks. But she still says she'd rather have it gone.

Maybe I'll borrow it for a while. We could use a functional second vehicle. And I really don't think the Liberty is so far gone it needs to be replaced. But I don't see keeping it long-term.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Seems it was the swaybar bushings as Redone suggested. I sprayed them with some silicone and there's no sign of any trouble. But I still inherited the buggy.
ImageIMG_20140511_191843-1 by SouthernGorilla, on Flickr

We can use the second vehicle. And now I don't have to gerry-rig my Cherokee to get it running so I can get to a job. But I still don't think they made the best choice in deciding to give it away and get something new.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Stuka »

Did my name get changed to Redone? :P

Glad it fixed it for you. Although you will have to do it again every do often. It's a very common issue.


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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Stuka wrote:Did my name get changed to Redone? :P

Glad it fixed it for you. Although you will have to do it again every do often. It's a very common issue.
Hah! Sorry, Stuka. I was confusing two conversations and didn't bother looking back up to make sure which one I was in. Redone said something somewhere on another thread and it was stuck in my head that I was replying to him.

Good to know it's a simple fix. I'll keep some silicone handy.

So... what do I do with a 2WD Liberty? "Leave it alone" is not an option. Well, not for long at least.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by will e »

Drive it! They are fun little cars. We have a 4x4 2002 with a 3.7 and I actually like driving it. The power turd is peppy, the roof line clears my head, visability is good, turning is great, parking a breeze. My only advice is to watch the 3.7 if you have one. You want to watch the oil level and don't let it overheat. Once they do they tend to drop the #2 intake valve seat.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

I plan to drive it. I like them too. And it isn't much smaller than my Cherokee. That 3.7 is definitely a peppy engine. Surprisingly so. They've already replaced the engine once because they didn't check the oil. I don't plan to repeat that mistake. Although, that would give me an excuse to drop in a Hemi. :D
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Re: Liberty question

Post by will e »

I have not seen a hemi swap but there is a guy that shoe horned a 4.7 v8 power turd in one. The videos made it look like it was a BLAST to drive.

And don't feel too bad about taking it from the MIL. My inlaws gave me an 81 wagoneer. My wife's dad had become worrisome due to ALZ. It's what got me into the entire jeep'n community. (It also had bad brakes and a leaky gas tank, I still kid my mother in law that I think they were trying to off me...)
81 Waggy 'WILL E' Retired
82 Cherokee WT - SOA/SF/high steer/Alcan springs/agr box/Borgeson steering shaft/AMC 401/performer/holley TA/HEI/BeCool/727/ALTAS (2.0/2.72/5.44)/D60 Snofighter(Yukon Zip,hubs,stubs,4.56)/14 Bolt (FF,BF shave, Discs, ARB,Artec Truss)/MTR 37X12.5/Corbeau XRS Baja & 5 point retractable harness/Hella Aux lights/tuffy console/killer32 sliders/Evil Twin bumpers, rack and roll cage/WARN 8000/TT Fabworks steering brace/dual batts/custom TC skid plate/ARB fridge
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Honestly, I don't think I'd even worry about an engine swap with this thing. It's already kinda squirrelly with the bit of power it has. The only thing I really would like is a manual transmission.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Well, my wife and I both agree the seats and automatic suck. Not worried about a trans swap yet. But anybody have suggestions for an easy seat swap?
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Re: Liberty question

Post by will e »

Really? I like the seats.
81 Waggy 'WILL E' Retired
82 Cherokee WT - SOA/SF/high steer/Alcan springs/agr box/Borgeson steering shaft/AMC 401/performer/holley TA/HEI/BeCool/727/ALTAS (2.0/2.72/5.44)/D60 Snofighter(Yukon Zip,hubs,stubs,4.56)/14 Bolt (FF,BF shave, Discs, ARB,Artec Truss)/MTR 37X12.5/Corbeau XRS Baja & 5 point retractable harness/Hella Aux lights/tuffy console/killer32 sliders/Evil Twin bumpers, rack and roll cage/WARN 8000/TT Fabworks steering brace/dual batts/custom TC skid plate/ARB fridge
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Billyj7175 »

My wife's 05' Liberty has been pretty reliable so far (knocking on wood) aside from the window regulators. I've replaced 3 so far...

Best advice I could give is to leave a roll of duct tape in it so when (not if, when) one of the regulators fail, you can tape the window up.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Stuka »

Southern Gorilla wrote:Well, my wife and I both agree the seats and automatic suck. Not worried about a trans swap yet. But anybody have suggestions for an easy seat swap?
I take it the one you got us a sport? My Wifes leather seats in her Limited were great. Fully power adjustable and heated.


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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Stuka wrote:
Southern Gorilla wrote:Well, my wife and I both agree the seats and automatic suck. Not worried about a trans swap yet. But anybody have suggestions for an easy seat swap?
I take it the one you got us a sport? My Wifes leather seats in her Limited were great. Fully power adjustable and heated.
Wait... what?!
Ours is a Limited. No power or heat. No switches for heat even, so it isn't like somebody swapped seats. Oh, and they're cloth. Maybe ours is a Semi-Limited?
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Stuka »

Southern Gorilla wrote:
Stuka wrote:
Southern Gorilla wrote:Well, my wife and I both agree the seats and automatic suck. Not worried about a trans swap yet. But anybody have suggestions for an easy seat swap?
I take it the one you got us a sport? My Wifes leather seats in her Limited were great. Fully power adjustable and heated.
Wait... what?!
Ours is a Limited. No power or heat. No switches for heat even, so it isn't like somebody swapped seats. Oh, and they're cloth. Maybe ours is a Semi-Limited?
I didn't think they made limiteds with cloth seats. I know the heated seats were optional, but figured leather was standard on the top end model. Guess it wasn't until later years maybe?

Like on the new Cherokee, all sports have cloth, leather is optional on the latitude, and leather is standard on the limited.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by Southern Gorilla »

Stuka wrote:I didn't think they made limiteds with cloth seats. I know the heated seats were optional, but figured leather was standard on the top end model. Guess it wasn't until later years maybe?

Like on the new Cherokee, all sports have cloth, leather is optional on the latitude, and leather is standard on the limited.
I'm wondering if it wasn't a later-year thing as well. Ours definitely seems to be a Limited. It has the fender badge and the upgraded dashboard. Plus the monochrome body instead of the black flares. But it was bought as a kids first car. So maybe they didn't tick all the option boxes. I don't know. But I feel cheated getting cloth when leather was available. I'm betting the difference in the seats is more than just cosmetic as well. The good news is that I now know I can go to a j/y and find bolt-in leather seats.
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Re: Liberty question

Post by will e »

I am about 92.3 percent sure leather was standard with the limited package in the 2002 model year. I wonder if they ordered it special without? Some maybe they were veagans? Some people don't like leather.

There is a replacement for the window regulator issue that replaces the crappy plastic piece that breaks and lets the window fall down. Let me know if you want details.
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82 Cherokee WT - SOA/SF/high steer/Alcan springs/agr box/Borgeson steering shaft/AMC 401/performer/holley TA/HEI/BeCool/727/ALTAS (2.0/2.72/5.44)/D60 Snofighter(Yukon Zip,hubs,stubs,4.56)/14 Bolt (FF,BF shave, Discs, ARB,Artec Truss)/MTR 37X12.5/Corbeau XRS Baja & 5 point retractable harness/Hella Aux lights/tuffy console/killer32 sliders/Evil Twin bumpers, rack and roll cage/WARN 8000/TT Fabworks steering brace/dual batts/custom TC skid plate/ARB fridge
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