Well... after 4 years and over 122K miles I have parted ways with my Liberty. I am still not certain what the actual problem with her was, but overheating was the main symptom.... on the freeway. A radiator flush, new water pump, pressure test, leak-down test, no oil in coolant, coolant in oil... who knows? By The middle of June I was down to $3200 on my payments, but the libby was only worth $4k... running. Rather than keep risking the 100 mile round-trip to work I traded it in.... for a 2008 VW rabbit...black... 5-speed... 2.5L 5 cylinder.
But enough about my new daily driver...
I got a trail rig which is paid in full....
It's a 2000 TJ... 4cyl, 5-speed... 230,000 miles. I got it for a great price as the rear axle was shot. (the seller had a bolt-in replacement in the bed of his truck)... so I had it delivered to my shop in North Ridgeville. Did I mention rust as well? I just ordered 22' of 2 x 4 x 3/16 tube to build myself a new frame and stretch the wheelbase while I am at it... and build the long arm kit
I think I will call her "RUBIKONG"
Here are a few details of what has happened within 3 days of the rig arriving in my shop...(well only 2-1/2 hours of work so far... hey I've got 3 kids... what do you expect
I'm not in a huge rush, but this will get done pretty quick) :
Per sound advice from a buddy.... (he was saying that the spider gears might have been bad and I could have just lincoln locked it and been good to go)... that wasn't the case. The carrier bearings were bad. There was enough slop in the axle to let the ring push over enough to completely disengage from the pinion.
On the good side I have two spare shafts:
Here is the good one ready to go in (after a little housekeeping including new brake lines while I am there....)
waiting for the other axle....
Mark