Mr Wes wrote:
This is outstanding! I've been thinking of doing the Daystar lift on my liberty for quite awhile. I drove a BroncoII for many years. Never got used to sitting so low with my 2005 Liberty. This write-up made me much more comfortable with my ability to do the job.
All the tips, down to the ratchet strap trick, were not only helpful, but probably the only reason my son and I were able to complete the project in a weekend.
My two cents:
Disconnect the brake line from the front calipers. No way to reconnect the lower clevis with the brake line installed. Learned this the hard way after breaking the drivers side brake line. $20 at Auto Zone for a new front brake line and brake fluid, and a short detour to fix / bleed the brakes.
The front takes a lot of brute force to put back together. Two people makes it go much better.
I see what you mean about the back not being lifted quite as much as the front. Since I didn't like the scooped look, this was great.
Using the spring compressor for the back worked perfect.
I have 190,000 miles on my KJ. Didn't make sense to reuse the same old struts and shocks, so I replaced them while installing the lift. Only cost about $125 for Monroe Sensa Trac after $60 rebate.
End result:
Achieved the advertised 2.5 inch lift. About 3/8 inches less in the back. My Liberty actually looks the way a Jeep should look.
Jeep looks great with stock 225/75R16 tires. Once they wear out, I intend to upsize one notch to 235/75R16. I could go with 245/75R16, but would be more likely to have some rubbing, and may notice a slight loss of power. I intend to use the Jeep primarily for normal commuting and don't want to loose the zippiness that I bought it for.
Jeep rides better than when I started, probably due to the new shocks / struts installed with the lift. I didn't notice a difference in cornering, but it handles bumps better than before and has a bit stiffer of a ride.
Only had to make a slight adjustment to the headlight angle.
This is the most fun I've had in a long time. Thanks for taking the time to do the write up. Sounds like a lot of people, including me, benefited from your generosity.
Good luck with it, install front bumpstops that will help some to keep the UCAs from wearing out in no time
also be ready to replace shocks sooner