Hi everyone!
I just bought a 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD Sport. I had been in the market for a responsible vehicle for Colorado. I had just PCS'd (USAF) from Las Vegas, and my other car is a lowered RB25DET swapped Nissan 240sx (S14). Since my wife was getting tired of me bugging her to use her Mazda CX5 anytime I needed some ground clearance I decided the CRD was the vehicle for me.
This is my first Jeep, diesel and American made car that I have ever owned. I didn't think inexpensive 4x4, turbo diesel and good fuel millage could be used in the same sentence until my friend told me about his CRD. I had mistakenly thought the Libby was a lifter FWD Neon disguised as a small SUV. The more I talk to 2 of my friends that owned CRDs the more I became interested, and it happened to be that one of my friends was thinking about selling it a few months later.
Fast forward to present day. I bought my friends CRD. Last weekend I flew to Las Vegas and drove the Jeep back to Colorado Springs. I just learned to fly fish and I am working on starting a aerial photo business so I had my fly rod and drone with me to hit some places up on the way back to fly fish and fly the drones.
The Jeep rocked climbing through passes and hitting the occasional dirt trails. It was a great trust exercise for a vehicle I plan on keeping for a long time.
As bought the Jeep is equipped with the following:
-Rockfather delux lift
-GDE eco tune (non full torque)
-Upgraded TC (going to get the hot tune soon)
-Upgraded Tranny work by 2 owners ago, last owner did not know what was exactly done, but the tranny is supposed to be able to handle way more power than stock... I plan on tracking the owner and shop down to see what all was done ASAP
-aftermarket American Racing style wheel with BFG K0s tires
-some kind of rear tire mount that moves the spar further away from the body, guessing for larger tires. Looks odd with a stockish offset/width tire
-Trimmed stock front bumper
Extra Goodies that came with the jeep:
-Two extra matching wheels and tires
-Two extra front left CV shafts, one used and one NIB
Maintenance History:
-147K miles
-Front prop shaft replaced after failure
-Head rebuilt, timing belt changed somewhere around 100K
-Driver side CV axle swapped out for a shorter one???? see below...
Things I need to fix: (Ive read the CRD Noob Guide, its awesome!)
-Drive-train rumble. Looks like the prior owner had plans to get an ARB front bumper but never did, but he had installed the OME springs desgned for the weight of the bumper installed anyway. The springs for the heavier front bumper may be keeping the front too high and causing the CV axle to hyper extend... correct springs will be ordered soon. The rumble is almost non existent with less than a half tank of fuel and very noticeable above 3/4 tank and while accelerating especially up hill. This makes me think it is an over extended failing CV shaft, my idea thinking the extra weight on the rear is lifting the nose up, further flexing the CV joint to its limits. I've been reading the drive-line noise thread and the clues point to a CV joint issue.
-Prior owner said that for some reason a shop said that the driver side cv axle had to be even shorter to accommodate the lift
not sure where this thought came from, or if they were confusing that the CRD driver side shaft is just shorter because the front diff is shifted left. but on the the drive back the CV inner boot popped off, so I'm going to replace it ASAP to see if it fixed the rumble. -CEL(P0671) for possible glow plug failure. Popped up today and I cleared it to see if it comes back over the weekend.
I'm learning a lot real quick on this Jeep thanks to this forum. I hope to contribute some trip content as I get this cool little Jeep back to 100% working order.
Sorry for the long post...
-Daryl
and thanks for posting all the stuff that you've modded on the car. Keep up the good work!