All Liberty's are not the same, gas or diesel. I think the year spread is 02 thru 06. Different length CV axles for gas versus diesels....
The 27 spline Dana 30a, also know by Chrysler as the 186FIA, has always been the only front axle available in the Jeep Liberty. It's an IFS axle with an aluminum housing as indicated by the 'FI' and 'A'/'a' respectively. Essentially, it's an aluminum version of the Dana 30 with a longer pinion shaft. Unfortunately, the light weight aluminum construction makes it weaker than the D30 and the longer pinion shaft means pinion related D30 parts won't fit it. The D30a requires a 1-1/8" socket to remove and install the pinion nut.
CRD Libertys have a different front cradle that lowers and leftward shifts the differential to provide more clearance for the diesel engine. The lowering results in better half-shaft constant velocity joint angles but too little clearance for a differential collar. The leftward shift requires different length half-shafts than those used in the gas Liberty. Due to the shorter left side half shaft CRD models cannot be lifted as high as a gas model as their CV joints begin to bind.
