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The second big issue with the Liberty has to do with its vehicle height. In my comparison, despite having less ground clearance than the XJ, the Liberty sits several inches taller at the roof. This means that its center of gravity is higher than the XJ. As a result, the Liberty will feel much more "tippy" than the XJ on an off-camber trail. Worse yet, if, for example, that front IFS goes into compression on one side on an off-camber slope going downhill, that can make the "tilt angle" of the Liberty even worse. I've had couple of pretty hair-raising experiences driving the Liberty down an off-camber slope that didn't even phase the XJ when I drove it down the same trail.
Ahh, this is something I hadn't though of.
Florida is very flat. Being off-camber is not something I encounter.
First, dont load a ton of stuff on the roof. I have and its noticeable.
Second would be to widen the stance with different wheels. Which then creates tire clearance issues when turning. There's only so much pounding of the pinch weld that can be done.
I currently have 235-85-16 tires on stock rims, no spacers.
This would also be a good reason the keep the sway bars on.
Especially the front.
When I removed the rear sway bar I noticed a huge improvement in rear axle articulation, firmly keeping both rear wheels in the dirt, with no significant impact on road handling and turns.
When I removed the front sway bar I noticed a moderate improvement in smoothness over rough terrain but a huge impact on road handing and turns. In fact, when driving in windy conditions it was nearly impossible to keep the vehicle going straight. I was fighting the wheel the whole time.
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The Liberty has a minimum ground clearance of about 8.25 inches at the rear shock mounts and around 9" at the front suspension skid plate. That latter number is deceiving. Here's why: A solid front axle (SFA) vehicle will maintain its ground clearance at the axle no matter if the suspension is in compression or not. The body clearance may go down when the suspension is in compression but the axle clearance won't. So, 10" clearance on the XJ front axle is 10", no matter what. Not so with the Liberty independent front suspension (IFS), or most any other IFS, for that matter. So, that 9" of ground clearance at the front suspension skid plate of the Liberty will be something significantly less than that when the suspension goes into compression. The softer the suspension or the more compression that occurs, the less that "real" ground clearance will be. Many of the more hard-core IFS 4WD's try to address this by "tucking" the differential and other components in the center of the vehicle higher up, so that the vehicle will still have adequate clearance when the suspension is in compression. The Liberty's center components are NOT tucked up in that far, so the ground clearance loss at compression may be troublesome. That front suspension skid plate on the Liberty will get a hell of a workout on a rough trail (mine has the dents and scratches to prove it). The only other way to negate the IFS's tendency to cause problems in compression is to stiffen the springs and shocks enough to substantially reduce suspension compression. Of course, that also negates many of the other advantages of an IFS and makes it handle and ride much more like an SFA vehicle.
I've got, while sitting on pavement:
11 inches clearance at the front skid
12 at the trans skid
9.25 at the center of the rear diff
(I can maybe add another 1/2" of lift to the front)
The OME 2790 front springs are really darn stiff.
In the picture I posted above with one corner up on a 16" block, the difference in front spring compression left to right is less than 1 inch. The majority of suspension articulation is at the rear.
But thats on flat land, going over only one simulated rock.
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