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 Post subject: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pics)!
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:18 am 
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Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Hello everyone. I recently plunged into the SFA dive and reemerged victorious! Since most of the information I found concerning liberty builds came from this forum, I'd like to return the favor and give my 2 cents about the build.
I own a 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD. It all started when I purchased it from a dealer in Phoenix. Not quite happy with the stock suspension nor the trouble areas associated with the diesel, I began by purchasing an OME spring lift, Suncoast TQ, and tuned the ECU. Then came the JBA front IFS coilovers, upper A-arms and four link kit. Frankly, I paid way to much-the rear upper links are noisy and the front coilovers have limited travel. At the time, my buddies were giving me crap because an axle swap would have been cheaper, which they were right. I ended up breaking the front right coilover and Marlin at Jeepin' by AL is a pleasure to deal with. They do indeed have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Thus prompted the journey and my buddy who owns Country Club Auto and Off-Road and his brother helped get it on the road.
One thing that may differ from yours to mine is the intercooler. Otherwise, you have a lot more room to work with. I started with a parts list:
-Front axle: Dana 30 out of a 1997 Grand Cherokee which has ABS and 3:73 gears (no need for gears)
-Suspension: Front: 3 Link 6.5 long arm upgrade from Rusty's offroad for an XJ; adjustable track-bar and frame mount for an XJ/ZJ; 10 inch FOA 450 over 500 Lbs. coilovers w/reservoir (too bad they're building caught on fire); custom coilover mounts using the top-hat from the struts and custom mounts on the axle. Rear: OME 891 4Runner springs; JBA lower long arms; JBA (still-noisy) upper links; 10" Bilstien 7100's; limit straps
-Steering: 1990 Ford Bronco II steering box; custom pitman-arm; stock drag-link and tie-rod from the scavenged ZJ; Napa hydraulic hoses; boxed and trussed steering box mount
-Brakes: Front: 30" SS braided hoses Rear: JBA SS braided lines
-Driveline: Front: Custom driveshaft w/ front output yoke from a ZJ transfer case Rear: Tom Woods NP242 J SYE (I sent them my original output yoke and they hack'ed and tap'ed) w/custom driveshaft.

Not mentioned above: front long arm cross member mounted in front of the transfer case cross member; have yet to mount the reservoirs for the coilovers; lower radiator hose rerouted up-and-over intercooler/radiator (you may not need to do this); ABS/traction control/cruise control dont function properly because of the pulse signal created by the front axle (if anyone has any input on this would be greatly appreciated :BANANA: )

All-in-all, I spent about $2000-$2500 to complete the solid axle swap. I pulled the axle myself from a pick-n-pull junkyard which roughly cost $200, Rusty's suspension ~$1200, FOA's ~$700, steering box (junkyard) ~$50. If you need to do the rear suspension, you may add ~$800 but in perspective, wouldn't you do the same to a Cherokee?

The following are some pictures of the libby-

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Since completion of the swap, road manners are good with some lean but could be better with help from a sway-bar, articulates with no rubbing or grinding and is absolutely unstoppable. Rides like a couch! See ya at TDS!


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:01 am 
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SFA doesn't snap at the ball joint
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looks good

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:41 am 
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Impressed with cost spent and what ya got for it, good job. In the pics of the front drivers side, it looks like the bottom 5 or so coils may be hitting/rubbing something, are they? I also like your bumper, good to see other things being done with the KJ :JEEPIN: Thanks for posting up 8)


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:26 am 
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Sweet rig, I also really like the Bumpers and Fenders. The 891's Ride really nice on the back of my KJ how do you like them?


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:38 am 
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Still running 3.73s ??????
What size tires ?

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:43 pm 
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looks awesome! those fenders/front bumper are sweet. i best it really turns heads being 1. a liberty and 2. a diesel. I'm sure that thing wheels like a beast.

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:42 pm 
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nice to see another CRD on the board thats been SFA'd looks good. any more pictures of the steering box

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:16 pm 
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Sweet looking rig you have. Gives me a bit of inspiration to continue the idea of a sfa swap. The custom tube bumper is awesome. Glad to see people are taking the Liberty to new heights.

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 10:16 am 
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Nice work. Really diging that front bumper/sorta exo. Well done. :JEEPIN:

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:45 am 
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All of it, nice. Bumper, extra nice.

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:14 pm 
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Hey everyone, sorry for the late reply. My priorities are 1) School 2) Jeep Liberty and 3) Girlfriend. Some, more than others, take precedence :wink:

As far as running 3:73 gears turning 33 inch tires, the diesels' power band seems to compensate nicely. I was thinking of running 4:10 or even 3:90 to offset the tires but I'm never in need more power (but who doesn't want MORE POWER *insert a Tim Allen grunt*). Highway speeds are great and even towing 4500 pounds I can hold 65 mph going up hill at 7000 ft elevation.

Track bar angles need some fine tuning as the arc-motion of the axle tends to rub either the left or right coil springs on the body. More to come on that.

Still need to mount the coilover reservoirs and fix my speedo problem. I think my plan for the speedo is to tap into the rear speed sensors and route the wires to the front speed senors for each side. My traction control may be funky but hopefully I can still retain ABS and speedometer function. Progress will be noted.

Eventually I'm going to finish the tube work with rock sliders and rear fenders all tying into a rear bumper. The goal is to have a clean and functional exo-cage.


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:46 pm 
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CRD'D wrote:
Hey everyone, sorry for the late reply. My priorities are 1) School 2) Jeep Liberty and 3) Girlfriend. Some, more than others, take precedence :wink:

As far as running 3:73 gears turning 33 inch tires, the diesels' power band seems to compensate nicely. I was thinking of running 4:10 or even 3:90 to offset the tires but I'm never in need more power (but who doesn't want MORE POWER *insert a Tim Allen grunt*). Highway speeds are great and even towing 4500 pounds I can hold 65 mph going up hill at 7000 ft elevation.

Track bar angles need some fine tuning as the arc-motion of the axle tends to rub either the left or right coil springs on the body. More to come on that.

Still need to mount the coilover reservoirs and fix my speedo problem. I think my plan for the speedo is to tap into the rear speed sensors and route the wires to the front speed senors for each side. My traction control may be funky but hopefully I can still retain ABS and speedometer function. Progress will be noted.

Eventually I'm going to finish the tube work with rock sliders and rear fenders all tying into a rear bumper. The goal is to have a clean and functional exo-cage.


I have the Same Speedo Issue as you Obviously you have/had an ABS KJ, Did you remove the whole ABS pump like I did and run a different prop valve? If you did I may have the answer to your Speedo issue, as soon as I get off my arse and test it out that is.


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 12:31 pm 
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RED_KJ_666 wrote:
Sweet rig, I also really like the Bumpers and Fenders. The 891's Ride really nice on the back of my KJ how do you like them?


The OME 891's ride sooooo nice. I have found that they ride better with some weight added (i.e. more passengers, towing, rear bumper, rear tire carrier). Since these are 4runner springs, I believe that the rear of the 4runner may weigh a couple hundred pounds more because of how 'springy' the rear of my liberty is in certain situations. Overall, I love them.


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 4:38 pm 
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CRD'D wrote:
RED_KJ_666 wrote:
Sweet rig, I also really like the Bumpers and Fenders. The 891's Ride really nice on the back of my KJ how do you like them?


The OME 891's ride sooooo nice. I have found that they ride better with some weight added (i.e. more passengers, towing, rear bumper, rear tire carrier). Since these are 4runner springs, I believe that the rear of the 4runner may weigh a couple hundred pounds more because of how 'springy' the rear of my liberty is in certain situations. Overall, I love them.


Nice glad you like them, I sure do they work really well combined with the heavy valved Bilstiens I put on. So here's a potential cheap fix for your Speedo issue CRD'd, The Speed sensor on the rear end relays it's info through the ABS Computer (Which is normally mounted to the Pump/Distribution block) just un-bolt it from the block un-plug the Pump and plug the Computer back in. I am going to make a mounting plate for it on the inner fender as soon as I have a chance, you can find some pictures in my Thread.


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:43 pm 
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Great job! I am impressed.

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:04 pm 
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Yup that ABS, BAS,TC speedo aspect can be tricky for CAN/ECU setups like 06 KJ and some folks have removed the original ABS system and you have reported working up something with your existing speed sensors off of the rear wheels.
I heard folks building up JK's to beefier axles use late model F250 versions cause the ABS tone frecuency matches Jeep JK. However I have yet to hear of another axle that matches KJ ABS but I will continue to search...This traction control, ABS issue will forever plague late model KJs (06 and 07, both gasser and diesel) to get on the way of of a perfect SFA job ( not saying yours is anyway bad!!)....If you come up with a good, workable solution post up and kudos to you for a very good looking ride!

Roland

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:08 pm 
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oh yeah I see that radiator hose routed over the fan shroud - interesting mod but necessary since there is that extra of an intercooler in the mix up front....

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2006 CRD LTD 2.8L VM Motori turbo,CAC, 100K-new timing belt
ORM-SEGR, Trans cooler, CLIII hitch front/rear, Journey HD controller
Mopar skids,"Stone Soup" rails, KK clevis fork 1" mild lift w/Daystar stops
215x85 LRD BFG Commercial A/T's, Rola Rack, V6 airbox, Fumoto valve
10K winch, B5 Biodiesel (ULSD CP3 lube)
Its a Diesel baby!


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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 2:39 pm 
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Would love to see some more pics of the rear end, still a little hazy on how I'm going to do it with the tri link, I'm about to take this on next summer, any tips would be appreciated :D

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 4:34 pm 
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Since this thread has already been revived, did you fab the front bumper yourself? Looks great.

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 Post subject: Re: Completed Solid Axle Swap (SFA/SAS) Diesel Liberty (w/pi
PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:54 pm 
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It's already been said......but I love that front bumper!!! Can't wait to pay mine off and start digging into it :rockon:

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