Ways to "butch up" the KK

jeepxk · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:07 am

I am trying to figure out ways to make my 08 KK Limited look a little more like an off road Jeep. It looks like a blingmobile right now with the 18" wheels and all the chrome.

Here are some thoughts:
I have replaced the chrome trim on the doors and rear hatch with black ones from a sport.
I would like to take the 18" wheels and replace them with the 17" wheels and put AT tires on them and maybe a small lift.
Has anyone thought of adding the bumper mounted off road lights from the Patriot to the KK?
Maybe add the roof rails from a non SkySlider model to mine.(I have the flat rails on my SkySlider model)
Rock rails
Maybe replace the chrome grill with a painted one
add Trai Rated badge

Any other ideas?

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:22 am

I am trying to figure out ways to make my 08 KK Limited look a little more like an off road Jeep. It looks like a blingmobile right now with the 18" wheels and all the chrome.

Here are some thoughts:
I have replaced the chrome trim on the doors and rear hatch with black ones from a sport.
I would like to take the 18" wheels and replace them with the 17" wheels and put AT tires on them and maybe a small lift.( go withe the 16's on AT tires. Just stay away from the revtek lift
Has anyone thought of adding the bumper mounted off road lights from the Patriot to the KK?( there are not any really good mounting points unless you install a bull bar
Maybe add the roof rails from a non SkySlider model to mine.(I have the flat rails on my SkySlider model)( if there are studs there, go for it
Rock rails ( see the rock lizard
Maybe replace the chrome grill with a painted one ( yep
add Trai Rated badge ( go for it, or just de-badge it

Any other ideas?

jeepxk · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:32 am

How are the lights mounted on the Patriot bumper?

rickm · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2008 12:10 pm

I'm confused.... I can understand you wanting to change the look, but why didn't you get a Sport and then just add on from there? Hopefully you can sell all that stuff you take off of there.

Mr Nick · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:44 pm

As for wheels, I really like the 17" wheels on the Patriot, but they are only 6.5" wide. Might be an option if you're not interested in running wider tires.

jeepxk · **Posted:** Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:56 pm

I wanted the Limited because of the interior package and options that were not available on the sport model.
For my taste there is way too much chrome on the Limited.
The only thing on the outside of the Limited that makes it a Limited was the four door moldings which cost me about $100 to change to black (new chrome set cost $130), the rear tailgate handle cost me $65 to go to black (chrome one is about $140).
If I swap out the wheels to something else I can sell the 18" ones plus I want to put on some AT tires anyway which I would not put on those 18" DUB wheels.
I can get a painted grill cheap although I am not sure as I may leave the chrome one.
I bought the Limited KK slightly used for about 10k off list so I got it for the price of a Sport model.
I personally like my Jeeps to have mostly black or body colored trim instead of chrome. Just like a Wrangler.
The only thing is the choice of wheels is limited. I wonder if a set of MOAB's off a TJ would fit without spacers?
The guys with the KJ's use them quite a bit.

chazsheen · **Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:21 pm

Digger - About the roof rack from the non-skyslider on a roof with the skyslider: According to the parts guy at my dealership that's a no-go. The standard roof rack side rails have four mounting points per side and the molding piece replacements from the skyslider version only have two mounting points per side. I'm looking into doing the same thing you are if I can. I'll scan in the installation printout that he gave me when I get into work tomorrow. Assuming two of the four holes per side lineup, you'd probably have to tap two more to mount it properly.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:05 pm

doing one for the slider will probably be harder. The new KK's have 4 studs per side like you said, vs the kj's 4 bolts. I don't know how easy it would be to drill and tap two more holes as i have not seen the stud mounts under the head liner.... also the air bag squibs are in the way

Sport · **Posted:** Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:13 pm

anyone thought about cutting up the front bumper yet? do a trim like the 05-07 are doing.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:20 am

Sport wrote:

anyone thought about cutting up the front bumper yet? do a trim like the 05-07 are doing.

have a pic?

Sport · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:27 am

photochopped kk

[size=9]

couple of shots of the front bumper 05-07

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... hp?t=30470

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:05 pm

Sport wrote:

photochopped kk

[size=9]

couple of shots of the front bumper 05-07

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... hp?t=30470

that looks good! someone should try it :wink:

chazsheen · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:07 pm

Digger, Here's the pic of the side rail mounting and moulding mounting that I promised (albeit pretty delayed - my apologies).

Factory side-rails on top, skyslider moulding on the bottom.

jeepxk · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:00 pm

I ordered a pair of factory side rails to put on my Skyslider roof.

The flat Skyslider rails are secured with at least one stud at each corner. I am hoping that at least one of the studs lines up with one hole on each side rail bracket so I can secure the rails. Since I won't be using them as intended and they will be holding no weight I would think that would work.

I will let everyone know how it goes when I get them installed.

By the way I have been slowly turning my chrome Liberty exterior into one with black and body colored trim. I guess when I am done it will pretty much look more like a sport model on the outside. I have added black side moldings, black tailgate handle and body colored grill. I left the chrome trim piece under the front bumper because it just looked good on there for some reason. The only thing left to do is add some different wheels to get rid of the 18" ones.

I am keeping all the Limited trim and wheels/tires so when the day come to sell or trade if the next guy wants all the bling it could easily be added back on.

I am really, really liking my Liberty as it has been the perfect fit between my old Commander and the XJ I used to have. I just wish the aftermarket parts would be quicker coming.
I am also hoping that Jeep produces a Renegade trim package I can steel parts off of for mine.

I am still investigating adding the bumper mounted driving lights off the Patriot/Compass. I think the brackets mount under the grill on the shroud.

jeepxk · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 6:38 pm

I did a little investigating tonight when I got home from work and started to take off the smooth Skyslider rails. There are two studs sticking out of the roof under the side rails. The rails are held on by two studs on the front and two in the back and tape in the middle. It looks like the new roof rack rails will just bolt right on!

Had anyone noticed some of the early promotional images for the 08 Liberty with Skyslider showed it with roof rack rails?
I bet at the last minute they didn't want to put them on because if they did and someone put the cross bars on and tried to use the Skyslider it would be a train wreck and they would have all kinds of warranty claims. I think the flat rails were a last minute change on Jeeps part.

chazsheen · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 7:31 pm

jeepxk wrote:

I did a little investigating tonight when I got home from work and started to take off the smooth Skyslider rails. There are two studs sticking out of the roof under the side rails. The rails are held on by two studs on the front and two in the back and tape in the middle. It looks like the new roof rack rails will just bolt right on!

Had anyone noticed some of the early promotional images for the 08 Liberty with Skyslider showed it with roof rack rails?
I bet at the last minute they didn't want to put them on because if they did and someone put the cross bars on and tried to use the Skyslider it would be a train wreck and they would have all kinds of warranty claims. I think the flat rails were a last minute change on Jeeps part.

You are making my day. Let me know when you're finished if they were able to just bolt right on or if you had to make some modifications. My goal is to be able to have them bare weight. Put the cross raisl on when I need to carry stuff and take them off when I'm done.

When I originally started thinking about doing this I was looking at the concept pictures online and noticed the exact same thing. I'm sure right before production somebody had a "Wait a minute here..." moment and realized that no matter what, somebody out there would have the cross rails on and try to open the skyslider.

jeepxk · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:54 pm

If the factory side rails do fit on the I would think you could take a cargo basket and modify the brackets that attach it to allow it to sit higher so that the Skyslider clears it when it opens. You would have the best of both worlds at minimal cost and really no modifcation to the Liberty.

zoso7374 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:04 pm

jeepxk wrote:

If the factory side rails do fit on the I would think you could take a cargo basket and modify the brackets that attach it to allow it to sit higher so that the Skyslider clears it when it opens. You would have the best of both worlds at minimal cost and really no modifcation to the Liberty.

jeepxk . . . were you able to get the side rails on without any problems?

jeepxk · **Posted:** Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:40 pm

Just put the siderails on tonight. They fit perfect!
I paid $127 for the black rails. They bolted on in about 15 minutes. You have to take off the flat rails and remove the 3M tape which took longer than putting the new rails on.
It was an easy mod that I would recomend.
I will post pics soon.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:07 pm

so the new rails are only help on by 2 studs per side?

Ways to "butch up" the KK

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