Newbie, couple of questions

Kkjess · **Joined:** Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:53 pm **Posts:** 24

So I have a 2012 KK. It has a little over 40k on it and needs new tires. I have decided to lift it and put on 32 inch tires. I have searched around and the more searching I do, the more confused I get. Currently I am considering the assembled struts and new springs/shock kit available at rocky road. I understand that pinch weld trimming and possibly front bumper cover trimming will be required. Will a 32 inch spare tire fit in the original spare tire location? I am also considering adding a trailer hitch, will that cause any interference? I don't actually plan to off-road my Liberty, I just want to improve the appearance. I know some of you may not like this, that's ok, please just keep it to yourself. I am looking for help from fellow been there done that types, not criticism. Thank you all in advance.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 12:14 pm

Welcome to lost! To start off, stay away from rocky road. The company has very bad customer service and most of what they sell doesn't fit or work properly.

On to the next part. To run 32s you're going to need atleast 3.5" of lift if you don't mind a lot of cutting, preferably 4" to minimize rub and cutting. To do 4" you'll need the JBA lift which costs a pretty penny. To get 3.5" you can run The OME lift and add some extras, but it'll still cost about $13-1400. Not only will you have to lift, but you'll need to regear. Depending on where you live and how much towing you do you can get away with 4.10s(flat land, little towing, these put you back to stock rpms but won't make up for the weight of the tires) or you can go with 4.56s(mountains or a lot of towing, these put you a little over stock, but make up for the added weight). Without regearing the Jeep will be a dog, search for gears, and temps will run high which is bad for the tranny and motor. If you want, you can do 31s on about 3" of lift and get away without regearing.

As for a spare fitting, some have made it work, some just don't fit, some need to deflate the tire. It's been a debate for years on here... Anyways all tires are slightly different. Deflating the tire isn't too big of a deal if you carry an air compressor, if you don't, then that won't work for you.

On to the hitch. I say go Mopar. It's the only 1 that tucks up and stays out of the way. The others hang down and stick out a bit. It's easy to add a hitch, Mopar is more expensive than others, but you won't hit your legs on it when you walk behind the Jeep.

Shaffer · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:34 pm

Bmxer524 wrote:

Welcome to lost! To start off, stay away from rocky road. The company has very bad customer service and most of what they sell doesn't fit or work properly.

On to the next part. To run 32s you're going to need atleast 3.5" of lift if you don't mind a lot of cutting, preferably 4" to minimize rub and cutting. To do 4" you'll need the JBA lift which costs a pretty penny. To get 3.5" you can run The OME lift and add some extras, but it'll still cost about $13-1400. Not only will you have to lift, but you'll need to regear. Depending on where you live and how much towing you do you can get away with 4.10s(flat land, little towing, these put you back to stock rpms but won't make up for the weight of the tires) or you can go with 4.56s(mountains or a lot of towing, these put you a little over stock, but make up for the added weight). Without regearing the Jeep will be a dog, search for gears, and temps will run high which is bad for the tranny and motor. If you want, you can do 31s on about 3" of lift and get away without regearing.

As for a spare fitting, some have made it work, some just don't fit, some need to deflate the tire. It's been a debate for years on here... Anyways all tires are slightly different. Deflating the tire isn't too big of a deal if you carry an air compressor, if you don't, then that won't work for you.

On to the hitch. I say go Mopar. It's the only 1 that tucks up and stays out of the way. The others hang down and stick out a bit. It's easy to add a hitch, Mopar is more expensive than others, but you won't hit your legs on it when you walk behind the Jeep.

darn. You know you're stuff this was even very informative for me. Thanks a lot.

Good luck with the lift and the aggressive look. Keep us posted on your progress and welcome to lost. This place is a very friendly and helpful place unlike most forums.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 3:09 pm

Shaffer wrote:

Bmxer524 wrote:

Welcome to lost! To start off, stay away from rocky road. The company has very bad customer service and most of what they sell doesn't fit or work properly.

On to the next part. To run 32s you're going to need atleast 3.5" of lift if you don't mind a lot of cutting, preferably 4" to minimize rub and cutting. To do 4" you'll need the JBA lift which costs a pretty penny. To get 3.5" you can run The OME lift and add some extras, but it'll still cost about $13-1400. Not only will you have to lift, but you'll need to regear. Depending on where you live and how much towing you do you can get away with 4.10s(flat land, little towing, these put you back to stock rpms but won't make up for the weight of the tires) or you can go with 4.56s(mountains or a lot of towing, these put you a little over stock, but make up for the added weight). Without regearing the Jeep will be a dog, search for gears, and temps will run high which is bad for the tranny and motor. If you want, you can do 31s on about 3" of lift and get away without regearing.

As for a spare fitting, some have made it work, some just don't fit, some need to deflate the tire. It's been a debate for years on here... Anyways all tires are slightly different. Deflating the tire isn't too big of a deal if you carry an air compressor, if you don't, then that won't work for you.

On to the hitch. I say go Mopar. It's the only 1 that tucks up and stays out of the way. The others hang down and stick out a bit. It's easy to add a hitch, Mopar is more expensive than others, but you won't hit your legs on it when you walk behind the Jeep.

darn. You know you're stuff this was even very informative for me. Thanks a lot.

Good luck with the lift and the aggressive look. Keep us posted on your progress and welcome to lost. This place is a very friendly and helpful place unlike most forums.

lol Thanks. I've been around for about 4 years now. Most of the long term regulars know it because it comes up so much. We came from the days of Digger and Tom posting numerous times a day about lifts, etc.

Ted15 · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 5:09 pm

X2 for staying away from RRO. You can search back a few years and see some real problems plus they don't have anything good to say about anyone on the forums. They really don't want you asking questions on here for fear of truth getting out. Their OTT lift is a real bad idea for our Libertys. The top spacer combined with the OME springs is way too much lift. For every inch of spacer, you'll get two inches in lift because of where the spring is located in relation to the pivot points and the distance to the hub. JBA makes top plates that are 1/4"that work very well. I used two of them per side. You can also add another 3/8" between the bottom of the spring and the clevis. I used conduit nuts, not sure what size, 1 1/2" I think but it's easy to research on here..that's an additional 1 1/4" of lift with the 2 1/2" of spring lift you get 3 3/4" before it settles and the ride will be incredible compared to stock.
32" tires will be an expensive and frustrating choice and 4.56 gears are a must. 4.10 for 31" tires, that's what I have. I tow a 2000# pop up and use every bit of my 4.10's. X2 on the Mopar hitch and wire harness too. You really want the Mopar wire harness, it has circuit breakers and relays built into it to protect the vehicle from electrical problems in what ever you tow.
Good luck and have fun with it.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Aug 29, 2015 7:25 pm

What they said, do it right the first time and you'll have fun for years
Go cheap to start and cry for months

Kkjess · **Joined:** Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:53 pm **Posts:** 24

I really appreciate the info. The 4 inch JBA lift is really quite expensive for a " just for looks" lift. Can you tell me more about the 2.5 lift with the extras?? I just don't want to spend 3-4k for super high end equipment that I won't ever use.
I'll def. go with the jeep trailer hitch & wiring. I don't plan on towing much, just an A-liner pop-up camper. This Liberty is in fantastic condition, and I want to keep it that way for a long time to come. But I am kinda stubborn on the 32 inch tires that I have already purchased.
One other question about the 4 inch lift: how does it affect the half shaft angles? Are you guys blowing cv joints? Is a lowering bracket need for the front diff? Again thank you so much for helping me out.
(Is Also just bought a full factory leather interior that I am installing next weekend)
So excited to be getting all this under way!!!!

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:20 am

With any lift it's going to hurt the life of some components. That said, 3.5-4" is well within the working limits of the front CVs. NAM is at or slightly over 4" for some time, I'm at 3.5" for about 25k miles. There's no cradle drops for the KKs(unless you go custom).

As for the 2.5" lift, that's OME springs (927/731) with your choice of shocks. It says it'll get 1.5", but in reality it's 2.5". That will run about $750, maybe more depending on the shocks. Then if you want more you can add a top plate and clevis in the front, and stack some spring isolators in the rear. That gets anywhere from 3 to 3.5" (depending on what you add). After about 3" you'll need upper control arms. That adds another 3 or 400 to the mix, but it's well worth(and needed) upgrade.

Ted15 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:28 am

Sounds like you're committed to a 4" lift then. Along with the JBA set-up, I highly recommend this
http://www.rcvperformance.com/product-d ... =CVJIFS-KK
You might be able to fashion a way to get it high enough with additional spacers but you'll need a track bar and longer sway bar link arms and lots of trimming.

PALiftedKK · **Posted:** Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:48 am

Kkjess wrote:

I really appreciate the info. The 4 inch JBA lift is really quite expensive for a " just for looks" lift. Can you tell me more about the 2.5 lift with the extras?? I just don't want to spend 3-4k for super high end equipment that I won't ever use.
I'll def. go with the jeep trailer hitch & wiring. I don't plan on towing much, just an A-liner pop-up camper. This Liberty is in fantastic condition, and I want to keep it that way for a long time to come. But I am kinda stubborn on the 32 inch tires that I have already purchased.
One other question about the 4 inch lift: how does it affect the half shaft angles? Are you guys blowing cv joints? Is a lowering bracket need for the front diff? Again thank you so much for helping me out.
(Is Also just bought a full factory leather interior that I am installing next weekend)
So excited to be getting all this under way!!!!

you really don't want so skimp out on a lift. basically the OME 927s are good for a 2.5" lift as stated by bmxer. after those springs from JBA 840 bucks with out shipping plus mounting the new tires plus an alignment, your pretty close to 2k or more.

a full spring lift is the absolute best way to lift a KK (liberty). lifts from an 1.5" to 4" are easily accessible for the KKs. 4" is overkill for a "just for looks lift" and requires a lot more attention then the 2.5" lift.

NAMoulton1 · **Joined:** Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:01 pm **Posts:** 1054

Best bet for keeping the 32s is the front Ironman lift for 3.5"-and pound the living crap out of the pinch weld-with JBA rear springs or some super fancy custom HD rear springs ( viewtopic.php?f=88&t=82883 ). You'll be okay with daily driving without a new track bar for the rear, but flexing you'll end up rubbing when the wheel tucks and when the driveshaft hits the gas tank skid/muffler. No need to extend your sway bar links either, the fronts are fine and the rear sway bar can just be removed entirely. Be careful running the 32s without regearing though. You'll burn out your engine and transmission relatively quickly depending on the type of terrain you're driving on.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:24 am

Kkjess wrote:

I really appreciate the info. The 4 inch JBA lift is really quite expensive for a " just for looks" lift. Can you tell me more about the 2.5 lift with the extras?? I just don't want to spend 3-4k for super high end equipment that I won't ever use.
I'll def. go with the jeep trailer hitch & wiring. I don't plan on towing much, just an A-liner pop-up camper. This Liberty is in fantastic condition, and I want to keep it that way for a long time to come. But I am kinda stubborn on the 32 inch tires that I have already purchased.
One other question about the 4 inch lift: how does it affect the half shaft angles? Are you guys blowing cv joints? Is a lowering bracket need for the front diff? Again thank you so much for helping me out.
(Is Also just bought a full factory leather interior that I am installing next weekend)
So excited to be getting all this under way!!!!

How do you figure that you'll never use a higher priced liftLOL
You ride on it everyday and the adjustable coil over lifts ride like a dream compared to the crappy weak totally useless stock suspension
Ride and handling will be great everyday
If you are pulling any thing at all you'll need to swap gears as well if going to 32s
You may already have them but if you don't want to pay the extra dollars and don't want to regear you may want to rethink your game plan

Kkjess · **Joined:** Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:53 pm **Posts:** 24

I called over to JBA today, based on that conversation and the advise here, I am going with the Tommudds 3.5 lift w/clevis spacers and the 4:10 re-gearing. just wanted to thank you all again. I'll keep you posted.

Bmxer524 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:15 pm

Where are you located? 4.10s work well around sea level and flat land, mountains and towing may require 4.56s.

Are you going with the OME front springs or Iron Man? It makes a difference in the clevis you choose. If you go with OME get the 3/8" clevis, if you go Iron Man go with 1/2" clevis. Reason being OME 927 front springs get 2.5" of lift, the Iron Man springs get 2.25". If you sit much more over 3.5" with either of those springs you'll get a ton of contact between the springs and upper control arm (even if you have JBA's).

Kkjess · **Joined:** Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:53 pm **Posts:** 24

I am located in Maryland, quite flat around here. And not really planning on towing much if anything. Maybe a small pop-up camper, but may even use a different veh for that. I was thinking of possibly buying the hitch mounted spare tire carrier. But going to see if my tire/wheel is going to fit in the stock location first.

Thanks Bmxer for the info on the Clevis spacer sizing. I am ordering all the parts tomorrow to include the rear brake lines just to be safe.

Newbie, couple of questions

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