This is a timely question for me as earlier this week I ordered a Frankenlift for my 2005 KJ Sport that has 135K miles on it. As other have rightly advised, this is something to be decided by your personal preference and circumstance. There is no right or wrong answer here.
My circumstance was this: My wife and I agree that we don’t ever want to have more than one car payment so we have alternated buying cars for each other every five or so years. So we got an ’01 Accord for her then an ’05 Liberty for me and then an ’11 Accord for her. My turn was coming up to replace the KJ, but she wanted to upgrade her ’11 Accord to a ’14 Accord Coupe. I agreed to drive the Liberty another five years provided we make some needed repairs and wanted improvements to it so that I can stay happy with it. These include:
- Fix the damned rear window regulators (done)
- Replace sound system head unit (done)
- Upgrade the suspension with a Frankenlift Premium II (ordered, will install Thanksgiving weekend)
- Add rock rails (TBD, maybe end of next year)
- Recover the canvass seats (TBD – I actually kind of lost interest in doing this, so this may never happen)
Bottom line, though, is I still love the KJ. I got it with less than 10 miles on it and have maintained it well. Other than broken visor clips and the damned rear window regulators, it has been exceptionally reliable. I think it looks better than the XJ the preceded it or the KK or the KL that followed. It is actually nice that it is a bit older and I don’t sweat picking up a little pin-striping when driving through brush. It is a great size and more maneuverable than anything I can think of other than the 2-door Wrangler.
So I have a little more than four years to go with the KJ as my daily driver. I may keep it as a project rig and get a car, or I may sell it and buy a Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. For now, I can’t wait to get that Frankenlift installed.
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William C Montgomery
The Truth About CarsThe Truth About Guns'05 Sport 4X4, 3.7L - Black | Frankenlift II Premium, JBA KJ Lifted A-Arms 4.5 | Cooper Discoverer A/T3 - LT245/75R16, Load C