Not your everyday KJ

[HoneyBadger]

Hi EXPO my name is Louis and I currently drive a 2005 Jeep Liberty (KJ). I bought the KJ with 25 miles on it back in 06. I was originally looking for a XJ but I couldn’t find one with less than 85,000 miles on it, so I ended up buying the KJ. I didn’t know anything about this vehicle or how it would do off road when I bought it. While I was in Texas I did a lot of exploring on and around Fort Hood looking for good fishing spots. I went to Range Control to get a map and a quick over view of the land. After exploring for a month or two I soon realized that Texas mud is crazy. I am from Colorado so I wasn’t too familiar with those types of trails. The KJ really impressed me on these trails and never got me stuck. This brought up the question of what is this rig capable of. I started searching the internet to find out if there were any aftermarket parts available for it. During my search I ran across a forum called LOSTKJS (now LOSTJEEPS). This site was very informative and so the modifications began.

This is how my KJ looked the day I bought it.

Now the first thing I wanted to do was get some new wheels and mud terrain tires. I decided to go with 16 in KMC Enduro’s in flat black and 235/75 BFG KM/MTRs. Also in this picture you can see my fishing pole holder on the roof.

With my new MTRs I took full advantage and took every trail that lead to water.

After getting new shoes I looked at the MOPAR catalog and bought a rear air deflector, bra, cross rails and snowboard rack. I know... a snowboard rack in Texas right? Well I am originally from Colorado and have been snowboarding for 8 years at that point. Every time I got to take leave in the winter that’s where I would go... back to Colorado. I also found some LED tail lights and light guards to go with them.

That was all I managed to do before a 15 month deployment to Iraq. While I was in Iraq my wife decided that she couldn’t handle being by herself and found someone to take my place. I came home to find out that she wanted a divorce because she couldn’t stay faithful. It’s sad to think that out of my Troop of 135 with 85 or so married, 23 of us got divorced. Anyway enough about that.

After I was divorced I had more money to spend on my Jeep. After doing a lot of research I decided to buy a Franken Lift Premium II, Jeepin by Al’s 4.5 A arms and a set of 265/75 BFG KM2/MTRs. This is how she turned out.

 

[jeepmedic46]

Looks good, I had a 04 kj that was awesome, it never let me down. I had a rod holder like that made of PVC pipe

 

[HoneyBadger]

Continued

So after making the trip to Colorado for the lift and time with my family it was time to once again explore Texas.

I was very impressed with how my rig handled on and off road. Again its a Liberty but I was always getting complements on how my rig looked and how not many people knew you could modify them. You could say that I fell in love with this rig.

I was on a trail ride with some buddies which had a section of the trail that went through a deep creek. A guy in a TJ was going along when all of a sudden he slipped in a deep hole. He panicked and ended up hydro locking his engine. Learning from his mistake I decided to get an Air Flow snorkel.

Now remember how I mentioned the Texas mud? Well.... it got the best of me and took off with my pride as well as my bumper. Down at one of my fishing holes there was this mud pit. I have gone through this two times before this day. Both times I was in 4 wheel drive but for some reason (I blame the camera) I forgot to put it in 4 wheel and hit the pit. I almost made it through the first time in 2 wheel but I stopped and switched to 4 wheel.... I shouldn’t have stopped. So.... I got stuck.

I tried so hard to get out but I just kept digging deeper and deeper and eventually my bumper got filled with mud and started to get ripped off of my rig.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Continued

Now after an hour I finally got a hold of a buddy to come pull me out. This is what she looked like when I got home.... all beat and battered.

Needless to say I needed a new front bumper. I once again looked to the internet and found that ARB was really the only manufacture of aftermarket bumpers for a KJ (at the time). Don't get me wrong I like the ARB bumper but I wanted to be different. What’s the point of having rig that’s not common to modify look like other modified Liberties. I made a trip to Lampasas, TX to TX Pro off road and talked to the owner about building a bumper together. He was very nice and allowed me to help with the building. Over two days and two cases of Keystone later we built a custom bumper. Oh and the cost.... 2 cases of Keystone.

Now we were done with the bumper but I happened to find a piece of tubing and decided to add a stinger.

I used some Duplicolor spray on bed liner to paint the bumper. The owner said it would be a good idea since it was easy to touch up.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Continued

During the build of the bumper I was told that I got my wish and that I was to PCS to Fort Carson. Funny thing is that I grew up five minutes away from Fort Carson. With this news I decided to buy a roof rack for my trip back home. I had made the trip six times before while I was on leave and realized I needed more room to move my stuff. Now I did not like the idea of a bolt together rack so I went with a welded Defender Rack.

I then made my way back home. Once I was back in my old stompping grounds the fun truely began.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Continued

After spending less than a year back in the States it was time to ship off yet again. Afghanistan proved to be a real eye opener. We were put in the mountains right ********** dab in the middle of Taliban country. We were a 45 minute helicopter ride or 4 day drive from any other coalition troops. We soon realized the importance of being self sufficient and to plan for everything. Afghanistan is a beautiful country. I spent a year exploring the remote valleys, and villages of this beautiful mountainous country. This is where my love for over landing began.... ********** dab in the middle of a war.

When I got back I began turning my KJ into a well rounded overland rig. I bought a light cage from Defender Racks to protect my new KC slim lites and made the switch to Wrangler Dura Tracs. I did not like the KM2s in the snow.

Now when I bought this I didn't realize it was for bigger lights. I ended up cutting down some pipe to make spacers for the two outer lights to even things out.

I also bought a Smityblit XRC8 winch but ran into problems with the install. It turned out that the stinger wouldn't allow the winch plate to seat properly. After debating what to do I decided to cut it of and install the winch. I think it turned out really good.

With the winch I installed a Optima yellow top battery, super white HID head lights and full skids from Skid Row.

I continued with the armor and added a pair of Rock Lizard Fabrications Super Skink sliders and custom rear bumper with swing away tire carrier and hi lift/jerry can holder (x2)

 

[HoneyBadger]

Lastly

Well that's my KJ and I as of today. My plans are to build a full length roof rack, lockers, rear dif cover, 4.10 gears, and a storage system in the back. I hope you didn't mind all of the pictures. I will post up some trip reports that I have done in the past to show the beauty of Colorado. Thanks for taking the time to look at my rig. If any of you have questions feel free to ask.

P.S. I just recently took off that Light Cage so if anyone is interested let me know. I figured I would give the Jeeps a chance at it first.

 

[oromis]

Wow that is an amazing Jeep. When I got to the part in your story about the bumper being ripped off I was hoping you were going to replace it with something steel. You did not disappoint. I have looked into the KJ several times. In the end I think I am going to go with a WJ to save some money but your KJ makes me question that decision. Thanks for posting. Bigger THANKS for serving.

 

[Mekcanix]

Wow awesome liberty. I really like how you did the rear bumper with the dual swing aways I have been planning something similar myself for my XJ but yours is way better then what i was doin, nice job

 

[tommudd]

rear bumper is from Rock Lizard Fabrications, quite a few of us have them

 

[gas4blood]

Cool Liberty man. I really liked the solid axle diesel one that was built for the Ultimate Adventure a few years ago. Great job on the build so far. And like the others said, thanks for serving our country.

 

[phxtoad]

Very nice!

 

[jeep-N-montero]

After spending less than a year back in the States it was time to ship off yet again. Afghanistan proved to be a real eye opener. We were put in the mountains right ********** dab in the middle of Taliban country. We were a 45 minute helicopter ride or 4 day drive from any other coalition troops. We soon realized the importance of being self sufficient and to plan for everything. Afghanistan is a beautiful country. I spent a year exploring the remote valleys, and villages of this beautiful mountainous country. This is where my love for over landing began.... ********** dab in the middle of a war.

When I got back I began turning my KJ into a well rounded overland rig. I bought a light cage from Defender Racks to protect my new KC slim lites and made the switch to Wrangler Dura Tracs. I did not like the KM2s in the snow.

Now when I bought this I didn’t realize it was for bigger lights. I ended up cutting down some pipe to make spacers for the two outer lights to even things out.

I also bought a Smityblit XRC8 winch but ran into problems with the install. It turned out that the stinger wouldn’t allow the winch plate to seat properly. After debating what to do I decided to cut it of and install the winch. I think it turned out really good.

With the winch I installed a Optima yellow top battery, super white HID head lights and full skids from Skid Row.

I continued with the armor and added a pair of Rock Lizard Fabrications Super Skink sliders and custom rear bumper with swing away tire carrier and hi lift/jerry can holder (x2)

I recognize my old stomping grounds up below Mt. Baldy, used to walk beyond the gate with my dog to take her swimming in the reservoir, very fun times camping and wheeling in that area. Not much up there for difficult trails, but so fun to explore and relax on a hot summer day. When my dog passes away I am going to be taking a trip up there to spread her ashes, it was where we first went to play when I got her. Are you ACR or BCT?

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

One of the nicer Liberties I have seen... nice Jeep my man. Happy travels in Colorado.

 

[RangeBrover]

Thank you for your service, and awesome rig.