Trail rated Liberty Ground Clearance
- Thread starter gm13
- Start date
My trail rated kk came with 17" wheels. Was a great truck. If your building one I would suggest skids, rock sliders better tires and an ome lift I had those changes and was very happy. Though if your crawling all day look into hood louvers as I ran into overheating issues more than once though never in a day when we were actually moving faster than 10+ miles an hour at a time. It's a MUCH more capable platform than most give it credit for.
Reboot11133
Observer
The Liberty has a shorter wheelbase than the others. Even though the ground clearance is lower, the break over angle is better. Your approach and departure angles would be better as well.
1stDeuce
Explorer
I'm sorry to bash the "offroad" brand, but Jeep's Trail Rated BS is pretty much BS. They hired a private company to "trail rate" their products, with numbers equating to performance, (And the Rubicon Wrangler of course a 10...) and when said private company found the Compass and Patriot "not worthy" of a trail rated badge, (Which required a 3 out of 10 or something like that) Jeep fired them, and just started making stuff up and tossing a badge on.
I guess what I'm saying is do your homework. The "Trail Rated" KK's don't have any more ground clearance than the non-rated ones... And they have less than a Volvo... That's just sad. I pried the Trail Rated badge off my wife's KJ Liberty and stuck it on my little red wagon... In stock form it is completely lost off a graded road.
FWIW, the Volvo likely has an excellent traction control system, and at one time, at least the XC90 had a "low range" that worked fairly well. Not sure if the 70 does, but I can't see how it could be worse than a liberty.
I know, some of you love your Liberty's. That's OK. I think I still harbor some ill will toward Jeep for the first Liberty, which was released while I was there and it was a design failure in so many ways... (Over weight by 900lbs, FAR less capable offroad than a cherokee, messed up rear suspension geometry makes it fairly twitchy on the highway, less interior space than the old Cherokee, horrible seating positions and seats, at least in the Limited, and don't get me started on upside down lower balljoints...) I think they fixed a lot of stuff with the KK, so hopefully it isn't as bad as I know the KJ to be...
I guess what I'm saying is do your homework. The "Trail Rated" KK's don't have any more ground clearance than the non-rated ones... And they have less than a Volvo... That's just sad. I pried the Trail Rated badge off my wife's KJ Liberty and stuck it on my little red wagon... In stock form it is completely lost off a graded road.
FWIW, the Volvo likely has an excellent traction control system, and at one time, at least the XC90 had a "low range" that worked fairly well. Not sure if the 70 does, but I can't see how it could be worse than a liberty.
I know, some of you love your Liberty's. That's OK. I think I still harbor some ill will toward Jeep for the first Liberty, which was released while I was there and it was a design failure in so many ways... (Over weight by 900lbs, FAR less capable offroad than a cherokee, messed up rear suspension geometry makes it fairly twitchy on the highway, less interior space than the old Cherokee, horrible seating positions and seats, at least in the Limited, and don't get me started on upside down lower balljoints...) I think they fixed a lot of stuff with the KK, so hopefully it isn't as bad as I know the KJ to be...
The company that Jeep has been involved with and still is, is NATC. I have no idea of any other company.
It's also foolish to expect all Jeeps to have the same off road capabilities as the Wrangler. The XJ, ZJ, and WJ didn't.
The KJ did miss it's target by 700 lbs. I'll agree that the suspension should have been a lot better. The problems can be summed up in one word. Daimler. The program engineers were pulling their hair out with every last minute change that Daimler insisted on, delaying the KJ by at least a year.
Also the Up Country suspension package that included one more inch of ground clearance was cancelled just months before production. After all someone claimed that owners never take their Jeeps off road ! Heard that in more than one town hall meeting from the Daimler people.
Jim
It's also foolish to expect all Jeeps to have the same off road capabilities as the Wrangler. The XJ, ZJ, and WJ didn't.
The KJ did miss it's target by 700 lbs. I'll agree that the suspension should have been a lot better. The problems can be summed up in one word. Daimler. The program engineers were pulling their hair out with every last minute change that Daimler insisted on, delaying the KJ by at least a year.
Also the Up Country suspension package that included one more inch of ground clearance was cancelled just months before production. After all someone claimed that owners never take their Jeeps off road ! Heard that in more than one town hall meeting from the Daimler people.
Jim
I had a KJ and couldn't wait to get rid of it. I have a KK now which I got mainly because it was a good deal and after 80k miles feel it is a much better vehicle. It seems to be better put together, is a lot more comfortable, the interior is much more durable, and it has been completely trouble free (it still has the original brakes). The traction control system works great and even though it is completely stock except for taller all terrain tires it has taken me everywhere my XJ's, ZJ, and KJ's took me off road and has been flawless in winter driving conditions. We had an epically difficult winter in New England this year and I was extremely impressed with its performance. It can also swallow a lot of gear with the back seat and passenger seat folded down. It's not a sexy vehicle and I still think the front end is funny looking but I agree it is very underrated and I have grown to like mine.
