Jeep Liberty Owners - Things a New Owner Should Know

[Red Baron]

DD wanted and got a used 2004 Jeep Liberty 3.7L with automatic, 4WD.

51,000 miles in perfect condition.

As a new owner and Jeep newbie I would like to know what the vehicle's weak and strong points are. What are essential accessories to enhance the vehicle and what can I do to make this vehicle last a long time.

We got this for DD so she would have a good snow car for Wisconsin winters, plus she just likes Jeeps. Not planning on any off roading. Mostly city driving.

It appears to be in really great shape. A nice set of beefy new Wrangler tires are on it.

I guess my biggest concerns are reliability and safety.

I just wish she would let me drive it sometimes! I do plan on taking her out to an empty parking lot once the snow flies and finding the limits of the vehicle.

 

[Heavyweather]

We had a 06 jeep liberty and it was a wonderful vehicle. Accesories for the liberty line are a little harder to come by than say the wrangler but they r sites out there. I will see if i still have some links to those sites for you. There were only two problems we had with ours. First was the 4wd got hung in part time ocasionally. I never found out if it was a mechanical fault or my own cause one day i got to going through the hi lo part time gears and it finally started working normal. The other problem was the back driverside window just one day stoped raising up, the motor went out i suppose.
The liberty drove excelent and was quite smooth. lotsa room and was very comfy. Never got to drive it in ice or snow but it done well in the mudholes and dirt roads here in north ga. We had to trade it for a larger vehicle cause our family got bigger in a hurry and sadly we got a tactical family grocery getter.
Hope yall like your liberty as much as i did mine.

 

[Bushcamp]

It's oil filter sits on an incredibly stupid place for a 4x4, so keep a beady eye when you do venture offroad. It's very low, and actually sits BELOW the cross member.

The radiator has a tendency to leak at the bottom pipes after around 150K kilometers.

 

[Walker10]

My wife and I have both had Jeep Liberty's (she still has hers, I traded mine in for a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited a couple of years ago) and they have been fabulous vehicles. Between the both of them, the only problem we've had was with mine. At around 25,000 miles, the battery shorted out and had to be replaced. Other than that, the only real complaint I could tell you about is the tires. The original Wranglers were good in dry weather, fairly good in the rain, but horrible in snow. In fact they were borderline dangerous in the snow even with 4wd engaged. I would definitely suggest buying true snow tires (all four corners of course) if DD is tackling a Winter in Wisconsin.

 

[drafter]

Might want to have a dealership check and see if yours is one of the models affected by the front ball joint recall and whether they've been replaced already. The ones on my 2002 were replaced under a recall. Other than that I haven't had any issues and mine has just a hair over 75,000 miles on it.

I'm actually getting ready to pass mine off to my oldest daughter since I just picked myself up an 89 Grand Wagoneer. I love the old fullsize jeeps.

 

[sparkky]

DW has had a '05 for 2 years with no problems till this summer. the heater fan motor quit working on low speeds and finally crapped out all the way.

seems to be a pretty common problem from what I googled on the net. I ordered the part for about $25.00 (fan speed control resistor) and put it in in about 30 minutes. no biggie.

it has taken a beating on our "goat trail" road and is still in one piece.

 

[Red Baron]

I had time this weekend to check out DD's Liberty and it is in -really- good shape with only 51k on it.

I'm kinda jealous. DD and and DW both have 4WD SUV's now.

I'm junking my '91 Turbo Eagle Talon. The "Hail Magnet" is finally dead.

Amazing how much ham radio stuff, antennas and power cords I had imbedded in that thing. GPS, A Davis weather station and hookups for a packet radio laptop.

The electronics are worth far more than the car now!

In Spring I'm going to install that stuff in a Toyota Solara I inherited.

 

[Red Baron]

My wife and I have both had Jeep Liberty's (she still has hers, I traded mine in for a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited a couple of years ago) and they have been fabulous vehicles. Between the both of them, the only problem we've had was with mine. At around 25,000 miles, the battery shorted out and had to be replaced. Other than that, the only real complaint I could tell you about is the tires. The original Wranglers were good in dry weather, fairly good in the rain, but horrible in snow. In fact they were borderline dangerous in the snow even with 4wd engaged. I would definitely suggest buying true snow tires (all four corners of course) if DD is tackling a Winter in Wisconsin.

We had a little snow today and ya, the Wranglers are not so hot in the snow.

Did you find a particular winter tire you liked or are you just saying any dedicated snow tire is better than the Wranglers?

 

[Publius]

We had a little snow today and ya, the Wranglers are not so hot in the snow.

Did you find a particular winter tire you liked or are you just saying any dedicated snow tire is better than the Wranglers?

Try asking the tire shops if they have or can get you the! Kelly Safari Trex. These tires are all weather radials made just for SUVs and Pickup trucks, I have used the Kelly brand name for years and the safari tires I have them on my 4 door F-350 4x4 and I have used them in snow and deep snow running nurses to the VA hospital where my wife works, I use wood to heat my home and these Kelly safari tires get a good bit of off road use in really ruff terrain to cut fire wood and they hold up to the rocks and crap I have to go over. Did I say the price is not to bad either. Have to add very important! I average about 35,000 miles with these tires on this big heavy truck.

 

[Walker10]

We had a little snow today and ya, the Wranglers are not so hot in the snow.

Did you find a particular winter tire you liked or are you just saying any dedicated snow tire is better than the Wranglers?

I had the Liberty here in PA 2003-2006 and we didn't have particularly hard Winters those years, so I just stuck it out with the original Wranglers. If the weather had been worse though, I would have gone with either a Continental Winter tire http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/us/en/continental/automobile/general/news/pr/pr_2008_11_19_45degree_switch_en.html or even a B F Goodrich Mud Terrain tire http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/overview/mud-terrain-t-a-km2/3930.html.

I used to have the Continental's on a Mazda that I owned some years ago and they are a marked improvement over the standard snow tires you can get at Pep Boys, etc. These tires have a rubber compound that gets softer the colder it gets and therefore provides better grip. An excellent choice IMO, but also a choice that would neccesitate having two sets of tires.

For more extreme snow conditions, frankly I'd go with the Mud-Terrains in a size suitable for the Liberty. Since I've owned trucks and now a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, I've had the Mud-Terrains on each and they are unstoppable. Very open tread design that sheds snow and suprisingly very good all around tires and tires that you could use year-round. Don't let the tread design fool you, they are suprisingly quiet tires, but with these tires, you must rotate them frequently to get the best tread life out of them. I didn't take the time to look at the B F Goodrich site to see if they have a size Mud-Terrain that could be put on a Liberty in stock form, but if you had a mind to and if they didn't have a size suitable for a stock Liberty, you could put a small lift kit on a Liberty for not very much money that would give it the lift to put a Mud Terrain on. Might be something you'd want to consider if you were going to keep the Jeep for some years. Here's an outfit that I got my Wrangler lift from and they sell a budget lift for the Liberty that you might want to consider. http://www.rocky-road.com/kjbudget.html

Take it back, here's the B F Goodrich page that shows the various sizes for the Mud-Terrains and it looks like they do in fact make a size suitable for a Liberty. http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/specs/mud-terrain-t-a-km2/3930.html

 

[Walker10]

Oh, and another thing ...my opinion, mail order the tires. I always buy my tires from a place in Wheeling, West Virginia. I'm sitting here trying to think of the name of the place and can't remember off hand. If you look at a 4x4 magazine though you will see a tire ad from a place in Wheeling, order from them, they've always been a couple of dollars cheaper even with shipping than any local place I've priced. I'll try to remember the name of the company and post it if I can remember Red Baron.

 

[Red Baron]

I'm going to see if I can find some rims at the boneyard cheap.

Wouldn't be a big hassle to go with two sets of tires, if I can find rims cheap.

I did finally get a compressor and a impact gun a while back and that would make swapping tires a breeze.

 

[Publius]

I use to do that, but with the newer tread designs their now coming out with the all session radials are about as good as you can ask for and they run quiet too while keeping with an aggressive tread when it comes to SUV & light Truck tires.

 

[Red Baron]

I use to do that, but with the newer tread designs their now coming out with the all session radials are about as good as you can ask for and they run quiet too while keeping with an aggressive tread when it comes to SUV & light Truck tires.

Well in that case I'll check out the Kelly Safari Trex you mentioned earlier.

The Wranglers should make it to next winter then I'll shop the Kelly's unless I completely give up on the Wranglers this winter.

The little Liberty in 2wd is a rear drive and it sure seemed skittish going around corners. Not at all thrilled with the braking either with the Wranglers.

I'm old enough to know rear drive and can still counter steer and pump the brakes. Kinda wierd going back to that though.

With the Liberty in 4WD it corners much better. It doesn't have ABS either which is kind of a drag.

DD has never driven on snow until the last couple of days and made her 22 mile daily round trip to school OK.

She has no prior experience or bias so I took her out to a parking lot and we knocked her little scooter around so she understands pumping the brakes and counter-steering.

DW got a 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander 4WD last November and it has all the latest traction control, stability contol and ABS goodies on it. It's selectable on the console for 2WD, all time 4WD or 4WD Lock modes.

The Mitsubishi is a real no-brainer and that's why the wife really likes it.

The Liberty is more "Old School" with it's lack of ABS and has a full lock up 4WD which prevents it's use as an all time 4WD on dry pavement. DD is getting used to it though and I'm happy she got the vehicle she wanted.

With a little training and the right tires the Liberty strikes me as being quite an interesting little vehicle.

Our family is new to 4WD SUV's and everyone's advice is very much appreciated.

 

[tech]

I have had good performance with BFG A/T tires on a Samurai, from moderate off-roading, on-highway daily driving, to a blizzard around Beckley, WV...about the only issues were when ice was encountered, but that is to be expected. Life expectancy has been about 65k - still had "legal" tread, but off road it was noticable.

BTW, on Chrysler products, if you change the tire size, you should have the pinion factor (a setting in the computer) changed to allow proper speed sensor operation. Not too much of an issue without ABS, but it does affect how the transmission shifts and can cause the check engine light to come on...

As far as mods to improve the vehicle, I would have to go with some real bumpers first. Just make sure they don't interfere with proper operation of the impact sensors (for the airbags).

 

[Red Baron]

Thanks to all for the great feedback on the tires.

If there are any more tips, just keep them coming.

After six weeks the Jeep Liberty is holding up well. DD drives it like a pro and has some experience driving in the snow now. We did have one big snow day and I took her to school. No sense making a new driver brave all the snow and traffic until she becomes a little more seasoned.

The Jeep Liberty does seem like a solid vehicle. Not quite the polish or features of DW's 2009 4WD Mitsubishi Outlander but the Jeep does very well for a 2004 pre-owned vehicle. Has a very solid feel to it and it is OK on the freeway or zipping around town. I haven't owned a US made vehicle since 1991.

The Jeep does have a real personality and the 3.7L V-6 certainly is zippy. It's been a long time since I have been able to do a rear wheel burnout/holeshot! Also I just retired a 1991 Eagle Talon TSI Turbo and have to remember not to roll the Jeep in corners.

 

[bipshoft]

My wife has a 2004 Jeep Liberty and we just love it

I end up using it on heavy snow days up here in NH

The short wheel base really helps as it seems to go through almost anything

I put a set of BFG Long Trail TA's on it last year as I was looking for a nice mix of snow and highway driving

They work quite well in deep snow without too much noise for highway driving

just my 2 cents

 

[Red Baron]

Update on the 2004 Jeep Liberty we bought last November,

I wanted to avoid another bill from the dealer so I decided to do my own oil and filter change. I really like synthetic oil for a vehicle that is parked outside on a cold Wisconsin night and the use of a premium oil filter. You'll pay way to much for components to have somebody else do it for you.

I've done plenty of oil changes over the years and I can make one comment about the 3.7L V-6 in the Liberty.

WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE OIL FILTER LOCATION!

I've never seen anything worse in over 30 years of driving.

The oil filter is on the driver's side of the engine block, near the front but still on the side of the engine block and points down at about a 45 degree angle.

They literally built the engine and dropped it into the frame with no concern as to how the next schmuck was ever going to change the filter.

It took me forever to figure out how to get at the damn thing and was forced into amazing contortions but was finally able to get two hands on the damn thing and twist it off.

It's not even like you can unbolt something, short of major surgery, to get at that oil filter. I didn't have an end cap wrench thingie that fit but I wonder how you would swing a 3/8 ratchet on it anyway.

I will never trust a car dealer with that filter change. I doubt they even try to change the filter. Going to be stuck doing it my self just to be sure it gets done right.

There is a special place in hell for the Chrysler/Jeep engineer that came up with that design.