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dchadjohnson

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Hey all...just bought a 2007 Jeep Liberty Limited with ~116K miles for $3600. Pre-purchase inspection revealed several issues, including the rear upper control arm and front struts which both need to be replaced, but I rolled the dice anyway. Driving it home, I noticed the steering wheel making a lot of noise and wondering if the clock spring is bad. Plus it will soon need a 120K service, which means replacing all fluids. Did I make a bad deal??

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tommudd

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Do you know the service history of it or who owned it?
The rear tri-link only use Mopar, the cheap ones don't last long at all.

With the amount of miles on it plan on replacing the springs and shocks in front , replacing only the shocks would be a huge waste of money. KJs have weak springs and by the time they get to the miles you have they are sagged at least an inch.

Middle of the wheel to bottom of the flare when new was 19 inches , so measure and see.
 

Myke

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Bad springs/shocks just gives you an excuse to order a lift kit ;)
 

Dave

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dchadjohnson

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thanks for the input. the shop that did my prepurchase inspection quoted about $900 for the rear upper control arm and front struts, and said that was for top of the line parts, although cheaper ones were available. i also need to get matching tires...front and rear are different currently, plus i noticed after taking off the spare coverb today that the spare tire has a gouge in the sidewall and the rim is scraped badly, like they hit something. 5 tires...ugh. ok, so another noob question. I've never driven a 4WD before. I've been reading up on the Selec-Trac system and think I understand pretty well. But in practice, when shifting from 2WD on the fly, you have to shift over 4WD part time to get to 4WD full time (like AWD). Do you simply pull the shifter through to 4 Full in one motion, or do you shift into 4 PT and then pull again to get into 4 full? Hopefully that makes sense...

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tommudd

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thanks for the input. the shop that did my prepurchase inspection quoted about $900 for the rear upper control arm and front struts, and said that was for top of the line parts, although cheaper ones were available. i also need to get matching tires...front and rear are different currently, plus i noticed after taking off the spare coverb today that the spare tire has a gouge in the sidewall and the rim is scraped badly, like they hit something. 5 tires...ugh. ok, so another noob question. I've never driven a 4WD before. I've been reading up on the Selec-Trac system and think I understand pretty well. But in practice, when shifting from 2WD on the fly, you have to shift over 4WD part time to get to 4WD full time (like AWD). Do you simply pull the shifter through to 4 Full in one motion, or do you shift into 4 PT and then pull again to get into 4 full? Hopefully that makes sense...

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Again don't just install front shocks, would be a waste of money since the springs need replacing as well.
As far as the transfer case someone else can chime in, I never much liked that one and make sure mine have command trac
 

dchadjohnson

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right, thanks...will plan to replace the whole strut and spring assembly

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tommudd

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Front shocks, we have a coilover front suspension system, with a upper control arm. If you have struts then you don't have a upper control arm. Thats the reason for me saying front shocks :gr_grin:
 

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