I know this is a Truck like SUV, but man what a rough ride ,feel all bumps in roadway. Is stock height, half inch lower in the front currently, with new Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires at 34 lbs.
I want a smooth ride in my grocery getter where I do not feel every bump in the road is this possible with new shocks in the front? I have looked up a few front shocks and am confused as to what to do. Unlike Rancho RS5000, Monroe has a strutt and bearing plate necessary. HAS ANYONE here used the Monroe "Reflex" or Sensa-Trac strutts? opinion please as to installation and overall feel?
How about Rancho's RS5000 or RS9000XL?
Does a wheel allighnment have to be done again if I just do the shocks?
Help appreciated. Could not find any front in OME, parts please if you know 2004 Liberty.

 

I could be wrong here but I beleive you should try reducing the air pressure in those tires, 34 lbs seems like high. Hows the tread pattern? Run thur some water then unto dry road and look how the threads come out on the imprint. Are you showing a good deal of all the treads or just the centre of your tires come out? If so reduce the air pressure try 29 lbs and see if theres a difference. I wud like to know how u make out. Also tel me what the tire size is

 

The Wrangler Silent Armor tires installed are 245-65R-17 inch (chrome clad) rims. The door place card indicates 33psi for 16 inch rims (go figure) build sheet was 17 inch....yeiks. Sort of like where is my sunroof that should have come with the Rocky Mountain edition?, Has skid plates and special emblems and everything else, but no moon roof or correct door card.
Will try the water test sometime. I have written GoodYear for their recommendation for tire pressure but really hesitate using lower tire pressure than 33 for these expensive new tires. I know that these tires like 36 and handles much better does not wander. At 33 it starts to wander a bit (softer sidewalls) and gas mileage goes down with lower pressure. The ride is brutal above 35. Just had a full wheel alignment. New brakes too.

The bottom line is who has tried upgrading their front shocks/coils in either Monroe struts or Rancho 5000 or 9000 series shocks? Is there a smother ride to be had in this real tight short wheel base jeep?

 

Keep in mind - you've got a short wheel base Jeep. Take a 6 hour drive in the TJ, and you won't complain about the ride in a Liberty.

With the tires you indentified, (245-65R-17) you are going to get road noise. Short wheel base vehicles don't tend to do well with 'street' tires. The standard tire on a base Liberty is as low profile as I think any liberty owner would want at 265-75-R16. A 65 series on 17" for any Jeep is likely going to ride rougher.

There must be more to it though. "Rough ride" is a factor of air / ground temp, spring return rates, shock dampening, and a host of other factors... Worst of all - it's subjective.

Is the jeep new to you? or has the ride changed recently?

 

I purchased the vehicle in July with 35k miles and have not driven it too much, as I have a full size sedan car which is more comfortable and also pulls better with a V-8. The Jeep will get used when it snows here and up for ski runs and photography in the winter mountains.
These 17" tires GoodYear Wrangler Silent Armor are actually way quieter than the stock tires that came with the vehicle, with almost no road noise and way better grip. I am sure they will be excellent in the snow, snowflake rated. The sidewalls are much thicker than most even though they are not 10 ply they were about 5 times as thick as Forterra's.
I have added 60 lbs of a "Setina" PB-400 police push bars to the front, which is not that much weight, but may have changed the rebound for bumps, with just only one passenger. Note on Setina Bars, with the front tow hooks removed, the push bar mounting was not strong enough, there really was not enough metal on the Liberty and a reinforcement bar had to be added to the bottom of the push bar, with a 1inch rectangular bar going down and welded to the skid plate, to stop any upward movement of the push bar. That was a pain, but it is now one strong push bar, with animal alerts now mounted, also have a nice place to mount more lights.
Most vehicle I have owned the OE shocks only last so long what kind of shocks are in there? Are there any specs for the OE shocks? I would assume that since the front is not level with the rear by half an inch, that new shocks are in order for the front to start with. Not sure if I should do the springs while there. The only two products I see for the jeep on the front are Monroe reflex or Sensa-Trac struts or Rancho shocks in RS5000, or 9000 would sure like to hear from anyone that has used either of these products as an upgrade, and what the feel was after you changed out the stock shocks.

 

Great to hear your reply!

Indeed - the basic point I was making (veiled by the other idle chat) was that the Liberty is no Lincoln Continental. Road noise aside - tires are a contributor to ride - but there are many other factors as you yourself have noted. And yes - I did say road noise in my last post however that was my fingers not my brain. I was thinking about ride - but 'road noise' came out. I have knobbys on - so road noise is just part of the sound of my Jeep, and the rough ride is part of the 'jeep experience'.

I wondered about your ride height note about the 1/2" - but at only 60lbs I can't see much impact from that - it's possible though as you mentioned that rebound could be affected. Really though - the 200+ lb ARB bumper only drops the front by 1/2" so it may just be that those shocks are hammered, and you only need a little wrench time to improve things.

I'll be swapping out my shocks (leaving the factory springs mind you) in favour of KYB GR2's as I've had good success with them on previous rides (the Nissan Pathfinder in particular.) I'll also be adding a RevTech 2" spacer lift for clearance. I don't do any real 'offroading' but do use a number of less than attractive roads and the extra few inches of clearance will pack fewer stones into my skids.

 

Turns out that I was able to pull beside another Libby a few years newer same body style, same 17 inch rims, and definitely my ride is lower both in the front and rear.
SO ....I guess I will need some new spring and struts/shocks...ouch ..if I want to regain the ride height.
Would this be covered by the factory warranty??? does anyone know? I doubt it....This could get real expensive....will leave it as and start saving...wow...35,000 miles. OE stock sucks.

 

Highly doubtful that any warranty would cover this as they are a 'wear' part.

My local tire shop will install KYB GR2 Gas Adjust shocks, with a RevTech 2.5" spacer lift for a grand (here in Edmonton) - so I don't think you're looking at an arm and a leg to do it.

Your other option is to hook up with a local Jeep enthusiasts club, and offer free beer - that will 'Git-r-done' real quick. The shocks themselves will only run you a few hundred - rears are about 50$ each, fronts about 70... at full retail - better if you have any connections.

/Scratch

 

Thanks for your input ! Was that for all the way around x 4 sides? and that does not include coils......
I certainly agree that some beer and a jeep club member could really help me here, labour is so expensive, and so are the parts. I phoned the dealer they said that there were shocks in the front even though I told him Monroe only offered struts in the front.
My mechanic found that the front were struts and that when I phoned for parts prices just for each strut in Monroe would be about 225$ including the brackets. Coils I have not even looked into, but I would personally rather put new longer coils in with top notch stuts, to ensure I do not have to do this for many years to come.
I am not sure that spacers are the way to go. With a slightly compressed coil, a spacer will not offer the proper rebound, and the shock must work harder in a slightly compressed state.
Decisions..decisions..decisions... anyone know of anyone in the Vancouver area that can help me out in here?

 

Ok... typed this once already - but lost in the logout/login shuffle.

The fronts are indeed struts. KYB's strut is 81$, rear shock is about 50$. The RevTek 2" lift retails for about 280$. As for the install - the strut / coil are removed at once, and can be broken down on the bench, rather than on the suspension. Spring compressor required though. I haven't done the strut dance with the Jeep yet - but did with the pathfinder - and it's not that complicated. (And no - Coils are probably not a required replacement until you lift 3+ inches).

You should be looking at around $260 for struts/shocks, $280-300 for RevTech lift. (All around).

Any more lift than that and you have to start thinking about driveline angles, CV angles, A-Arms, bumpstops... the list goes on. Not that it's unreasonable - but if you're talking daily driver - out of the realm of reason. Especially if ride is a concern, since the big lifts introduce other issues. The small spacer lift doesn't even cause much grief from an alignment perspective.

Now... saving my shekels to do just that. My 02 shocks are TOAST. (Were when I got it though...)