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cobra_4's 2011 KK Build/Trip Log Thread

4K views 25 replies 6 participants last post by  cobra_4 
#1 ·
Well its not officially mine until I sign the paperwork tomorrow but no better time to start a thread than the present! Finally getting back into a Jeep after an almost two year absence from my Wrangler Unlimited. Its a 2011 Liberty, got just over 50k miles on it, all stock.





This thread will be part build thread, part photo thread, kind of a diary of sorts for it. I love the overland concept and the whole idea, although living in the south there aren't as many chances and roads to explore for days at a time like there are out west so most of my trips will be day long, although I do have her maiden voyage camping trip planned in late October.

This will be my dd too so I don't plan on getting too crazy, I'm not interested in rock climbing or anything like that so a big lift won't be needed, but I would like to do a 2'' to get some bigger tires under it. All the usual mod's are in the plans, lights, roof rack, etc. etc.

Here are a few more photos, these are the ones I took of the dealership website.









First on the to-do list is a good detailing, its got some scratches down the side I'd like to get out, although I'm sure more will follow.
I wanna get a good coat of wax on it to help protect the paint.
The headlights are in major need of cleaning, can't stand a fogged over light.
Speaking of headlights, an upgraded bulb will be coming shortly.
The side trim is a little faded, gotta get that blackened back up.
The first major mod will be a hitch, I gotta be able to pull my side by side up to me deer hunting property.

I'll post up updates as I go along, trip logs as I take them. Hopefully this will turn out to be a pretty cool thread in the end!
 
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#3 ·
Looks good, can't wait to see her be built. Do some reading before jumping into lifts. Pretty much the highest you can go is about 4-4.25". So nothing we can run is really "big".

Basically you have spacer lifts. They're cheap, and you get what you pay for. They lift off the stock springs. So say you get a "2.5" lift", but sagged an inch below stock, you really only get 1.5" of lift. They keep the stock ride, and are generally harsh on the springs.

Then you have true spring shock lifts. Ironman will get 2.25", OME(make sure you get 927 front springs and 731 rear springs) will get 2.5". They average $800 or so.

You can add some extras to those lifts for 3-3.5". Anything over 3" will need a-arms though. Or you can get the Tommudd econo lift kit for around $1300(I believe).

If you want top of the line, Jeepin' By Al makes an adjustable coil over kit. He sells a 2.5" kit and a 4" kit. The front adjust-a-strut coil overs are the same for the 2.5" and 4" kits. You can adjust the front to fine tune the height and make adjustments for sag, breaking in, and if/when you add metal bumpers or more weight. BUT you're going to pay a lot for those(unless you get lucky and find a sweet deal on a used kit).
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the info! Honestly the more I look, the more I'm not sure I even want to do a lift. I'm not too worried about ground clearance, I just wanted to run bigger tires for a more aggressive look. Its got a 235/70-16 on it right now(assuming thats stock size) and from the looks of most people, I'm not gonna pick up much tire with the lift. I may just throw a set of spacers on to give it that more aggressive wide look and spend my money in other places for the time being.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the info! Honestly the more I look, the more I'm not sure I even want to do a lift. I'm not too worried about ground clearance, I just wanted to run bigger tires for a more aggressive look. Its got a 235/70-16 on it right now(assuming thats stock size) and from the looks of most people, I'm not gonna pick up much tire with the lift. I may just throw a set of spacers on to give it that more aggressive wide look and spend my money in other places for the time being.
Bad choice, :thumbdown:will ride worse, handle worse and will kill your springs and shocks even quicker. If you "upgrade" to better springs and shocks it will handle and ride so much better than it ever did stock.
I would never advise anyone to use a spacer lift unless they just liked looking at it sitting in the driveway. I would sooner not do a lift than do it cheaply with a spacer " just for looks"
 
#5 ·
You basically go from a 29" tire to a 31". Not a huge increase, but it's something. If you get up to 3.5-4+" you can run a 32. I just like the fact that I don't drag when caught in ruts.
 
#6 ·
Upgrades!!!

Its supposed to flood later today and I quickly found out over the weekend that my wipers SUCK. It was on my normal upgrade list, but it has to happen sooner now than later!

Old sucky blades.


New Bosch Icon's! Had great success with these before, I usually run them on about everything.



I got REALLY lucky, when I pulled the passenger side up to change it, the blade fell off in my hand, the clip had broke at some point! Close call!!!

Also just ordered be a set of Rugged Ridge floor mats for it, for some reason, the previous owner decided to keep all the mats!
 
#7 ·
Well I had to do some unexpected maintenance today. Yesterday morning when I went out to go to work the battery was dead. I wasn't sure if I'd left anything on, but I didn't have time to mess with it. So last night I jumped it off, cranked right up, drove it for a half an hour, shut it off, fired right back up, good to go? Nope, dead again this morning. Jumped it off and got it to work and put a test on it which confirmed it was bad. It looked like the stock battery and from the looks of car fax the Jeep has spent the last year bouncing from a dealer to an auction to the dealer I got it from so who knows how many times its went dead and got jumped off between now and then.

The old battery.


I had planned on an upgrade anyway, I knew the 600 cca stocker wasn't gonna be sufficient for accessories during camping, etc. I really want to go with a nice on board monitoring system one day, but for now that's not in the budget. I'm an Interstate Batteries dealer so of course that's the direction I wanted to go in. I thought about one of their new AGM batteries, but in the end for the money I decided to go with an MTP78DT. I like the dual terminal because it gives me extra room to hook up accessories later, and the MTP has 1000 cranking amps, so it should provide plenty of juice.



Even though its not the stock replacement, they call for a 34, the 78 has the exact same case size, the terminals are just a little of, so I had to slightly bend my terminals, but other than that it went right in.


I'm glad I changed the battery, I found out I'm missing my battery hold down, defiantly a must for the trails so I got one ordered off of ebay.

Did find a nasty scratch under the hood I hadn't noticed, time to order some touch up paint.


On another side note, did find a nice feature on the jeep, the dash tray is perfect for an open carry fire arm!
 
#11 ·
Look around the forums for a while... find as many threads and pics of lifted KK's and the lifts that were used as you can.... I researched for over a year before I pulled the trigger on a lift.

Determine what you are going to use the Jeep for.... my whole project was to create a KK that could plow snow and have the ground clearance and tires to go through 2 feet of snow without issue, as well as tow my trailers and other cars with my tow dolly. And if I ever decide to get into some wheeling, it can do that as well.
 
#12 ·
Finally got my mats in, had them for a day or two just couldn't find the time to get to the car wash to vacuum it out.

I had Rugged Ridge mats in my Wrangler and loved them, I expect the same with these. I could tell they had been in the box for a while though, they are a little deformed but they should straighten out find in a week or so. I guess KK mats aren't flying of the shelf now a days like they were a few years ago.







Also got my new battery hold down in and got that taken care of.

The go pro and nikon batteries are charging, unless its just a total down pour in the am, me and the wife have a couple of hour ride mapped out, photos and video to come! The leaves are really popping, this week and next are gonna be the peak looks like.
 
#13 ·
Finally got a chance to take the Jeep off the beaten path today. With fall colors peaking I knew it was the perfect time to get away for a little Sunday drive.

So after a quick breakfast at our favorite local joint me and the wifey headed out. The original plans were to go out to our family property, put some corn out for the deer and put out my trail cameras's. Then head up the mountain towards Hayesville, NC, but cut across Rainbow Springs, an 11 mile dirt road across the mountain. A road I'd heard my dad talk about riding motorcycles on years ago, many times, but a road I'd never been on.

Arriving at our property, here's the field beside the gate, one of our better spots for deer hunting, once it dies down a little. You probably can't see them, but there is a bunch of Turkey up there.




This was to be a big test for my Jeep because this is half the reason I bought it. When I'm gonna be in the woods for long periods of time, I bring my side by side, but its nice to be able to drive something up to check on food or camera's if needed, one of the biggest things I missed about my Wrangler.

Going up the mountain it did great, it was wet out and there were tons of leaves but it never broke traction one time, very impressed!

Up at the water overflow tank, I'll be back up here in two weeks on the Jeep's first camping trip, can't wait!!








From there it was back down the mountain a ways and over to "the orchard", although there hasn't been an apple tree there in many years, there was at one time. Now its my main hunting area. We bush hogged and cut out most of it earlier in September, it hasn't looked this good in a long time! Excited to see what the season brings.

















From here I had to go back up toward the top of the mountain to turn around to go back down, I had a little tire spin the second time up, but nothing major.

On the way back down however, I quickly readjusted my lift plans, I thought my only reason for wanting a lift was bigger tires, I know know I need the ground clearance, I bottomed out two or three times really hard, stupid mistakes on rocks I've been dodging for years on side by side, motorcycles and atv's but I really figured I'd clear them.

Once at the bottom I had to stop in the main field for a quick photo op.








From here we had planned on going to Rainbow Springs like I had mentioned earlier, but when my phone got service I had a message from my buddy who is going to help me do hardwood floors in the nursery at my house and with a new born only a month or so away, I had to change plans so we could do some measuring and what not. We did however ride to the top of the mountain anyway, around the out skirts of Standing Indian Campground, but instead of heading across, we headed back down the mountain and for home.

I have some great video, I'll share it when I get it processed and uploaded!
 
#14 ·
Putting together some of my early planned mods this week!

Got my vent shades in and put on, wasn't sure about the look, really was going for the function, but they look pretty good! Not crazy about how they are designed to fit around the mirror, but they work.





Also got my hitch in.


It's getting put on right now, or actually should be on by now, I went the lazy way and got my buddy to throw it up there for me.

Also getting the cabin air filter changed as well as the oil. The dealership had just done it, but who knows what they put in it.
 
#16 ·
Hi !

HELLO. I´m a begginer
I am interested in a lift kit 4 "for my 2009 Jeep Liberty kk.
I have a question about the CV. Lifting these 4 "to the CV will not get too angled, which could cause problems? For example, if I need to use lower gears, because of the CV being more angled, will not cause me problems or damage it?
 
#17 ·
After several weeks of planning finally got to take the Jeep camping this weekend! It did great off road, as usual, and spent most of the week on trailer duty pulling my side by side, atv, and then coolers and wood to the camp site. Power wise, I think it does as good or better than my 2010 Wrangler did. Its a little under-braked though, in fact I got them hot pulling the side by side in on a fairly short but steep grade. Anyway, on the pictures.

A few shots of the Jeep, unhooked the trailer before the trail got too rough, my trailer is just too wide for trails.




Our camp, my buddy made it to the woods first, so easy for me most of everything was set up. Pretty impressive set up though I thought! Being the first time out in a while(most of my prior camping is done at our place at the lake, where everything stays and you are within reach of civilization) we both learned a few things for next time that we needed. A table besides the picnic table thats been at the site for years, and more lights to light the camp site edges at night. But for the most part, we had what we needed.








The atv's and side by side. The Kubota and the Grizzly are mine.


We definitely ate good!! I think you could cook a dog turd over the fire and make it taste good!



Bad shot, but this was our kitchen.



Mmmm the beef stew that came out of that pot!


One mistake we made, not enough wood, although it was really cold the first night, not so much the second night, but we still had to go cut some more. No big deal when you're on 200 acres full of timber, it wasn't hard to find a few tree's than needed trimming out of trails. We had the Kubota loaded down!


Friday night, about 2am, a dog decided to tree something just on the other side of camp. What a great way to ruin the next morning deer hunting, a dog barking for five hours, but we finally made friends with the old girl and got in contact with the owner and took her out to the main road for him.



Did get a little hunting in, although we didn't get anything. My buddy shot at two, one he just goofed and missed, the other was an impossible shot with a bow.




Random campfire photos.





This was my first time sleeping in the jeep, I had planned on sleeping in the back, but honestly, I just had too much stuff that was too unorganized, mainly from being in a hurry when I loaded the Jeep. So I ended up sleeping in the front seat. The first night, I got cold and had to crank up for about 20 minutes, the second night it was hot, well hotter than the night before and I ended up sleeping with the windows cracked. The front seat wasn't bad, I liked being able to listen to the radio all night, but my tail bone got a little sore and I had to get out and stretch a few times. Friday night I used a heating blanket my mom had that plugged into the cig lighter, that thing was awesome.

Next time I will plan better, have better storage, etc and be able to sleep in the back if I decide too. I may try the passenger seat too, might be a little more room over there without the wheel.

Anyway, it was a great trip! Hope you enjoy the pics!
 
#18 ·
Fold the rear seats down and 2 adults can sleep comfortably(ask me how I know ;) ). I'm 5'10, and sleeping straight my feet just hang off, go on a slight angle or bend your legs and you're fine. Down at the beach I've seen some people throw an air mattress in and sleep on that(I don't remember if it was a twin or full).

Looked like you had a blast though! Makes me a little jealous lol
 
#19 ·
Not many updates lately, been busy, but now that winter is on the way I hope to get some quality time in the jeep as well as make some more upgrades.

I did however make its most important haul last Sunday, brought my baby boy home from the hospital!


 
#22 ·
Got some goodies for the Jeep for Christmas. Part of its below, along with some other things I just hadn't updated yet.

I've been working on a "survival box" for the back of the Jeep, I've got some things to add, but this is what I've got so far.

Basic LED Flashlight with one battery removed and taped up to prevent it from turning on in the box.



Things I got for Christmas for the box, waterproof matches(two packs of these are going in my tool bag, more on it later) and a emergency blanket.


Windproof lighter, figure you can never have too many fire starters in an emergency situation.



Basic knife and combo whistle and fire starter.



Didn't get this for Christmas, but this is something key that I've already needed a couple of times and didn't have at deer camp, lock deicer. I've had key switches freeze twice now on my side by side. I actually had the gear shifter freeze up on my atv last year, so this stuff has earned a spot in my emergency kit. Although I guess it might be more suited in the tool bag, i'll keep it here for now.


Speaking of Christmas and Jeeps, my drive way was looking pretty good yesterday. My Liberty is the one kind of out of site, along with my brother-in-law's Liberty and my father-in-law's Wrangler.





Should have a couple more updates coming soon, I got a bully bar for the front along with two Hella driving lights I hope to have on next week. Also upgrading the headlights and fog lights to silvania silverstar bulbs.

Also going to get some wheel time in on Saturday, while the inlaws are in town we are all loading up and heading out to do a little back road riding as well as heading up the family property to ride around a little, can't wait! Photos to come!
 
#23 ·
Did a little riding today as promised with the in-laws and their Wrangler.

Our original plan was to head across "Rainbow Springs" which is basically a state maintained dirt road that connects the two big mountains on the west side of the county to each other. There is a private community mixed in with it with a protected creek that has some of the best trout fishing in the country. Its about 12 miles, nothing rough, just scenic mostly.

When we got there, we were met with a bit of a surprise.




Being as there are tons of houses in there, I seriously doubt it was "closed", but in good keeping of a respectful trail rider, we obeyed and turned around.

This road would have brought us out on the mountain range where my family property is, but instead we had to back track, but we hit a few more side roads and limited our four lane time to about a 1/2 a mile.

Once there, we had to make a quick pit stop, junior was hungry!



Couple of random shots while we were waiting.






Ready to ride and put out some trail camera's to see how many big bucks we missed this year. Speaking of camera's, got the Go Pro's ready to ride too.







I got a new computer for Christmas and the updated Movie Maker has me baffled right now, so it might be a while before I get the Go Pro footage of the trails up, but on the way back down the mountain, I put it on time lapse, here are some still photos from that.












Overall we put about 60 miles on the Jeeps today, took the boy on his first four wheeling trip, and it was my father in laws first time off road in his Wrangler, he just got it a few weeks back, so it was a good day!

I mentioned earlier I got some new lights, here is a sneak peak of those, hoping to get them on one day next week!

 
#24 ·
Finally got my light bar on!! It sticks out a little farther than I was hoping, but I like it. I like the light choice, I was going for more the rally/driving look than an off road look with these lights. Gonna add some square LED's and a LED bar soon too. Gonna light the world up!



I also updated the headlights to Sylvania Silverstars in the headlights and fog lights. I haven't got to drive it after night yet, so that report will have to wait. Hoping to get some video and photos over the weekend or sooner.

I had upgraded the battery back at the start of the winter, but I ended up changing again. I sell Interstate Batteries at my business and my boys from Interstate hooked me up with a deal I couldn't turn down on their new(well they've been out for a year or so) AGM battery, basically an optima except better. The cold cranking amps are rated the same but this thing tested out at like 1300+ cold cranking amps. Its a bad boy plus it sealed.




Oh, one more thing, the switch for the lights. I'm not 100% sold on this yet, but we hid the light switch in the little storage box on the left side.



I like the clean look, but I may move it to the outside of this box like I had originally planned a little later, especially after I start adding more switches.
 
#25 ·
Finally got a light photo, I'm not really happy with the big lights, not as bright as I had hoped and they are a little low. Plus the bull bar has some vibration in it. But they look cool, I'll just add some LED's later!



Finally got to play in some snow with her, even with my crappy tires she goes good, we had about six inches this morning!

 
#26 ·
Finally got my much needed tires! I've had great luck with Coopers over the years so I didn't see any reason and changing up a good thing! These are a little noisy and ride a little rough, but I think that's just the old age setting in! Can't wait to try them off road!

Went with one size bigger, 245/70/16's. These should last me a while, then it will be lift time before the next set!




 
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