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KK Liberty max tire size with no rub

83K views 44 replies 16 participants last post by  Pine_Cat 
#1 ·
Hello to all! This is my 1st post here on the Jeep Forum.

I am interested in knowing what the largest tire is that can be ran on a stock 2009 Liberty KK without rubbing.

While I am at it....what is the best all around tire taking into consideration looks, off road capability, road noise (lack of), wear, etc.. I know this will get a lot of different opinions, but let's hear em':thumbsup:
 
#2 ·
Do you have the Sport or Limited? I have a Sport with the 2" Daystar lift running 245/75/16 Destination MT on it. I have seen others try running the same size tire without a lift, and it rubbed bad at full lock. My recommendation would be to stay at stock size until you can get a lift.

As far as tires go, it seems a lot of people like the Goodyear DuraTracs. It is a hybrid of an AT and a MT. It has an agressive look with low noise. It rates really well for winter driving, and you get the load C tires for $135 each on tirecrawler.com. It was my preferred tire, but I didn't have the cash so I went with the Firestone Destination MT since I had my Firestone account.
 
#4 ·
I just installed the 2" Daystar this past weekend with Skyjacker Shocks in the back, going for an alignment Saturday and ordered TreadWright AT 245/75/16. Even without the alignment it still seems to drive as smooth as factory. You can definitely notice the difference in height though
 
#5 ·
My wallet couldn't take the hit with a kit from Jeepin by Al, so I did a little research into the spacer lifts. I found out at the time that Daystar was the only kit that the dealerships sell in the parts department so that sealed the deal for me. I did it because I wanted extra clearance for when I hit the trails.

The hassle for me was having to compress the spring to get the spacer on. Initially, my friend and I tried using his spring compressor at home...and after trying in vain for 4 hours we took it to Pep Boys to do. I have a spacer and spindle lift on my Titan, and the install on that was much easier because the spacer mounted on top.

Like Elt31987 said, it still drives nice without an alignment. I actually went a long time without an alignment, and I never had an issue with it pulling. After I purchased my MT, the tire shop did the alignment for free.

FYI: You don't want to go over 3 inches with any lift. The CV joints cannot handle that much lift. Rocky Road Outfitters states on their site that they destroyed 3 axles while testing a 3.5" lift.
 
#7 ·
#12 ·
My limited KK was initially running on 235/65-17 tyres.
Now I have a 2'' OME lift and 245/75-16 tyres. I had to remove the spacers I had installed, because of the rubbing.
Without spacers it doesn not rub.
So spacers make things worse...
 
#11 ·
I think it would rub on the top of the fender as the tire is a lot taller than the stock. I could be wrong though
 
#16 ·
Hopefully my following question doesnt become my following dilema lol....

palaz... did you have a lift on with the 1" wheel spacer's on?


i have the 2.5" skyjacker spacers and i picked up a set of wheels. The rear wheels already have an offset bringing the wheel out 1.25 inches.

I was planning on adding spacers ontop of that...is this possible???
as it is 2.5" above stock......


i love that bad @$$ wide jeep look lol

I have 2" spacers for the front and 1.25" spacers for the rear (making the rear offset 2.5")

Any help would be greatttt
 
#17 ·
Hopefully my following question doesnt become my following dilema lol....

palaz... did you have a lift on with the 1" wheel spacer's on?
Yes I had a 1,5' lift.
However it depends on the tyre size. If you stay close to the stock size there shuld not be any problem. If you go higher like mine 245/75-16 (30,5') then the wheel spacers tend to create more wheel rubbing.
 
#18 ·
Hmmm is it possible that the extra inch of lift I have might allow for both the spacers and the tires? I'm goin w the 245/75-16's eitherway so I guess we will just see if these wheel spacers are now a set of paperweigHts for me lol. Any other info is more then welcome... Thanks fellas
 
#20 ·
My original tyres were 235/65-17 (i.e 29').
Then I got a set of 235/70-17 (i.e. 30')
Then I got another set of 245/75-16 (i.e. 30,5')

Of the above only the original ones did not rub with the 1' wheel spacers.
The other two were rubbing (only at the rear) and after removing the spacers there is zero rubbing.

All this with 1,5' suspension lift.
 
#21 ·
Gotcha... Welll my problem is the rims I have already have an offset that will bring it out 1.25" in the rear so essentially I'm locked into having stock sized tires :(

Do you think the rubbing could be resolved by removing some of the wheel well lining or something? I haven't got a chance to look at the wheel well as I'm not at my car. I just realllly wanna have big tires and be lifted with spacers on. Its all I want lol

Thanks for your help
 
#22 · (Edited)
Daystar - Driven by Design

This thread seemed like a good place to post this question... (04' KJ - Stock)

Id like to get a more expensive lift (Frankenlift or Old Man Emu) but my wallet said no... I'm not usually on serious offroad trails, more like 4 wheelin on the beach and on some trails... will this Daystar do the trick or is it junk? I've wasted money before on Junk, not looking to do again!
 
#30 ·
Depends on what you want
if its a good ride, better handling easier to control on all surfaces then you need to do a full spring lift. With an 04 you have to have over 30-35,000 miles and with that the springs have already sagged causing a worse ride and handling. A spacer lift will only make the springs sag faster . Save up the money over a couple of months and do it right one time. Have heard of way too many people who think they can do it cheap and then 3 months later redoing their lift with a full spring. With your 04 as well even if you did go Daystar you would need to replace the front and rear shocks and also install bumpstops. With the price of the above you're only 150/175 less than a full spring kit
 
#28 ·
So let me tell you what minor mods I have done in order to avoid shredding my bumpers (rear one already torn)

In front I installed a tailor-made, 6mm thick, Alu skid plate, which also replaces the decorative nikel piece, as it folds around the bottom part of the bumper. It is certainly understood that the little black spoiler has been removed already long time ago.



In the rear, like I said, I had already torn my bumper in a very steep climb I attemted. I decided not to fix it but rather keep until it falls apart by itself. So I decided to remove a small part at the bottom which seems to act as an anchor every time I deal with a steep slope. Needless to say that the metal traverse part under the bumber has been removed too...



 
#32 ·
Brief example
Full springs kit is when you basically remove you suspension ( springs and shocks) and replace them with upgraded ones for a better ride, better handling etc. For example stock springs ( using a KJ ) are rated at between 300-320 lbs in the front, upgrading to say OME heavy Duty 927s with 400 lb spring rate it rides better etc, thus upgrading same way with shocks

Spacer kits like the daystar use a puck that you install in with the stock spring to gain height but does nothing for better ride etc, also will over time also make the springs sag quicker due to always having them compressed more than normal
 
#34 ·
You get a firmer more controlled ride I think
Example on set of railroad tracks that I used to cross daily, before I lifted I would have to slow down to 30/35 to cross due to it hitting bumpstops and bouncing all over , after I lifted I could run across them at 55/60 no problem. Also stock springs are sagging at 30,000 or so, I just switched out my OME heavy duty springs with 100,000 miles on them.
 
#37 ·
The last post was from 2010, so it's doubtful you'll get an answer.
Neither Skyjacker nor Rocky Road Outfitters gets good reviews from KK owners on here or over at LostJeeps.
Stick with OME springs / Bilstein shocks and you will have a good 2.5 inch kit that lasts and rides well. Or go all the way and get JBA. Do some more reading before deciding on RRO.
 
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#41 ·
I replaced my original 235/60/18 kk wheels with the 16 inch steel rims from a kj.
Fun facts.
16inch steel rim with 235/70/16 Goodyear wrangler weighs in at 25kg.
18inch mag wheel with 235/60/18 Goodyear excellence weighs in at 27kg.

I fitted 245/75/16 bf goodridge ko2's on with no wheel spacers, no lift and they work great, no rubbing at axle twist and no rubbing at full turn. No pinch weld hammering. Nothing.

Fun fact, the 16inch rim weighs 12kg on its own, wheel with the bf weighs 34kg! Which means the bf tire on its own weighs 24kg. The other tires had 4 plies, the bf has 9.

They look befok.
 

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