Jeep liberty solid axle swap walk around

[@craigdouglasmartens7037]

This is what Jeep should have produced! Beautiful job, man!

[@TurboBird64]

Thanks for the video, I've been looking into a Liberty build for a few weeks now and this helped a lot.

[@breker19er]

Great work Nathan! I like how you cut the three holes in the bumper like the stock bumper.

[@ihapy2bnapy]

Very nice built. I have a KK running on 33's right now but I'm wanting to do solid axle on it. A lot of people are saying on the forms that's pretty hard to do but I think with a little ingenuity and coping some of your stuff might be able to do it.

[@nathanmitton4612]

isaac gomez it can be done and it isn't as hard as people make it out to be. the hardest part was figuring out how to do the springs in the front. advice I would give us to use a JK front axle and the match the bolt pattern use a spacer adapter on the rear. the Jk is wider and gives more room for a coil over, air shocks or coil spring. things to expect are custom front driveshaft custom brake lines fabricating all the mounts and steering box mount. good luck.

[@JoseSanchez-wh1zb]

I really want to do this to my jeep liberty 2004

[@juanf4739]

Good work looks solid!!!! 👍👍👍👍

[@saman5700]

Thanks for your sharing, U did great job

[@maxrogers762]

Love the build!! Keep the vids coming!!🤘🇺🇸

[@nathanmitton4612]

To be honest it'll be a while before I get to the liberty again. It needs another engine.

[@maxrogers762]

@@nathanmitton4612 bummer man... is it a crd or 3.7?

[@nathanmitton4612]

@@maxrogers762 it's the 3.7, and this is it's 4th engines it's needed.

[@maxrogers762]

@@nathanmitton4612 damn bro! What r u doing to them things?!? Lol ...I'm really wanting to do a Liberty build, 40s and tons (or close to it). I really enjoy the look of something diffrent and the fabrication that goes into it! Hope u get it runnin soon!!

[@nathanmitton4612]

@@maxrogers762 thanks! Yeah I like seeing something different built up. The engines have just been weak. The first one spun a bearing the serving one overheated one time and cracked the block and head and this one spun a bearing. I'm thinking I need to do an engine swap and never have to worry about it again. They are a solid platform I just recommend the crd

[@desertadventures4221]

This is epic.. I love the idea

[@nathanmitton4612]

Thanks! It's an underrated rig for sure. I just wish the engine was as good as the rest of the vehicle.

[@JeepITguy]

I'd advise having that draglink reworked- the weld is scary- doesn't appear to be much penetration, judging by how much of it is clumped up. Also, the hiem joints really should be in double-sheer

[@nathanmitton4612]

JeepITguy yeah I used the little welder I had at the time because it reached the driveway. The box is bolted to the tubing that goes all the way through frame I have it welded to a thinner piece on the inside of the frame the tubes are welded to the Unibody and then to the plate in the inside and out. So the weld you see is only for added strength. The plate on the outside is welded all the way around and I cut holes in it and welded around those holes to get more inches. I have been watching it to see if anything sketchy is happening and have inspected it after every wheeling trip to see if anything changes. When I get my new welder setup in my new garage I'll probably run a new bead across the bottom and around some of the edges, but for now it seems to be doing ok. The steering is only temporary. Lol it has been on there for over a year now, I have never got around to changing it to a double sheer, but I have a plan in mind when I get more monies, but it also involved changing the wheel bolt pattern so I'm figuring stuff out with that.

[@nathanmitton4612]

JeepITguy I tried to get footage of it in action but that involves someone else filming and I always forget to ask someone when I go, plus since I got the rear axle re-geared all I have been able to do is snow wheeling and that is cold for filming.

[@Str8sixfan]

I'm totally jealous! Looks good man. Awesome tip on the D100 axle shaft/unit hubs. Bumper looks pretty sweet too. No blinkers though? I almost took my bumper off last week to investigate how I might go about mounting a custom bumper, I really want to do it, but I really don't have the material to build a bumper yet so I decided I better wait until I'm a little more invested before I live with yanking off the bumper or putting it back on with busted plastic rivets. All in all, really impressive though!

[@nathanmitton4612]

Str8sixfan I haven't found lights that I want to put in the bumper yet for turn signals. I can't decide if I want to go round or rectangle

[@experttrolltrollingdirty2062]

Damn i need to do this with mine so bad

[@JeepITguy]

FYI, an Astro Van steering box has the front-facing arm. I used it on my S10 SAS due to having moved the axle forward 3" .

[@nathanmitton4612]

JeepITguy that's good to know. Thanks

[@vicosee4439]

Sweet

[@troytaylor9228]

I've got a stock Limited 02 we bought new after ordering it from Jeep just the way I wanted it for the wife. It's been a great rig. We've never kept anything longer. I like what you've done here. I'd carry an extra air shock for out there in the event you break one. Then you may miss a coil spring but otherwise it's a great build but I don't know about relying just on the shock. Could you still drive it if a shock got broken by a branch or some other such obstacle? Just asking. I wasn't sure.

[@nathanmitton4612]

Yeah it could still drive but it wouldn't be a comfortable ride. I haven't driven it in a while the engine is toast. Which is sad because it is one of my favorite rigs, just hate the engine.

[@michaelcantu6101]

Hey Nathan I really like your build but I’m more interested in the bumper is there anyway you can get me more info on it...it would be greatly appreciated

[@nathanmitton4612]

I actually built this one myself. I wanted something high clearance that tucked up nicely so I had to build it myself. It was completely one off as I had to make mounts for it on the sub frame and everything. I used cardboard and masking tape to build the bumper first out of cardboard and then transfered it over to metal.

[@davidtwa6265]

this thing is cool

[@nathanmitton4612]

David Twa thanks, its a work in progress

[@davidtwa6265]

I like seeing this kinda stuff keep the videos coming man it looks like your doing a great job so far I have a 2000 jeep cherokee and a 1990 jeep cherokee

[@angelcatalan7376]

do you have a shopping list available ? that lift looks great for my application.

[@nathanmitton4612]

angel catalan I don't have a shopping list, everything was custom and gathered over time. in the comments I have gone through what I did and that's the best I really can provide where it was all custom.

[@angelcatalan7376]

thx brother

[@jeffmartin9924]

What is your wheel base now and how long are the front lower and upper links?

[@nathanmitton4612]

Man it's been so long I can't remember the length. But the wheelbase isn't much longer maybe 2-3 inches

[@nathanmitton4612]

I'll have toeasure next time I'm around it for the lower and upper links.

[@MUCKFOOT399]

huge bumper

[@patriotbiker2594]

Does yours have ABS and if so did you delete it?

[@nathanmitton4612]

I don't think my abs was working before so it definitely doesn't anymore. Lol

[@patriotbiker2594]

Nathan Mitton fair enough.

[@danielsmith-fl7xf]

Hey, I'm really interested to hear how your getting on with the air shocks. Do they ride OK on the road aswell as flex OK off road? Do you get much body roll?

[@nathanmitton4612]

They ride ok on the road, not as supple as coils but not as stiff as leafs. The flex great on the trail, but my rear would end up doing all the work. Biggest compliant would be the body roll. I need a sway bar to help control the body roll, and I would probably put it on the rear to make the front do more

[@roastingpeanuts]

If your bags are "t" together when cornering the air will go from one side to the other making body roll worse

[@mikeharrison6570]

How much were the fox shocks and where did you find them?

[@nathanmitton4612]

I just got them from some dealer online that seemed like it was the best price. I believe for the size I got they were about $240 a piece.

[@AyyLarry]

I know this is a bit old but what psi did you use in your fox shocks?

[@nathanmitton4612]

I don't remember but I do remember it was higher than I thought it was going to be. I wish I had better info for you, sorry.

[@austinsumrall9383]

What kind of wheels?

[@nathanmitton4612]

I changed them since this video but in this video they are aluminum 15x8 with the round holes, and then I painted them black. I'm not sure on the backspacing I just found them on Craigslist.

[@JeepITguy]

Very interesting build. Do you have any footage of it at play?

[@nathanmitton4612]

JeepITguy I tried but I had to have someone else filming it an then send it to me and it didn't edit very well add cut off early so sorry. Soon I will hopefully get some footage. I have videos of the suspension in motion but not over anything really tough, just flexing.

[@nathanmitton4612]

JeepITguy kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3XVkp5oo5tmhsk

[@fernandosaenz7604]

We're did you get that bumper? looks pretty cool

[@nathanmitton4612]

Fernando Saenz I built it.

[@sethwright9636]

There was more “uh’s” then info 🤣

[@omarjones1460]

I would never do this to a Liberty. Why not just get a Wrangler?

[@nathanmitton4612]

Because I like to build the less common jeeps. If I was only wanting a vehicle with a solid axle from the factory then I still wouldn't get a wrangler, I would pick a Cherokee or a grand cherokee. I think it is awesome to see the less common jeeps built for things. Wrangler builds are a dime a dozen nowadays.

[@omarjones1460]

@@nathanmitton4612 . I hear you but a Liberty is really an SUV with decent off road capability. On a unibody vehicle with no roll cage I won't go hardcore off roading. I put a 3" RRO lift and an ARB bumper on mine and it rides great in the city where I spend most of my time and it gets me through West Virginia back roads. Amazing accomplishment but to me it betrays the original design.

[@nathanmitton4612]

@@omarjones1460 yeah I love how capable mine was with a 2.5 inch lift and new upper control arms and 31's, but I did not like the way they made the lower control arm ball joints. Seems completely backwards to me. I wish they would have done it the way they did on the second gen liberty. I almost tried switching to the second gen control arms and knuckle assembly and then did a 2 inch block between the front suspension cradle and the unibody frame and then put on 35's but you can't put in lower gears than 4.10's and the diff is aluminum so it wouldn't handle the abuse the 35's would put on it so I just went straight axle. Mainly I wanted a reliable tough suspension and 35's so I could do harder trails and take the family with me.

[@burntkat]

Heims in single sheer on a driver. Yikes.

[@nathanmitton4612]

Yeah I plan on putting on high steer arms for double sheer but didn't have it done by then. I have it set up different for now but I also don't drive it cause the engine needs replaced again.

[@burntkat]

@@nathanmitton4612 excellent plan. Which engine is this? Have an 05 that may be given to me, I want to know what sort of problems to expect.

[@nathanmitton4612]

@@burntkat I'm kinda thinking about going to a chevy 4.3 v6 just cause this is the 3rd 3.7 I have gone through, granted they were all junk yard engines. I have found so far you can't be low on oil at all. Not even a little and take it in the hills. So always make sure it is full. The other thing is these don't like to overheat at all. It overheated one time and not even that bad and it cracked the head and cylinder. The other time the transmission slipped and it over revved and spun a crank bearing.

[@hoodiehansolo3360]

Anyway I could pay you to do this to mine ? Lol so serious .

[@nathanmitton4612]

Sorry no, lol. It was a lot of work. If I had a shop and all that maybe I could do some kind of work for other people but this was very custom and labor intensive.

[@nathanmitton4612]

Funny thing is I had a garage at the time and I still built it in the driveway. Lol

[@hoodiehansolo3360]

Lol right when you had the rough country lift which lift did you go with and did it eliminate the upper control arm with that lift ?

[@nathanmitton4612]

@@hoodiehansolo3360 I did the spacer above the strut lift and I think if I did it again it would have been a spring lift, it would be worth the extra money. And then I bought rocky road control arms later.