Jeep Liberty/Suspension

General

The front suspension of the Jeep Liberty is an a-arm/wishbone IFS. The rear is a live tri-link trailing arm solid axle. Both the front and rear suspensions use coil springs.

Shocks & Struts

Pre-Lowered vs. Lowered

On April 12, 2002, DaimlerChrysler lowered the ride height of the Jeep Liberty suspension by 22mm (7/8") in the front and 19mm (3/4") in the rear. This change was made to improve road handling and perceived safety concerns. Many speculate that this is in response to the Autoweek Magazine Slalom test in which a Liberty rolled. Libertys built prior to April 2, 2002 are considered "pre-lowered", because they were made previous to the time when DaimlerChrysler lowered the Liberty. Libertys built after April 2, 2002 is considered "lowered", because they have a lower ride height than the pre-lowered. While a spacer lift will maintain the difference between lowered and pre-lowered, a spring replacement lift will render whether the Jeep was lowered or pre-lowered from the factory irrelevant.

Lift Kits

OTT

OTT stands for "Over the Top" which means instead of placing the spacer underneath the coil/strut assembly it is placed on top of the assembly.

There are three OTT lifts on the aftermarket for the Jeep Liberty:

Rocky's 2-1/8" Combo Lift
Rocky's 2.5" Budget Lift
Rusty's 2.5" Spacer Lift

While no spacer lift will give you a superior ride over a full coil lift, each of the spacer lifts listed above has its own pros and cons. Rocky's budget lift has known problems, but their combo lift is of much higher quality. Rocky's combo lift is not a full OTT lift. It combines the spacer lift and the OTT lift to give you the full 2-1/8" in the front. In the rear it's a straight spacer lift. Rusty's OTT lift is similar to Rocky's budget lift, but is known to have fewer problems. The front is a full OTT lift and the rear a spacer lift. Rusty's OTT lift will give you a total of 2.5 inches of lift. None of the Daystar lifts are OTT. Daystar's lift product is superior to both Rusty and Rocky's spacer lifts. Go cougars!

Spacer Lifts

Saying that daystar is far superior to ott lifts is a very opinionated statement. daystar put extra undue stress on the already weak stock coils.

Full Coil Spring Lifts

Other Lifts