CherokeeShrop91

I'm hoping this is in the right place. My 96 xj just bit the dust sadly and I had to let her go. Thing is I might be obtaining a kk (not new) in a couple weeks. Although its not my first choice I don't much have a choice this time. Just was hoping to get some feedback on what some of you guys thing about it. Would you get one. Other then the ifs opinions on similarities with the xj. Having my xj I could diagnose almost anything that went wrong. This is going to be diving into a whole knew kettle of fish and whatnot. So lemme know what ya think. But please no rude or mean posts. Thanks in advance.

PocketsEmpty

Well, it all depends on what you want to do with it, really. Are you a master fabricator and want to make this an off-road rig, SAS, all that fun stuff? Or are you just daily driving to school/work/mall/grocery store? If the latter, I'm sure the Liberty will do you just fine.

Personally, I'd see it as quite a downgrade. What happened to your 96?

dmill89

X2 and the drivetrain on the KK (or any Liberty) is less than spectacular reliability wise.

The 3.7L V6 is a 4.7L V8 with two cylinders knocked off and is known for a ton of issues including: thin block walls known to crack, heads known to warp/crack, oil sludge/foam, sudden loss of oil pressure, PCV issues, overheating issues, and timing system issues. (Note: many of these result from improper/lack of maintenance but these engines are very sensitive to maintenance and any missed scheduled maintenance can lead to catastrophic engine failure, and sometimes they still experience these issues even with proper maintenance).

The 42RLE transmission is also problematic. This transmission was converted to RWD/4WD from the 42LE which is a FWD car transmission developed for the LH platform cars (Intrepid/Concorde) and is part of the infamous "ultra-drive" series of transmissions. This transmission was weak to begin with and failure prone in the cars for which it was designed, putting it in a Jeep which is much heavier and usually subjected to more abuse didn't exactly improve things. They can do ok if maintained and not abused but a rebuild at 100,000-150,000 mi is not uncommon even with proper maintenance.

Build Quality on KKs is also generally bad/low, especially those built when Chrysler was under Cerberus' (07-11).

Honestly I'd recommend a newer/lower mileage (97-99) XJ over a KK. It should be much cheaper and will likely last longer. Alternatively a WJ with a 4.0L I6 (good engine, so-so 42RE transmission) or a TJ (preferably manual) would also be better options than a KK.

andrewmp6

As just a daily driver it will be fine,Off road they suck ifs and kinda lack power to me.

CherokeeShrop91

Thanks guys,
Ya as far as use, it will be my daily driver, at least until it gets a lot of mileage under it, then I may add some mods for light wheeling. But thanks for the help. I'm sure il miss the throttle response from my xj. Well I might give it a try, but thanks again, and any more help on this is appreciated.

CherokeeShrop91

And pocketsempty, overheated her and had to have her towed 2.5 hrs home.. Was told the engine was shot and it was going to be 1200 for the fix just to get her rolling again.. And that's if there wasn't damage to the tranny(none of my friends were smart enough to remind me to remove the driveshaft) it was my first vehicle sucks I had to let her go but there was no way of fixing her anytime soon...so the search begins.

PocketsEmpty

"Was told"? By whom? 4.0's are very hard to kill. I drove mine once without coolant for about 2 miles, because I blew a freeze plug and it happened on a really bad hill. Fixed it and she runs perfect still, amazingly. I thought for sure my engine was fried. But, I suppose it's too late for yours now

Why would you need to remove the driveshaft? Not sure how that matters? Hope you didn't get a Liberty yet, LOL!

dmill89

Unfortunately you won't get the throttle response of the XJ in any newer vehicle since just about everything made in the last 7-10 years has an electronic throttle.

Even the best electronic throttles aren't as quick as an old fashion cable.

Even my Mustang with its 5.0L "coyote" V8 (which has the best throttle response of any electronic throttle vehicle I've ever driven) doesn't respond as fast as the XJ (unless you rev up the Mustang and dump the clutch ofcourse).

FOXSXJ

I had a 09 kk sold it to buy a JK and a XJ. Didn't really like how underpowered it was and couldn't go off road for anything.

MoZee

I have an 08 jk with the 6 speed manual its not bad as a grocery getter/family car. I much prefer my 99 xj so the wife drives the Libby most. It is quite comfy tho. I can't say for issues but that I haven't had any in the year and a half that we had

MoZee

belvedere

My wife drives an '06 KJ. We bought it in '08. I know it's not the same as the KK, but the drivetrain is very similar. Honestly, it's been very uneventful. In the 5 years we've owned it, we replaced the front axle seals, the ignition switch interlock, and I now need to replace a CV joint in the front driveshaft. Besides routine fluid changes, that's all. Not bad for a vehicle with 101k miles, IMO.

Xj88

I bought the fiance an 07 XK and i enjoy it as a DD.
Has 90k on it and runs like a top, no leaks, nothing.

Eric M

I owned a '05 kj for a year (girl texting on her phone did it in, but that's another story). I must be the lucky one but I never had an issue with it, plenty of power (had it north of 95 a couple of times), overall solid and sound vehicle. I know that a year of owning it doesn't seen like a lot, but I put 40k miles on it in that year, took it from 60k to 100k. I never took it off road per say, but where I live I drive on a few roads that look just a lot like the pictures of some of the trails that are posted on here and it did fine. For a daily driver scenic trail kinda vehicle you should be happy.

po0dingles

It appears someone vandalized your Jeep with 'speed holes' and a Dale Earnhardt-style heat wave coming from fake side vents...