Stop Cryin'
Thought I'd drop in to tell all the babies to stop getting their panties all wadded up about the staff at Jp magazine. For real, if you find it offensive, there are other people to annoy with negative comments; no one's got you chained down! The staff is the reason my friends and I have been reading Jp magazine for the last 5 years. Simply because of the humorous articles they write. I personally think they should make a new section where the staff all sit around and pick on each other, each other's vehicles, lifestyles, and so on. This is the only magazine I actually look forward to. If you seriously want to know more about products or how to do or fix something my suggestion is to get off your butt, call or visit whatever product company online, pick up a monkey wrench, sledge hammer or duct tape and go to town. My XJ's engine bay caught on fire and burned up last year, I didn't bitch. I simply dove in and fixed it. Yeah, took me a year with some things I was puzzled at, but I figured it out. That's what wheeling and Jeeps are about; built it, break it, repeat. I'm currently building a full cage around it. I find out more by physically wheeling and working on my junk then by reading about it. Thanks for the great mag every month guys. Keep up the humorous articles.Jimmy Moore Jr.Street, MD
I've had my fill of reading the negative commentary taking pot shots at Jp magazine and the staff. I've never met or spoken to John Cappa or anyone else that writes for the magazine so no bias here. What I do know is that I'm anxious to receive my subscription every month. The articles are written just the way I like them - to the point, based on years of experience, and include information from the manufacturers. I want and welcome the opinions of the writers as to durability, and performance. These true evaluations should in no way be taken as a slam to Jeep enthusiasts. I want to know the best and worst of my rig - which by the way is a '05 LJ Rubicon. Not everything and everybody should get a first place blue ribbon just for being there. I want the truth. I hope one day to see you guys on the trail and can thank you in person for all the hard work. There are many, many subscribers out here that appreciate a good thing when we actually read it.Robbi DoncostMission Viejo, CA
Liberty Letdown
I just finished my October '08 issue of Jp magazine and read at least two jabs at the Jeep Liberty. News flash: they are not making any more Cherokees. Since lots of Liberties have been produced and are the most off-road capable of the cute-ute class, I would like to propose a challenge. Let's see one of these custom shops fit a Liberty with the new crate Dana 44 axles front and back. If they can fit coils on leaf sprung vehicles, this should be possible with a little subframe welding. There will be a lot of lightly-used Liberties around at reasonable prices for a while. Here are a couple reasons it's a good idea:
1 Liberty is shorter than the Grand Cherokee.
2. Unitbody construction is coming on vehicles to save weight for better gas mileage. This will have to be addressed.
3. would have a unique vehicle that shows Jeep what they could produce.Jens JensenWindsor, VT
Sure. But for the price of a used Liberty you could have a used WJ or ZJ Grand Cherokee with a V-8 and solid axles already in it. Sooo, why bother with a Liberty?
The Liberty has a lot of other issues too. Originally, when it was built it was never intended to be an off-road enthusiast vehicle. The plan was to use it as a lure to bring typically non-Jeep customers to the Jeep brand. So, someone that was looking at a RAV4 might consider a Liberty instead.
Stock-for-stock a ZJ or WJ Grand will trounce a Liberty off-road, longer or not. Both the Liberty and Grands have a Unitbody. It's not a plus. Over time the chassis will come apart with off-road use. Doors won't close properly, seams crack, that kind of stuff.
But perhaps the biggest hurdle is the size of the Liberty wheelwells. They're really small and you can't just cut them out for larger tires. You'll eat into the main unit-body structure, again weakening it. Sure, anything can be done, but the time and expense required doesn't justify the results. Every solid-axle converted Liberty I have seen has been too tall, unstable and ultimately not very capable.
Don't get me wrong, we have entertained the idea of building a Liberty rally car. Problem is it still has a pathetic motor. So again, the all-wheel-drive Grand Cherokee makes a better platform for this as well.