Beast - otherwise known as well that didn't go as planned

[Faneius]

My lovingly cared for by previous owner and new to me 2006 Jeep liberty saved mine and my dogs lives in a crash by a driver that had lost her brakes and used us as a launch ramp. Did I mention she was also uninsured?

She used my rear drivers side pannel and tire to launch herself over me. Seriously I saw the underside of her tacoma through my windshield. thankfully no one was injured more than bumps and bruises. The crash shoved me forward and over one lane and bent the crap out of my frame which you can see by the fact that those two seats used to beside by side with a little gap and now they overlap. None of the back or drivers side doors would open after the crash and the passenger side wouldn't close propperly once opened. Having an uninsured motor clause I got a pay out and started my search for a new vehilce in my price range.

Guys I bought with my heart and not my head
I give you... Beast

He's a 2008 jeep liberty with lots of miles thats been rode hard and put away wet more than a few times
The suspension is shot, it bounces alot. The sunslider roof leaks and doesn't open anymore. The brakes should be redone, the oilpan drain plug is rounded off and stuck. the rear differential is leaking and somewhere somethign else is leaking too but I haven't traced that one yet. Not to mention it has no AC and I a cold morning I discoverd also no heat. I it cheap but I might still have paid too much.

I started with cussing at the oilpan plug then moved to the shocks and struts.
I replaced the rear shocks inside of an hour which led me to a false sense of confidence.
Drivers side strut is in process...

the upper control arm nut was cross threaded so that was fun.
also the sway bar link bolt and nut were rusted into one. when we finaly got it off it was corroded partially through.
Everyone sells the sway bar link but no one has the bolt so if you have a supplier let me know. I've got a possible solution that involves a tap and die set I've always wanted anyway.
we got the new strut in easily once everything was undone but I'm waiting on a upper control arm from RockAuto to finish the job. Wednesday according to tracking.
This is the first vehicle I've ever done this to so its all youtube and haynes manual learning as I go.
Wish me luck and advice is welcome!

 

[ProjectCleanSlate]

Dodge Stealerships are notorious for overtightening the oil drain bolt. Hopefully its not the composite pan with the brass insert. Gently heat it up and try to loosen. I ended up drilling the one out of my Durango and doing a threaded insert kit with a fumoto drain plug

 

[Faneius]

Since I have the extractor sockets and a breaker bar I'm hoping it will just be a remove and replace situation. though replacing the whole oilpan isn't out of the question. at least its easy to get to, unlike the upper control arm which seems to be located below everything else in the engine bay but inaccesible from below.

 

[Faneius]

in the military one of the advantages of working on helicopters is that the parts Want to fly apart. We rarely ever had to result to force to take something apart. Contort ourselves into weird positions to get at something yes. but rarely did we having something stuck. in fact we did all sorts of things to make sure the nuts and bolts would STAY together. safety wire and Loctite abounded.


my jeep on the other hand seems to have become one with all the nuts and bolts ever used on it.

 

[John Bishop]

in the military one of the advantages of working on helicopters is that the parts Want to fly apart. We rarely ever had to result to force to take something apart. Contort ourselves into weird positions to get at something yes. but rarely did we having something stuck. in fact we did all sorts of things to make sure the nuts and bolts would STAY together. safety wire and Loctite abounded.


my jeep on the other hand seems to have become one with all the nuts and bolts ever used on it.

It’s my understanding that one of the theories as to why helicopters can fly is that they vibrate so violently that the earth rejects it.

 

[Faneius]

Just in case you are wondering the aft most bolt for the drivers side uper control arm on a 2008 Jeep liberty is under a bunch of shit. And no you cant get at it from underneath. I tired, alot.

Thats two extentions to reach and crow bar wedged down into what I hope it was safe to wedge against so that as I pushed towards center line with the ratchet the extentions didn't just bend and slip off the nut. Yes, thats a piece of conduit thats been forcably flared out to fit over the ratchets handle. I was puling with my right hand and pushing with my left so I needed the leverage to move that rusty sucker. I cant actually see the bolt and nut. There is a small space I can wiggle my hand down in to feel it and make sure the socket is on but since I can only get a quarter turn with the ratchet it took awhile to get off. Thankfully some engineer figured that would be the case and there is a tab on the bolt that swings around and rests against the engine bay frame and keeps the bolt from spining because there is No way to get a wrench on the bolt head. Once the nut was off I reached down in to that tiny space and with my wife wiggling the control arm the bolt came out easily enough.

So now both rear shocks and the drivers side shocks and upper control arms are replaced. Tomorrow is the passenger side. Shock, upper control are amd sway bar link. I'm probably going to have to cut some nuts off. All my parts are in though so it shoudn't be an issue.

What worries me is that now that most of the squeaking is gone from the front end I am starting to hear what is probably my brakes. Ah well I wanted to learn how to change caliper brakes on my own anyway.

 

[Sparksalot]

in the military one of the advantages of working on helicopters is that the parts Want to fly apart. We rarely ever had to result to force to take something apart. Contort ourselves into weird positions to get at something yes. but rarely did we having something stuck. in fact we did all sorts of things to make sure the nuts and bolts would STAY together. safety wire and Loctite abounded.


my jeep on the other hand seems to have become one with all the nuts and bolts ever used on it.

See the bolt, be the bolt, become the bolt.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Just glad everyone is ok. Accidents happen, I have been a couple of big one's that were not my fault. The new rig shows ALOT of potential, no rust is the main thing. Everything else (if straight) can be fixed.

 

[Faneius]

Well the Beast is living up to its rep. Bonus feature my passneger turn signal light just fell out of its hole.

This weekend was finishing up (hahahahaha) the passenger side shock and upper control arm replacement.
Had to throw in redoing the sway bar link because that sucker was NOT cooperating


As with the the drivers side the upper control arm nut had become one with the ball joint and the stud at teh bottom became stripped, illiciting much swearing and the use of an angle grinder because I aint playing no more.



(please note the niffty stool my wife made me as one of her first wood working projects)
In the end the parts gave up and were removed and replaced in half the time the drivers side took. (in other words only 6 hours)



The Beast now rides about 4" higher than it did which tells you how bad the shocks were. (I fulbbed getting in the door after the drivers side was done because it was so unexpectedly higher) Unfortutnately I will have to revisit the front passenger side as the lower control arm is the source of the squeeking. I'm happy its not the tie rod but not looking forward to that evolution. Parts will go on order next paycheck.

As a pleasant surprise all of the garage floresents have been updated to LEDs and additional lightling strips were also added. Being able to work in the fully lit garage is amazing.

Next up is the oil pan and figuring out how and why the signal light fell out

Things still need to be done in no particular order:
oil pan removal and replacement
find out why the signal light fell out and fix that
Front Passenger lower control arm replacement
replace the pigtail on the drivers side headlight to fix the loose wire making it intermitantly non operational
heater core flush (hoping this works)
front and back brakes
rear differntial drain, reseal, and refill
AC leak find and repair
find out why the drivers airbag light is on
remove non functional sunslider and weld sheet metal over holes
replace interior head liner with one from jeep with out sunslider


But thats the future, next weekend I get to help a friend doing a roof raise on thier bus. Angle grinders and cutting torches will be in use!

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Didn't happen to get a before and after shot did you?

 

[Faneius]

Didn't happen to get a before and after shot did you?

not yet. not much differnt. still got gorrila tape on the roof to prevent the sunslider from leaking, and a now dangling turn signal.

 

[PNW EXPLR]

My lovingly cared for by previous owner and new to me 2006 Jeep liberty saved mine and my dogs lives in a crash by a driver that had lost her brakes and used us as a launch ramp. Did I mention she was also uninsured?
View attachment 237359 View attachment 237360
She used my rear drivers side pannel and tire to launch herself over me. Seriously I saw the underside of her tacoma through my windshield. thankfully no one was injured more than bumps and bruises. The crash shoved me forward and over one lane and bent the crap out of my frame which you can see by the fact that those two seats used to beside by side with a little gap and now they overlap. None of the back or drivers side doors would open after the crash and the passenger side wouldn't close propperly once opened. Having an uninsured motor clause I got a pay out and started my search for a new vehilce in my price range.

Glad you and the dogs are well! Could have been a lot worse.
I like the color of the new rig better, too.

 

[Faneius]

Glad you and the dogs are well! Could have been a lot worse.
I like the color of the new rig better, too.

Yes! my first reaction once we came to a stop was to check the dogs. Honey usually stuck her head out the window on the side that got hit. it was just luck I hadn't rolled the window down for her far enough.

 

[Broken Yoke]

It’s my understanding that one of the theories as to why helicopters can fly is that they vibrate so violently that the earth rejects it.

a former coworker always referred to helicopters as "inherently unstable objects" when we talked aircrafts, best morning breaktime conversations ever.

 

[Faneius]

I am reassessing my life choices

today my 2008 Jeep liberty is broken.
My oil pan was leaking. it looked like a fairly easy to acomplish replacment. I should have known better nothing on this beast has been easy.
videos watched. articles read. ordered parts arrived. all the tools nessesscary on hand.
a nice weekend where its not too hot and not to cold and no other obligations.
12 hours later

the oil is drained
all the bolts are out
the pan is loose from all but the gasket on 1 side of the pan.
a side I cant get to
the front differential is covering any access to pry the gasket loose and I can't figure out how to get the damn thing lose. I cant just slap it back in place because the pan is now all bent to hell from me prying on it and the gasket thats been unstuck on three sides is deformed and tore up. I've got the new part and new gasket to put on so I'm not worried about destroying the pan.

I am asking for adivce and or help right now before I have this towed to a shop that will take all my savings to fix this. Anyone got ideas?

if you are curious there a short (1:03min) video on my youtube channel that looks at the area

 

[Longshot270]

If you’re still having issues with the oil pan, I’d get a sturdy wire and “floss” the gap. Sometimes just a little nudge in the right spot…or wrap the wire working ends around a tool handle and use leverage.

 

[Faneius]

If you’re still having issues with the oil pan, I’d get a sturdy wire and “floss” the gap. Sometimes just a little nudge in the right spot…or wrap the wire working ends around a tool handle and use leverage.

oooooh THAT sir sounds like a good idea. hummmmm one of those ridculous wire saws from the "survival" kit might work.