16th Dec 2003, 17:59
A few comments. First of all, part time 4wd is not designed to ever be used on dry pavement. If you use it in conditions where wheel slip would not be expected at low speed, you are always going to get that binding feeling when turning. The reason is both axles are turning the wheels at the same speed. In a turn, each wheel actually needs to travel at a slightly different speed. In 4X4 operation (part time, not full-time AWD) you do not have a system that is designed to transmit differential power to each axle. The transfer case just starts spinning both front and rear drive shafts at the same speed. That is the binding you are feeling, and it is not unique to the Liberty. Any standard 4X4 does it on dry pavement. You are not really supposed to engage the feature until you are on a surface where there is a loss of traction and wheel slippage is expected.
The other option is to purchase a full-time 4X4 equipped Liberty or maybe go with some other AWD system.
Hope this helps.
17th Dec 2003, 09:25
Thanks for the response...Re: Use of "part time 4 wheel drive"...I guess what has confused me, is I used to drive a Rav4 with it's "all wheel drive"...You'd think that they'd design the shifter so that the "full time 4 wheel" would follow the "2 wheel" -- it's just a natural progression...Of course, the "full time" can be used at any time, whereas the "part time" is only supposed to be used on snow, or off-road use...The names are misleading...Glad to hear that the tightening up is normal.
25th Dec 2003, 23:00
...I never noticed the brake noise while backing out of my driveway, but as soon as I put it in forward and idled along, it was like a steady moan -- that would go on sometimes for 500 feet...Touch the brakes, even lightly, at this time, and there's MAJOR squeaking/moan. I haven't noticed the sound lately, as the ground is quite wet, but throughout the summer.. Practically every day it was there...The noise, in my opinion, seemed to be coming from the rear (as yours), but the Service Manager insisted it was coming from the front. I've been in to see the service dept. for this problem at least 10 times...I finally made a recording, as every time I went in they claimed they could find nothing wrong. When I took it in the last time, they said they did hear the noise. In fact, as I drove the vehicle out of the lot (un-repaired), the salesman and a customer both heard it. --You could hear it all over the lot!!...It was terrible --embarrassing. Further... Sometimes the noise would start up, right out of the blue, even after I'd driven for miles. For example: when making fairly tight, slow turns such as in our mall parking lot...
The service manager said he was expecting to hear something the end of last November, as there are apparently quite a number of Liberty owners experiencing this same problem. I went in to see him early December. He still hadn't heard anything...I'll be in to see him again, early January. If he still starts coming up with excuses, I'll get him to phone the district service manager, again.
1st Jan 2004, 19:48
Please let me know if you get anything out of your dealer. I was in the area of my dealership last week and ran it buy to see if they knew anything about it. I took the Service manager for a quick spin around the block and un-like what I thought would happen, the brakes acted up. The manager said he has had others come in and complain and he went around the block in their Liberty's and couldn't get it to act up. he also agreed just from sitting in the passenger seat that it was the rear disc brakes. He did some research and also said DC was planning to do something about it within the next couple of months. It's not something that I'm too terribly concerned about right now. I don't really see it as being a saftey issue. It's just that it's very very loud. You can't even hear the radio or the person in the car with you. And it is only if you barely hit the brakes, and as you said at idle speed. If you apply a somewhat normally or enough to slow down he car as any other person would do on a normal day, you don't hear it except the very first millisecond that you hit the brakes. Strange. Glad to see I'm not the only one. Again, please let me know what you hear out of D.C. If I hear anything I will let you know. I also have noticed it was mainly in the muggy, summer mornings. But I did hear it the other day while backing out of a parking space in the mall parking lot. And I had been driving around town all day long.
19th Jan 2004, 19:28
My girlfriend just bought an 03 Liberty with 15k miles;program vehicle. It's seems great in every way...except, there is rust on the floor rails the driver and passenger seats move forward and back on. Any idea what could cause this. No rust anywhere else.
22nd Jan 2004, 10:02
Re the above comment, check under the dash or inside the interior panels for signs of mud; your Jeep may have been a flood victim...
1st Feb 2004, 22:17
I own a 2004 Jeep Liberty Renegade and will be having the Rear Brake Moan/Squeal repair done 4 Feb. 2004...still no official recall yet, but my dealership seemed to already know about the problem and was just awaiting parts.
5th Feb 2004, 10:23
I am a very happy Jeep Liberty owner. I picked mine up in June of 2003 (April 03 build) and now have about 9500 miles on it. I heard the brake moan shortly after I bought it. It would moan after it had been sitting for awhile (usually overnight), but only for a few seconds and then I would not hear it anymore until the next morning. I've had no other problems with it.
If there is a recall, I'll be bringing it in.
5th Feb 2004, 18:44
I am very happy to see that I am not the only one with this problem. I to have had this problem since I bought the Jeep in June. I took it in and of course you know how vehicles have the little kid syndrome (act up for you, but not for people who will fix them straight lol.) I was also told it may be rust forming on the brakes, took it home and the same thing. Finally they said some parts were being ordered because they had other jeeps with the same problem. I waited 3 weeks for the part got it fixed and all was fine for about a month now it is back to doing the same thing, but I can't get it to duplicate for them to notice, I hope a recall comes out soon and it is the right thing, although it is not causing any programs with the performance it is annoying as all get out.
15th Dec 2003, 08:09
I got the usual excuses for the brake noises -- rust forming overnight etc...I talked too many owners-- no problems. I finally made a recording and took it in. The service manager says the noise is coming from the front end. Most noticeable in the morning after backing out of my driveway then driving forward. Will squeak for about 500 feet. If you tap the brakes lightly, the vehicle sounds like a semi coming to a stand still...Was told -- finally -- that my Liberty was not the only one with this problem. "Expect to hear something about this problem by early Dec."...I haven't heard anything yet...I've decided to wait 'till Jan.,then get on their butts again...Noise not as bad in wet winter months, but still there from time to time.