My last vehicle was a 2000 cherokee, and I looked at the liberty prior to deciding on the X. I leased the cherokee and was prepared to buy it until I found out that I would have been financing several thousand $s of depreciation. So I let it go and looked for something similar. I have to say the solid front axle was great in the jeep, and with a mild lift and 31s it was impressive. Since I knew chrysler would give me more for the cherokee, I started with the liberty. Less room, no in line 6 cylinder (one of the actual durable parts of the chrysler drive train) and a pain to lift and put decent sized meats under. So, to be sure, we test drove a rental on some mild offroad. As was posted earlier, the front end dragged on everything over 5", or so it seemed. It was dissapointing. I started looking at the Toyota tacoma 4 door trucks with the TRD package. I figured the locker would make up for most of the IFS. It was close, but I needed an SUV. Forget the price on even a base 4 runner! On to Nissan. What I got was a dependable engine (though underpowered compared to the 4.0 I left), bullit proof rear end, good cargo room, I could put 31s on without a lift (possibly 32s with a little crank of the t-bars), some actual skid plates and tow hooks (if you include the rear hitch), and reasonable off road prowess. One thing I hated about the cherokee was the unibody, as it was notorious for popping body seam welds under rough conditions. I suspect the liberty will be worse as you have to pound it to get it through the same areas the cherokee walked through. I would have to say to remember you are on an Xterra board. Having said that, I was fairly objective going into this purchase and feel I made the right choice. If you can afford a bit more $$, you might look into a discovery (blasphemy on this board), but expect to do more preventive and corrective maintenance. Or a 4 runner (the new ones are ugly but solid) as you can get more after market parts such as LOCKERS.