Jeep Liberty Nose Drop
 

what would be the easiest way to lower the front end of a Liberty other than a lowering kit with shorter springs?

Put a bunch of heavy stuff on the front.

without a significant increase in weight

Without actually lowering the front suspension, the only other way to "lower" the front end is to install an air dam.

that's what i figured, maybe i can get an extra set of front springs and cut a turn off of them to shorten them, rather than coughing up about $300 for a new set

Cutting the coils will make it ride poorly, in most cases. I'd try an air dam first, as lowering the front end will steepen the windshield angle, and could potentially cause more turbulence at the back edge of the roof (unless you have a kammback).

Depends on how much you cut. Sure, taking away from available ride travel will compromise ride quality. The question is how far do you want to go? What's the difference between cutting a spring and getting a shorter one? Answer: none.

One way to lower without affecting ride quality is to use dropped spindles. I suspect they aren't available for that Jeep.

AFAIK, no drop spindles for it. The issue with cutting coils is on a progressive rate coil (most modern ones are), you're cutting away the softer part of the coil, leaving a stiffer coil overall, compared to a proper lowering spring.

actually about $250, as far as physically they're pretty much the same

"Proper" lowering springs are stiffer too.