Well here is a little article from Ward's Automotive about the struggles to make the Patriot a trail rated Jeep vehicle...

http://wardsauto.com/ar/trail_rating_patriot/

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Had 2005 KJ Rocky Mnt. Edition (destroyed)
Had 2006 KJ Sport 4x4
Have 2007 JK 4-dr Sahara 4x4 (tow package so stock 4.10s!!)
AEV 3.5" RS Lift; Schrockworks FR bumper and Warn 9.5ti winch; Cobra 75 CB; Rigid 50" LED light bar; Adventure Trailers (AT Overland) JK Kitchen setup in the cargo area.
Southern L.O.S.T. # 236487

"Jeep Patriot Trail Rating woes"..........

Well.....I must say Chrysler did a FINE job!!!! I have driven the Patriot on and off road. It deserves the trail rated badge 110%

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On the Road to No Where.......
KE7QOR
Certified Tread Lightly Trainer

LIFETIME KJ MEMBER.....and dang proud off it !!!

I picked that title to mainly get the thread a look at...sorry if i offended...

+ there were woes until they had to adjust design elements halfway through...

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Had 2005 KJ Rocky Mnt. Edition (destroyed)
Had 2006 KJ Sport 4x4
Have 2007 JK 4-dr Sahara 4x4 (tow package so stock 4.10s!!)
AEV 3.5" RS Lift; Schrockworks FR bumper and Warn 9.5ti winch; Cobra 75 CB; Rigid 50" LED light bar; Adventure Trailers (AT Overland) JK Kitchen setup in the cargo area.
Southern L.O.S.T. # 236487

goes to show you, Jeep doesnt just slap the Trail Rated Badge on anything...
even if it calls for changes.

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On the Road to No Where.......
KE7QOR
Certified Tread Lightly Trainer

LIFETIME KJ MEMBER.....and dang proud off it !!!

It's intersting to note that the Jeep engineers had to increase the ride height by 1" and ad a strenghtening member to tie the two halfs of the front suspension together.

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02 Liberty Limited
Silver Outside & Taupe Inside
Heated Seats, Sunroof & Infinity speakers
USA Spec I-Pod adaptor, Mopar Sub, Garmin GPS
Tow Package, Select-Trac
Rock Rails, Tow Hooks

"Jeep claims the Patriot will offer the best off-road capability in its class, which includes competitive vehicles such as the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V" Wow, it will wheel better than a CR-V

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Feb/2006 Silver Sport 4x4 CRD

it's not about "wheeling better"...(everyone knows nobody wheels it's competitors) it's that fact that you CAN wheel the Patriot is what's important personally i think it's significant... the KJ has been lumped into the "CR-V / RAV4" class in the past, which is ridiculous to say the least... now Jeep has a true competitor to those and you can actually wheel it... i say bravo

Mark

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Yeah really^ Can you get the Patriot with 4WD and a manual transmission is what I want to know. I dont think you can in the Honda, and you can in the Ford. That'd help me decide. I'd like to see a magazine test the Patriot, Escape, CRV, RAV4 entirely off road. Like have 4Wheel or Offroad magazine put them through their paces, not Motor Trend. It'd be interesting to see how they call compare. The Escape has a pretty good amount of ground clearance, that might do better than you think.

EDIT

Will companies come out with lifts for the Patriot, do you think? I got curious about this so I made my way to an Escape forum to see about the competition. There are a number of them running around with 2" lifts, and apparently the V6 takes well to supercharging...

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2006 Sport 4X4, Deep Beryl Green, NSG370, NV241J, Lifted with OME 927/948 and Bilstein, JBA 4.5 UCA's, Custom 3" Rear Y-Link Extension and Swaybar Relocation, 265/75-16 Toyo Open Country AT2 tires, Black Plastidipped bumpers, flares, and doors, Pioneer speakers, Alpine head unit, 1200w Phoenix Gold Amp, 12" Dayton Reference sub.

If they put that 30MPG rating on the window sticker im sure it will sell well. I cant wait to try that CVT out myself, its gotta feel weird.

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It may be that your only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

06 CRD Sport
Built 5/11/06
Jeep Green
Rocklizard diff cover
V6 Airbox

The CVT isn't bad at all... It's silky smooth when you're driving around. I kind of like it

The Patriot does come in AWD with the MT. But to get the rock crawl ratio, one must select the option box for CVT2

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02 Liberty Limited
Silver Outside & Taupe Inside
Heated Seats, Sunroof & Infinity speakers
USA Spec I-Pod adaptor, Mopar Sub, Garmin GPS
Tow Package, Select-Trac
Rock Rails, Tow Hooks

So they lowered the "trail rated" standard of making it through the Rubicon Trail just to keep up their image. Reminds me of our education system.

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The only place worth posting Husky mats and tow hooks mods.

My thoughts exactly. It's actually been this way for some time now-when they started introducing the Lowered KJ's... . That is when they started REALLY pushing that their system was developed by the Nevada whatever thing. It's ridiclous, it really is.

What class will the libby be in? Everyone knows that the sells of libertys will go down now.

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LOST KJ'S
Where are you going???
Current Jeep: 2004 Jeep Liberty
-Atlantic Blue
-Air Ride Rear Suspension ; OME/Rustys Lift ; Powertrax Locker ; Moog Lower Ball-Joints ; 245/70/16 Yokohama Geolander A/T-S's on MOABS ; Flowmaster 50 SUV
Lost #007082
http://www.cardomain.com/id/jeepjeepster

well, with the commander going bye bye, and the liberty and gc growing in the next revs, i'd think that the lib will take the gc's spot. before long, the gc will be in the same class as the suburban...

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My opinions & advice are taken at your own risk.
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2002 Patriot Blue KJ - Coming soon!
2006 Black LJ (Wrangler Unlimited), auto, custom skids, 3.5" Rubicon Express, Aussie D30, Rocker Guards & Cooper AT3 235x85r16
2009 Patriot Blue D2500, 5.7L Hemi, 4x4, Quad Cab
1967 Alberg 37' Masthead rigged Sloop

I understand this is a different vehicle in it's own class, but why the I-4??? That is a nice vehicle but there is no way in tarnation I would buy a vehicle that nice and big with a 4 Cyl. That would be the only downside to me...

Atleast offer a 6 Cyl. version as an option....

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02' Frankenlifted White Sport on 31" TrXus M/Ts

89' 2 Dr. Khaki XJ- Waggy 44's, 4.88s, 35's, 3-link on 5.5" coils.

If I am not mistaken, the '02, prelowerd KJ actually did the Rubicon trail for the Jeep 'trail rating' before they had the 'trail rated' badges. I think the whole 'trail rated' is a load of bull but it did seem to do its job on this new vehicle.

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2004 KJ Sport 4x4
L.O.S.T. #006901
Rusty's 2.5" Coil Lift & Diff Skid, 245/75-16 REVO's, K&N
****Grocery Rated****