Just curious if anyone got a Rack for the Patriot yet ? if so what Kind ?

Yaldain

I have been kayaking for almost eight years and have seen alot of racks. My old Explorer had yakima racks which are nice but I would recommend the Thule ones. My dad has a set on his Grand Cherokee and they are pretty top notch and I am about to get a set for my Patriot. Check them out.
thuleracks.com

So... how do you attached Thule or Yakima crossbars to a Patriot's factory rails? The fit-your-car websites don't have the Patriot figured out yet.

I don't have Kayak racks but I did put Yakima Raptor bike racks on mine... using the factory Pat crossbars. I didn't want to buy antother set of crossbars so I used the Yakima "universal mightymount" and it all works great. If I understand correctly, the mightmounts can be used on any of their rack systems.

Close-up of Mightymount:
http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/3862/2675265280100726353S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/4279/2571854900100726353S500x500Q85.jpg

http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/5774/2431262610100726353S500x500Q85.jpg

I ended up getting the Thule Racks . Thanks for the help ! From what I read they can work with the factory cross rails but I did not have them installed so I had to buy Thules Cross Rails . So far so good ! I will post pictures when i get a few mintues to take some

Yaldain

On Friday I installed a Yakima Crossroads 450 that uses the factory roof rails, and 58" square crossbars, and Yakima Kaya stacker. Fit is great, wind noise not too bad, and is a very solid rack for kayaks. I highly recommend! I took some pics of the completed install, I will post up.

I just got a Kayak and bought the Thule "J" shaped rack ..mounted it directly to the factory cross bars. My question to those that have a similar setup...where are you hooking the bow line to the front bumper?...there is no place hook it. I don't have the trail rated Pat so no tow hooks. The salesman from L.L. Bean and myself couldn't find a decent place to hook it. We ended up hooking it to the plastic skid plate up front but I don't think that would hold for very long.

Seems kinda stupid to me that they build an SUV and offer Kayak racks but don't allow anyplace to hook the bow and stern lines....

Any ideas??

On mine I have the tow hooks as one solution when carrying sea kayaks, I do not use any on whitewater boats (only 6 feet long). I will have a look for a good anchor point, sometimes a shipping tab works, I will let you know if I can find a better point for you to use.

Chris

I ran into the same problem... no place to tie down under the front. I am thinking of drilling a hole in the bumper to use to attach the tie-down hook, but I'd much rather use an existing spot. Does anyone have any other ideas how to do this?

Mark

I had the same thought maybe installing a dedicated hook under there. My concern was creating a place for rust to start. I suppose if its sealed with some RTV or something similar it might be ok...Next time I'm at the dealer I am going to ask...maybe I'll call then today I have a good relationship with my dealer...

Good idea, I think I'll talk to my dealer, too. I'm curious if we get different opinions...

I'm having trouble finding a kayak carrier that can hold two of them. It looks like the mopar setup only allows for one. So that idea is out.

Let's see those pictures of those kayaks on top of the patriot. In other words: show me your rack!

I think I have a solution to the front/bow line problem. The bumper is steel with the plastic cover over it (kinda nice its not a block of foam like on many new cars). My thinking is to run a piece of 1/4" nylon braided rope or a 1" wide nylon strap around the bumper but underneath the cover it will give you a nice place to hook to without drilling or major modifications. I am gonna give it a shot when I get home tonight and maybe shoot a pic or two.

That's funny... I was thinking of trying that, too! I took a quick look, and the plastic fits very tight to the bumper, so may have to use a wire to fish it through.

Here is my Pat with the Thule Hull-a-Port Racks

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q10/tjrenegade/Picture001.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q10/tjrenegade/Picture003.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q10/tjrenegade/Picture002.jpg

Lookin good!

Sorry, this is long, but hopefully it makes sense and is something to work from, let me know if you have any questions..

The auto body shop found one shipping tie under the front of the Patriot (he took the time to search for it when the towhooks didn't work the way he wanted to install them). Under the front fascia (near what I call the "radiator skid plate" but I don't know the tech term) on the passenger side, the first cutout from the center there is a solid loop hole (you have to push away the plate/fascia to see it better). There is not one on the other side.

Since its an offset one and with our racks being on the back end of the Patriot, the typical way of tying the boat is not necessarily going to work. This is what I did but you will have to modify as needed for yours. I didn't put up the kayak since the canoe is usually the harder of the two to keep steady.

Belt ties (ties going over the boat at the crossbars):
I couldn't use the straps to tie, boat was way to sloppy without the "v" style bumper tie in front. Second, I couldn't use the divers/truckers hitch to tie. I had to use pipe hitches on both sides of the canoe, tight to the canoe (if you have the canoe brackets to keep the boat in place you might have different options).

Rear tie:
No problems using the hitch, not as good as a "v" shape, but workable. If you don't have a hitch you might be able to add a loop or bolt to the predrilled hitch holes - can't tell with my hitch already on if that's going to rub to much or be in the right spot.

Front tie:
1) I can just do the normal belt ties, tie to the hitch in back and cross tie to the shipping tie in the front. This might be good for a river kayak, especially if you have the vertical tower accessory (with kayak on drivers side) but was too sloppy for my canoe.
2) I can do belt ties, hitch tie, cross tie to front shipping tie and then do a thwart (canoe cross piece) and rack wraparound tie. Thwart needs to be placed directly on top of cross beam for min wiggle. This was workable but still not great.
3) Skip the front shipping tie altogether and use these nifty gadgets along with the hitch, thwart and belt ties. I found them on the hundredth google search - hood tie downs Merrimack Canoes (http://www.merrimackcanoes.com/accessories.html). This still wasn't perfect for my canoe and it does press up on the play of the hood. However, it worked better than the shipping tie and this is the method I will probably stick with for a while - I may still add tow hooks later for easier and more solid hauling. I don't know them from anyone but it was under $10 and they put it in the regular mail that day, you could probably make your own version, but this was quicker for me.

And, link to my photo album (http://www.jeeppatriot.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=532&ppuser=2148) that has pictures of the shipping loop tie, the hood ties, my canoe, etc....

I am happy to finally have a solution that works for me, never have I had to work this hard to outfit a vehicle for a canoe! I am happy that its done now and I still love my Patriot. I have also never had this much trouble with dealerships (both service and sales). I don't know if its a Los Angeles thing or a Chrysler thing. Some of it, is probably new model stuff so I was being lenient. But, I guess I was too nice because I eventually had to resort to my "difficult contractor" methods before they would even give me 5 minutes of their time.

Well thats a pretty well thought out post.....

My solution is I ordered a Thule Xsporter for my Ram and am just going to mount the Kayak Hull-a-port top that along with the a bike rack and this will also work perfect for my canoe as well...When I camp I use the truck anyway so this will be more convenient for me.

yeah, long time boater and anal engineer here, so that's a lethal combination :)

Those hood straps....any concern with them scuffing the paint from vibration as you drive? I imagine any dirt that gets between the hood and the strap will leave scratch marks....

I am not sure, Its similar to the tie down straps but I have never had them do a wrap around an edge like that. Something to keep a watch on...

thanks, newjeepgirl, I can't believe I didn't see that shipping ring up front!
That will work for me, since I'm tying down a kayak with saddles on the rack, so I don't have to worry about it sliding side to side.
I'll try and post a couple of picks when I get it all set up.

Kayaks yaw less even placed directly on the rack so with saddles you are probably set. Definitely post pictures :)

I didn't find the shipping ring either, I'm glad the auto shop guy found it! The days I bring both the canoe and the kayak, I will probably use that to secure the kayak in front so I don't add stress to the hood ties and the hood. That is for another day, with this setup I need to put on 2x4s to extend the rack width a couple more inches.