Can someone tell me how much room I will need to leave behind the Patriot in order to fully open the rear hatch in a closed garage?

Mine won't be here for a few more days and I'm hoping to gain space in my garage for a work bench, but I need to know how much wasted space I'll have to give up first.

Thanks, all y'all!

I haven't measured, but it isn't much! It's always less than I think I will need - might be two feet, maybe three - but I haven't opened it in there in a few days so my memory may be lacking!

3-4ft. might do the trick.

Don't forget to include the size of yourself :) Otherwise you might be able to open, but you'd ahve to do it from the inside :p

...Or reach from the side and then duck under the hatch? ;)

About two feet should be just enough to get the hatch open. It is much more comfortable to have more space back there, though. Loading gear into the back and tying it down with just barely enough space to open the hatch gets real old, real fast.

I keep mine as close to the garage door as possible, to leave lots of workshop room in front. I have a laser gadget which gets me in exactly the same spot each time. Distance from the middle of the rear bumper to the garage door is 23". It allows the hatch to clear the door, and room to get behind when it's open.

Page 360 in the Body Repair Manual listed here may help somewhat. I'm big on dimensions myself.

http://www.nearlynormal.biz/jeep/patriot_info.html