I got my patriot stuck yesterday. There was no reason to be stuck. I could not drive forward because of a hard snow bank, but I could not reverse out in the 4L and I could not get the momentum need to back out in 2 wheel drive. The lock-up would kick in but by that time the tires would just spin out. I had the esp on and off with no difference. I had to dig through the snow bank and turn around. In my opinion there should be a way to shut off the Low reverse so this does not help. Has this happened to any one else? Does anyone have any ideas to deal with this?

What do you mean "shut off the low reverse"? When you tried backing out, did you keep the center diff locked in 4wd? You would still have 4wd in reverse then so unless you were being hung up by the snow due to ground clearance you should have been able to back up.

did you get to the point where the display says "ESP OFF", or just the yellow jeep with squiggly lines under it? Turn ESP completely off by holding in the button with the shifter in Park.

Also, try it in Low without the 4X4 lock. When the fronts start spinning, the back wheels should kick in.

Why would you try to get out of being stuck without the diff locked? My understanding is the 4wd lock in the middle locks a center diff so power is set to 50 front/50 year. With both axles having open diffs, the locked postion would at least force one wheel on each axle to have power sent to it. Am I misunderstanding what the 4wd lock does?

i just haven't noticed any difference in traction in the limitted snow driving I've been able to do.

without the 4X4 locked, the freedom drive still puts power to all four wheels if it's needed, so why not give it a try?

I have the limited with the trail badge and the cvt2 tranny. It has a low crawl ratio that takes effect in 4X4 when in low gear and also when in 4X4 reverse. So I can not put the patriot in reverse in 4X4 without the low settings kicking in. I had the esp on to start out with but tried it with the jeep and squiggly lines and also with it completly off. I tried reversing without the 4x4 on but the I could not get the momentum i needed to get out before the front tires spun and the back tires cut in. when they cut in the back tires would only spin. I was not hung up on the snow because I dug all the snow out from under the jeep.

I'm a bit confused about the low gear in reverse you are talking about. Low gear is engaged by putting the gear selector in the L position which is a forward only gear. There is no way to go in reverse in the low gear. When you change the gear selector to reverse you are in the normal operating reverse gear. I don't know what the gearing is, but most reverse gears are low also. The center lock lift locks the center differential so power is split 50/50 front and rear. This is what locks the system in to 4WD. Without this locked power can still be sent to all wheels by the computer, but it may not get you out.

I'm a bit confused about the low gear in reverse you are talking about.

an FDII with the 4X4 lock on will have a low ratio reverse gear that a FDI doesn't have.

an FDII with the 4X4 lock on will have a low ratio reverse gear that a FDI doesn't have.

Really? I assumed that the cvt2 and cvt2L both would have the same reverse gearing, the difference being the cvt2L has the lower forward gear for the crawl ratio. I know the axle gearing is lower with the offroad package, so that would cause the final drival ratio in to be lower. What do you mean "with the 4x4 lock on"?

What do you mean "with the 4x4 lock on"?

I mean when you pull on the 4X4 lock lever on the FDII, the "offroad" light comes on, and when you reverse, it's obvious that the lower 19:1 crawl ratio and hill descent braking are in effect.

It freaked me out the first time in the parking lot, when I had 4X4 locked and I reversed quickly down a hill. The Jeep started making all the weird noises of the brakes turning on automatically because of the hill descent mode, even in reverse.

It only makes sense that the 19:1 crawl ratio applies in L and R gears - if you can crawl into it, you'd better be able to crawl out.

of course, none of this applied to a FDI