Finally got to the shop yesterday for tires and alignment. The plans were to get some Moabs, but it just didn't work out right. I think I'll probably paint part of these wheels when I get around to it. Since we didn't get the Moabs, we went with a narrower tire - 225/75R16 Hercules Terra Trac ATs (29.3" tire). Not as aggressive as I would like (particularly on the sidewall), but they'll do for now. I have an appointment at the dealer this afternoon to see if they can get the speedo close.

Before:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d74/TJinWV/Patriot/011.jpg

After:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d74/TJinWV/Patriot/002.jpg

At first glance it almost doesnt look lifted. That is untill you look at the ground clearence and realize the tires are so much bigger than stock that they actually fill the wheel wells out to the point that they make the height from the tire to the bottom of the fender seem the same.

Looks great!! How many inched of clearence do you have now? Im thinking about getting the yoko geolanders in that same size when i lift mine.

I always look at the wheel nuts and the bottom of the body when looking at the 2" lift. Looks great!

did you install it yourself?

At first glance it almost doesnt look lifted. That is untill you look at the ground clearence and realize the tires are so much bigger than stock that they actually fill the wheel wells out to the point that they make the height from the tire to the bottom of the fender seem the same.

Looks great!! How many inched of clearence do you have now? Im thinking about getting the yoko geolanders in that same size when i lift mine.

I've noticed what you mean - I'm afraid part of it is my picture-taking ineptitude. :) The pictures don't do it justice. It looks like a different vehicle in person. I would still like to get some Moabs and/or tires with a more aggressive sidewall, but these will do for now.

As usually is my pattern, I got too excited to get started and forgot to take measurements before I started. I realized after I got the first corner done, but by then the geometry was jacked up enough that I couldn't get a decent measurement. I'd guestimate about 2.5" of additional clearance. I know RRO advertises 2 1/8", but I don't know where that comes from, unless they include the new tire size. The spacers themselves are only approx 1 3/4".

did you install it yourself?

Yep. I spent probably 7 hours over two days doing it. That includes talking to my wife, and with my 4 year old "helping" me. :) I could easily do it again in about 4 hours (without help from my son ;)).

Looks great! How 'bout take some more pics!

Nice to finally see the 225/75-16 tire combo on a lifted Pat. Personally, i kinda like the 16s better than the 17s.

Wow, what an improvement. The Patriot looks a lot better with the lift.

TJinWV,
Others with the RRO lift have reported tire rubbing with the 29.5" tires...are you experiencing any rubbing with your 29.3" tires? Given some time, I could probably find the post that shows a picture of the rubbing.

Nice looking truck! Any opinions on the BS Revo's? Available in 225/75-16 (29.5) and 235/70-16 (29).

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+A%2FT+Revo

Gramps I had those on my 2002 Durango (obviously a different size) and they were great tires. Highly recommend them. They were good in snow, wet, gravel roads, you name they saw it and handled it with out skipping a beat!

TJinWV,
Others with the RRO lift have reported tire rubbing with the 29.5" tires...are you experiencing any rubbing with your 29.3" tires? Given some time, I could probably find the post that shows a picture of the rubbing.

I did notice rubbing once at full lock, when I was doing a 3-point turn in my driveway. I've not noticed any other time, though. When I get a chance, I want to try to duplicate it to see what's going on. But I'm putting a lot of time into the TJ right now, so I don't know when I'll get to it. It's obviously not enough to bother me, though - my TJ's been rubbing at full lock for 6 years now. :doh:

Nice looking truck! Any opinions on the BS Revo's? Available in 225/75-16 (29.5) and 235/70-16 (29).

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+A%2FT+Revo

I've looked at a lot of different tire tread patterns over the past few weeks...for both 16" and 17" rims 'cause I'll be running a set of 16" steel OEM Liberty rims just for off-roading. I came to the conclusion that for 16" rims, the General Grabbers or BFG A/T or BFG M/T would be the way to go...for our 17" alloys I would go with either a "Yokohama Geolandar AT + II" (from www.discounttire.com) or the Bridgestone Revo's...Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor's are decent too (my roommate has them on his Sport Trac and the look aggressive).

BTW - Discount Tire was able to beat Tire Racks price by a couple bucks once you figure in shipping, tire mounting and balancing...this would be the route to go if you've got a store near you 'cause you get free balancing, rotating and pro-rated warranty with Discount Tire...I had to call them about the tire I was interested in 'cause Generals aren't shown on their website for my area but they said they could order it direct from the factory and have it within a couple days.

I picked up some 16" Patriot wheels for off roading in my Compass, nothing in a 18" A/T short enough. I'm still looking at Revo's, FS Destination A/T's and Pirelli ATR's. Just put some Destination A/T's on the wife's Grand right before our last big snow and she loves them.

For my street tires I know I'll end up with BS H/L Alenza's in a 235/55R18 but for the off road tires I'm leaning towards the 3 listed but always open to suggestions. I'm not even sure if I have a Discount tire in the area, I'll check into it.

THX!

I really wanted to get a set of General Grabber AT2s, but they were on national backorder. My preference if cost wasn't an issue woulda been BFG A/Ts, but these Hercules tires came in at about $200 less for the four than a set of BFG A/Ts would have.

TJ in WV .....I am running Hercules Terra Trac A/T's right now but in a bigger size on a KJ. I couldn't get what I wanted in a 17" rim and got those. I wanted a tire with a heavier sidewall like a BFG A/T. (almost went to a 16" Moab rim for better tire choices) .....Much better tire choices in a 16" rim. They were ok in a 2 foot snow storm in 4-high and got me home on an unplowed road. I have about 250 (mild to moderate - no hard core stuff) off road miles on them out of 18,000 miles since I put them on. Had them in a sand pit in 4-low first gear and not aired down but couldn't quite get over the top (I got high centered on my skids). They seem to be wearing good. They didn't seem to affect my on road mileage too much.......which isn't anything to brag about anyway. That's my personal experience with them so far.

Anyway, I think your Pat looks good and the OEM rims look good too. Course, they don't compare to Moabs. Moabs are just awesome in my opinion anyway.

Would it be possible to put a lift on a Patriot and Wrangler Rubicon tires & wheels? Thinking about an '08 Patriot, but want to 'ruggedize it,' so to speak. Would these mods invalidate either the lifetime powertrain warranty or the Maximum Care Warranty?

You can put 2006 and earlier Rubicon wheels (Moabs) and stock tires on a Patriot with some rubbing. Do a search for Moabs - it's covered pretty well in the forum. You can not use newer (2007+) JK Rubicon wheels without an adapter, though - they are a different bolt pattern.

As far as the warranty is concerned, "maybe" is the best answer. :) The dealership technically has to prove that the modifications caused the problem you're trying to fix. For instance, if your radio stops working, the dealership can't blame it on the lift and/or bigger tires. However, if you snap an axle shaft, there's a pretty good chance they won't cover it due to the bigger tires. Your best bet is to find a modification-friendly dealership, though. Although it's the dealership's responsibility to prove the mods caused the problems, sometimes it may not be worth the hassle and all the hoops you have to jump through.