Got a Patriot yesterday for the wife. Our first Jeep!!! Silver 4x4 Limited with CVT II transmission and loads of extras. Dealer gave us a great deal on one he had in stock. Super vehicle for the money ! It came with the roof rack cross bars which I would like to remove. Can anyone advise how to remove them? Looks like I need to pull out that "pin" in order to release the bottom strap that goes around and gets clamped. Any other easy way?
Hello to all !!!! :D

Hey, congratulations on your new Jeep! :beerchug: After you've had a chance to get in some time behind the wheel, I'd like to hear your impressions of the Patriot's ride/handling and what you think of the CVT.

Congrats! Get some pictures up!

Congrats on your new Patriot. :pepper: From what I have been hearing from everyone, you will love every minute of it :D Please post some pics when you get a chance. :smiley_thumbs_up:

Hello GVT1911,
congratulation first of all and then I would like to ask you whether you wish to keep those roff rack cross bars?If not I would be interested in them.I live in Toronto.

congratulation.
Please give us an idea how the CVT works (I suppose you have the normal not the low ratio version).
It's so confusing the feedback about the CVT.

Seems we have a nice "mob" here ! I wish I knew how to post some pics for you guys. I would like to remove the cross bars from the roof and keep them for a later date. ( Sorry - Not 4 sale ). Yes we have the CVT II trannie , strange at first but "works" very well. Tranny does seem to shift as I noticed that RPM's do go down around 30mph and again at around 50. It does have balls on the highway, although we have yet to really hit 70-80. Pickup from a dead stop is kinda slow it seems, need to rev up a bit, just press harder on the pedal to get moving. Gotta get use to that. The ride is VERY nice ! Not too stiff and jumpy as her old Subie Forester, I would say comfy. Road noise is not bad either, we have those Firestone tires, I think a set of Goodyear Comfort treads would be a big improvement. For the money, I do not think anyone can go wrong. The only thing I noticed is that they had to adjust the hinges on the back hatch in order to get it to close properly. I see that when it left the factory the right hinge was too far "up" and the hatch was rubbing on the body. Keep your eyes out for that ! I went back to dealer and showed him (getting some free touch up paint) and we noticed the same thing on a $33K Laredo !!! So I did not feel bad at all...:smiley_thumbs_up:

You can remove the cross rails by "popping" off the plastic ends on the raised roof rails. There are 2 bolts under each of the four plastic caps that have to be removed and the whole assembly comes off of the Jeep (you will need a buddy to help you lift it off, not heavy, it is awkward). You then can slide the factory cross rails off one end. Then reattach the raised roof rails. When bolting back to the Jeep ensure to re-wrap the bolts with "Teflon Tape". I did it this morning, it took me about 20 minutes.

Welcome and enjoy!