Wish me luck guys! I'll be pushing my jeep and trailer to the maximum limit in a few days........
........makes me nervous just thinking about it. I would venture to guess that this it the hardest anyone has ever pushed the patriot's towing capacity.
Wow, now I'm Impressed! Day one, I drove 170miles to Lake Hope with four riders including myself. I towed a 1500lb box trailer with about 500 lbs worth of gear inside. I got a picture of it elsewhere in the forums but it's basically a 6x6x12 box that stands 3ft above the jeep's roof. So wind-resistance can be brutal above 60mph. The first leg of the trip was freeway. I set the cruise control for 60mph and drafted a semi nearly the whole way. Rpms stayed right around 2k-3k. After we exited the freeway, we then got into the crazy hill country. I only lost speeds on the psycho steep hills. I really had to push the pedal at times, but the Patriot didn't give up at all on me. Haven't those people ever heard of dynomite? Keep in mind that I didn't have an oil cooler installed but the temp guage stayed just below 50% the whole time. Slow and steady and downshifts were vital.
Day two: after the trailer was dropped at camp, we loaded up all six campers into the Jeep. Can you believe I actually have friends willing to sit in the 5th (back center) and 6th (cargo area) seats?? Wow. No one complained of feeling cramped or squished. They were all too dazzeled by the sat radio and BA speakers. We traveled 30mins north through more crazy hill country to Hocking Hills, the best state park in Ohio. The Patriot is nimble and smooth on even the most wild of curbs and slopes. Even with overloaded occupancy, the 2.4L charged right up the rollercoaster hills and the 4disk breaks & autostick kept us from going over cliff many times! Compared to the trailer, this was no challenge at all. When the day's adventure was over, everyone (but me) slept on the way back to camp.
Day Three: Uh oh! Did you know that Dayton OH is at a much higher elevation than Lake Hope? This means that I drove up a gentle slope THE ENTIRE WAY HOME. What's worse, I couldn't find a semi to draft behind!! So, at 60mph the engine stayed between 4k-5k rpm for nearly 2hrs. I thought for sure something would break as my passangers napped the entire way home. To my releife, the temp guage stayed at 50%, no warning lights came on, no smoke, no smells. I made it home, no prob! The only thing that gave way was the fuel consumption. An entire tank, nearly emptied from day two, and filled up in a boonie town charging $4.19/gal, only got me 140 miles! Overall, I pushed the Jeep to the limits and he did everything I asked him to do without mechanical failure. (My Jeep is a stud, btw)
Ya know, it's feeling more and more like we're all on borrowed time these days. But it's good to know that we own a vehicle that will stand up to the challenges you give it while never ever giving up in its mission to get you home safe and sound- everytime.
Don't be afraid to tow something reasonable with the 2.4L These things are little tanks!
