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Off-road capabilities of NON Trail Rated Patriot

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10K views 25 replies 15 participants last post by  Rickrude619  
#1 ·
I apologize if this seems like a topic that has been repeated ad nauseaum. I do hope no-one minds that I bring this up.

Here in Finland, Trail Rated Patriots are to the best of my knowledge not even offered. And even if they were, honestly, most of my driving is in the city and on highways, with an about weekly excursion to some small and sometimes rather poorly maintained small dirt roads. Anything with a bit more capabilities than a normal car should probably accomplish what I really need a vehicle to do, some 99% of the time. So a Patriot with a Freedom Drive I would be quite sufficient, even leaving me with a comfortable margin for error for those extreme weather situations I seem to end up in every now and again.

But that's the logical side of me thinking. Somewhere deep in my head, there is a small Tim Allen going "MORE POWER! MUAHAHAHHAAA!" and I would like to be able to appease that side of me too.

Besides, the off-roading training I had in the Army was rather interesting, so I won't deny that the idea of off-roading would be intriguing. ;)

So, if you would imagine for a moment that you are talking to someone who has only driven regular cars, and has no experience in off-roading besides a brief course with APC's in the Army, would you be able to give someone like that a basic understanding of what a stock Patriot with the automatic transmission can and can not do? (Or the manual transmission, for that matter, although I am dreaming of the automatic. With the AutoStick feature it seems to me to be the best of both worlds - the control of a manual transmission and the comfort, simplicity and lack of sore knees (a problem of mine - my busted knees dislike if I have to keep either the clutch or the gas pedal in a certain position for long periods of time) of an automatic! :D )
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I recently took our 4x4 MT Patriot on a very steep mountain trail in Cape Breton with lots of switchbacks and washouts. It appeared to have only been used by ATVs in recent years.
The main problem was I couldn't climb SLOW enough without stalling. I would be driving along at about 4000rpm in first, slow for a washed out switchback, and the engine would stumble and then stall from the grade. Hitting the gas didn't help, once it bogged down it would not recover, even with the gas pedal on the floor. In order to get enough torque to climb over the tricky stuff in the corners I had to go in way too fast. I bottomed out and smacked the muffler a few times, and was seriously afraid I might bounce off the trail and roll down the mountain. Slipping the clutch didn't help much, just not enough torque to move below a certain rpm on the steep, especially in washed out ruts. It was either slip and sit still, engage clutch gently and stall, or get the RPM's up and go hammer down. Backing down was out of the question, I would have gotten stuck in the switchbacks. I was very relieved to get to the top in one piece, and I would not try it again on that trail. Maybe the CVT would be a better choice.
 
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#5 ·
Maybe the trail was a little too steep? I agree, I have only done very moderate inclines with ruts in them, but I thought the engine with my 5 spd manual did fine. I am not an expert at off roading, and come on, I do live in Illinois, but for what I need it for, my FD1 did fine. I will let you know on more extreme adventures maybe this weekend.
 
#3 ·
I have the 4x4 08 Sport without the off road package and CVT/autostick. It has been just fine on back roads with dirt or gravel and sandy areas. The autostick is really great for off roading because you can keep the car in any gear that gives you the best traction.

This is NOT to say that it is as good as the off road package for very rough off road going.

The off road package has chassis shielding to protect vital areas against rocks or high crowns. It has an extra low ratio when you are in low, plus it has a full one inch extra of road clearance. It gets less mileage than the non off road package. If you are just talking about country back roads the non-off road package should be fine, but if you are truly talking about not being on ANY road and climbing up and down hills, I feel the off-road package is the best choice. At first I was going to get the off road package, but changed my mind after I carefully went over the driving that I really do.

Hope this is helpful!
 
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#6 ·
Hey mate, I've got a 2008 Pat Limited 4x4 in Finland. Had it for a few months and taken it around the block and forest a few times.. :) In my humble opinion it's great for light offroading like driving in the forests and having fun in the sandquarries. For any serious rockclimbing or similar activities I'd opt for a Wrangler if that's in your pricerange.

It's a pity Jeep Finland isn't offering those trail rated models. I enquired about one as well...

Throw me a private message if you're interested in chatting about the Patriot in msn or similar.

^
www.amccf.com
 
#9 ·
Pat off road

I've taken my Patriot North- in Canada only (basically a patriot sport with more bells and whistles)off road a few times here in Calgary AB(McLean Creek OHV area) and have been quite impressed. It has the 17" wheels so my ground clearance is 8.5"--this would be my only complaint--I wish it had about 3 more inches. It has handles everything from washouts to steeps and loves the mud! I've climbed over trees, through snow and across creeks. I will howeve be replacing the tires at some point. Not a big fan of the SR/A's it came with. I am looking to upgrade the water fording capabilities as well to that of the FDII.
 
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#14 · (Edited)
Without a different "crawl ratio"...steep hills are going to hurt the MT and CVT. 19:1 just isn't enuff for steep stuff. Honsestly, you need about double that for controlled offroad stuff like you are describing. Now, for normal (99% of the time) offroad trails you will be fine.

Crawl Ratio stock Liberty 4x4 MT...3.0(first gear)x3.73(rear diff)x2.72(4LO Transfercase)=30 crawl ratio
AUTO same plus 1.5-2.0X for torque converter =45-60 crawl ratio

If you could somehow combine a Klune 2:1 with your Pats...you would have a better hill climber.
 
#18 ·
Yikes, that sounds bad!

There has been at least one previous discussion about Patriots getting stuck off-roading: http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2073 Turning ESP off has been mentioned, perhaps that would help in your situation also? Getting stuck on a carpark exit ramp does not sound like acceptable behaviour for any car though, so at least I would think it might be a very good idea to have a mechanic take a look at your Jeep.
 
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#19 ·
I think that maybe some of the scenarios here are easily addressed by having a read at the the owners manual with regards to the use of the ESP funtion.(page 141-144)

Anyone who has attempted to ascend steep inclines, especially off road and hasn't switched the ESP function partially off or comlpletely off, this will almost certainly be the root cause of lack of power/torque.

When the ESP is left in the normal mode (on) the system will reduce power to any wheels that it senses are slipping.

To put it simply :

ESP on (normal mode) for almost all driving situations.
ESP partially off for when vehicle is in deep snow,sand or gravel conditions.
ESP OFF is intended for off road use when ESP stability features could inhibit vehicle maneuverability due to trail conditions.

Hope this helps some.

:D :D
 
#20 ·
I got the non trail rated one because I don't intend to go out "offroading" however, if I need to get to a fishing or camping spot that is offroad, I would like tobe able to do it. Also I like the FD1 system for winter conditions up here in Canada.

All that said, I really wanted to see what she could do anyways. So today it rained very heavy and after it stopped I went to a off road area I know. I took the Patriot through some very thick heavy mud with large, water filled ruts. In fact these ruts had grown a good bit in number as well as in size and depth since the last time I was there a couple years ago. If I had know how bad it was I wouldn't have even attempted it, but I was commited until I could find a place to turn around. I did hit the bottom front underside a couple times but I believe only on mud not rocks. Despite the conditions the Patriot plowed through the mud with no sign of getting stuck at all. The only bad thing other than hitting the bottum was that sometimes I would not drive in the intended direction, kind of sliding diagonally. I believe this was in part because of the large deep water filled ruts, but mostly because of the stock firestone touring tires I have on.

All in all I had a blast and was very impressed with the patriots offroading capabilities.

Alas I had no camera with me. When I left the house, I didn't think I was going to be in that area.

I hope that sheds some light on the capabilities of the not trail rated version.
 
#21 ·
Tony1911 said:
I apologize if this seems like a topic that has been repeated ad nauseaum. I do hope no-one minds that I bring this up.

Here in Finland, Trail Rated Patriots are to the best of my knowledge not even offered. And even if they were, honestly, most of my driving is in the city and on highways, with an about weekly excursion to some small and sometimes rather poorly maintained small dirt roads. Anything with a bit more capabilities than a normal car should probably accomplish what I really need a vehicle to do, some 99% of the time. So a Patriot with a Freedom Drive I would be quite sufficient, even leaving me with a comfortable margin for error for those extreme weather situations I seem to end up in every now and again.

But that's the logical side of me thinking. Somewhere deep in my head, there is a small Tim Allen going "MORE POWER! MUAHAHAHHAAA!" and I would like to be able to appease that side of me too.

Besides, the off-roading training I had in the Army was rather interesting, so I won't deny that the idea of off-roading would be intriguing. ;)

So, if you would imagine for a moment that you are talking to someone who has only driven regular cars, and has no experience in off-roading besides a brief course with APC's in the Army, would you be able to give someone like that a basic understanding of what a stock Patriot with the automatic transmission can and can not do? (Or the manual transmission, for that matter, although I am dreaming of the automatic. With the AutoStick feature it seems to me to be the best of both worlds - the control of a manual transmission and the comfort, simplicity and lack of sore knees (a problem of mine - my busted knees dislike if I have to keep either the clutch or the gas pedal in a certain position for long periods of time) of an automatic! :D )
[/QUOTE
Ok I have about as boring of a patriot as you can get only a 4×2 but thing has plowed through a river crossing and almost beach type sand no problem where others have gotten stuck..
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