Awesome!

 

I need some advise. I'm interested in taking advantage of this offer. I sent an e-mail to the company and this was their response.

"We are looking for one to build some rock sliders for, diff guards. We are
interested in making a lift, but we would have to look at the Jeep and
inspect the suspension and drivetrain to make sure this is possible. The
deal is that we need to have the Jeep for several days. Whatever we design
and build, you get for free. And it will be installed for you too.

As a rule of thumb on all the new Jeeps we have build suspensions for, the
warranty is only affected on the part you modify. Just like if you change
out your stereo system and the body starts to rust, you are still covered.
So for example, the shocks (if they remained stock) would not be covered...
but the drivetrain, engine, paint, electronics all still would be covered by
the warranty.

Contact us when you pick up your Jeep if you are interested in being our
donor."

Any input on what I should do? I haven't ordered my Patriot yet & can't until Early March.

 

If I were you, I'd do it!

All they're saying is - if they put an aftermarket shock on, your dealer isn't going to give you a free one if it fails prematurely since it's not a factory part. If you're local to their shop, I'd go down with my rig and see what they're looking at swapping out, and make sure they were OK with you stopping by during the build to see what's changing. Ask them to keep the stock takeoffs of whatever they swap, and worst case you could put it back on if you had to.

As long as they're not cutting off or welding anything, I don't think you'd have any problems swapping back to stock setup if you wanted.

Anyway, my .02...if it was me I'd do it, but I don't mind turning a wrench and don't really care much about the warranty on SOME stuff (like shocks & springs).

 

Why wouldn't you take advantage of the offer? There is no downside...rent a car for the several days it takes...you still come out on top.

 

2X Free lift and stuff for being the first to let them look at your Patriot and take measurements of your Jeep. Tough call... Like I said... If I lived anywhere close to the place I would be posting the photos of the newly lifted Patriot.

Who knows you may deside to take the Patriot off-road more after seeing how it handles with the lift.

 

Thanks for the advise. My thing is I already have a Cherokee that is strictly offroad with everything for going climbing. My patriot will be strictly street use. So I'm wondering how it will effect gas mileage & daily driving. Of coarse I'm sure it will look great, so I guess we'll see if the offer still stands when my Patriot shows up at the lot.

 

I put a Daystar 2.5" lift on my Liberty. Best thing I ever did.

 

I think I found a new hobby, calling my local shops to see if they wanna do the same thing!

 

I am interested to see who jumps at the chance to get their Patriot upgraded.

 

I contacted them last week, sounds like a pretty good thing. Their shop is open Tues-Fri, and they said they'd need it for the full week. About a 300 mile one way trip from where I'm at right now, so between the cost of the rental car and the 2 round trips I'm hoping someone closer to Salt Lake will take them up on the offer.

Too bad they wouldn't see this as more of an investment in their mailorder business and offer to pony up for the rental...

Thanks for making me aware of the offer though, Bubba....I may still go for it.

 

Heck if I could get both my Jeep out there, I'd be all over it. Drop the MK off in SLC and then head down too Moab and wheel the TJ for a week. Sounds like a win too me

 

Hmmmmm... Will only cost me about $300 to drive out, fly back, fly out and drive back. Looks like rails are gonna be $300+ (per Liberty pricing), and a low-end lift is $100+. I just might try this out. Any ideas on how this would effect mileage and other performance? Has anyone purchased from this company before, if so, how are they to deal with?

 

Any word on the lift for the MK? I keep telling myself to just leave the new Jeep stock, but what fun is that?

 

Dawson is the guinea pig.

 

I just sent Rocky-road an email asking if they're making a lift for the Patriot:

We need to get one into our shop for the prototyping. If you know anyone in the Salt Lake City area that would like free parts in exchange for dropping their Patriot a little while, have them contact us



Glenn Wakefield
www.rocky-road.com

Voted by Four Wheeler magazine readers....
Top Ten All Star Manufacturers



----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Horvath
To: gwbuild@rocky-road.com
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 11:47 AM
Subject: Patriot


Are you guys making a lift for the Jeep Patriot?

So it looks like they want to make a lift too, someone in their area needs to take their Patriot in for prototyping (and getting free stuff!).

 

Considering

Does anyone know if they are still looking for a prototype. I live in SLC and and considering the offer. I have no problem leaving my jeep with them for a couple of days, however, the only problem I might come across is that my jeep is a 4X2. Does anyone think they might still do it?

 

I say shoot them an email.

 

I have shot them an email and am just waiting for a response. If it takes too long, I will give them a call.

 

I am setting up an appointment to take my jeep in to them on 08/25 next Saturday. I would do it this weekend, but he is going to be out of town at an Xterra rally. I'll keep everyone posted on this.

 

Sweet. Be waiting with bated breath. Next time you talk to the guy, see if he can give you a timeframe between the install on yours and having a kit available for the rest of us...would ya?

 

I have already emailed him about a time frame on how long it would take to figure out the install, but I will make sure to ask how much time it will take from then to get the kits available to all of you.

 

Wow , that's awesome they are doing it with your 4x2.

My mistaken thought would be that they would say 'thanks but no thanks', we want to be able to hit some decent trails with the lift to test the durability.

Glad I was wrong.

You have the eyes of every Patriot owner upon you.

Cheers,
Jim

 

Update: Rocky road has a Pathfinder scheduled in this week, so I won't be taking my Patriot in until the 28th. Still no word on how long after kits will be available to all, assuming they can lift my jeep.

 

Here is a Q and A I had with Rocky Road Outfitters:

RE: Jeep‎
From: Rocky Road Outfitters (gwbuild@rocky-road.com)
Sent: Tue 8/21/07 3:10 PM
To: Marco Colindres (marco.colindres@hotmail.com)

That's fine
These are my questions. If you can answer them that would be great.

Are you looking to lift it 2.5" or 3" or is that up to me?

We believe the max lift height on your vehicle is going to be in the 2-2.5" lift range. Won't know this until we get our hands on the Jeep. Also, we need 3 days for the Rockrails. For the lift, it would be especially helpful to get the vehicle for Tues-Friday. Designing a suspension requires a little more engineering and time than just doing a set of rock sliders.


Do you know the max tire size I would be able to put on the patriot with a lift?

Nope. Won't have any idea on this until we can get a lift designed.



There are many at the Jeep Forum that want to know how long it would take to get the lift available to others once the specs have been figured out?

We would hope to have the lift figured out and installed in the same week. Then we let you run it for a few weeks just to see how it does. If all goes well, then we can start selling them.






Your company sounds very credible and look forward to helping with you on figuring out a lift for the patriot. I know many Jeep Patriot owners will be greatful.

Thanks
Marco

 

My brother does a lot of aftermarket stuff on his vehicles...he suggested a few questions to ask them when I was thinking about it.

I've long since deleted the email, but a couple things stick out in my mind...

-Ask if they want status reports on the lift...and if they were interested in hearing what was going wrong with it as well as the good stuff...

-If something goes wrong with the lift, what kind of guarantee are we looking at...and is the guarantee good on (possibly future) labor, or just the parts?

-Along those same lines, how long will they warranty their work? Since no one else is making them yet, they'll be the only ones available to fix it.

I can't remember half the stuff he mentioned, but I got kinda nervous when he brought up all the things that you should think about.

 

This is the full list of questions I asked. I only pulled a few of the questions for the post. But here is the full email. Let me know if any of you have other questions I can ask them:

RE: Jeep‎
From: Rocky Road Outfitters (gwbuild@rocky-road.com)
Sent: Tue 8/21/07 3:10 PM
To: Marco Colindres (marco.colindres@hotmail.com)



That's fine
These are my questions. If you can answer them that would be great.


1) Because this is a prototype and free of charge, if something were to go wrong with installation, who would be held responsible and what is covered?

Whatever we design and install, you get for free. All our steel parts are carry a lifetime warranty. If something breaks, we will send you out a new piece. Never happens though. Lifetime guarantee means longer than your Jeep is ever going to last.



2) What processes do you take before going through with installation?

Not sure what you mean by this.




3) By how much will lifting the Jeep affect my gas mileage?

A lift usually has little to no effect. What is going to affect mileage more is if you change your tires to a more aggressive tread. Larger beefier tires come with a little 'cost' in fuel economy.




4) Are you looking to lift it 2.5" or 3" or is that up to me?

We believe the max lift height on your vehicle is going to be in the 2-2.5" lift range. Won't know this until we get our hands on the Jeep. Also, we need 3 days for the Rockrails. For the lift, it would be especially helpful to get the vehicle for Tues-Friday. Designing a suspension requires a little more engineering and time than just doing a set of rock sliders.




5) I heard that a lift and larger tire offset the speedometer. Do you calibrate the computer to match the size of tires?

Again, the lift does nothing to your speedo... or fuel economy. Going to larger tires will change the speedo reading. For most people, this is a benefit as the mileage reads a little less and so your vehicle warranty lasts a little longer. If you get larger tires, just use the 10% rule. If the speedo says 30, you are really doing 33. If it says 50, you're doing 55. And so on...



6) Do you know the max tire size I would be able to put on the patriot with a lift?

Nope. Won't have any idea on this until we can get a lift designed.



7) There are many at the Jeep Forum that want to know how long it would take to get the lift available to others once the specs have been figured out?

We would hope to have the lift figured out and installed in the same week. Then we let you run it for a few weeks just to see how it does. If all goes well, then we can start selling them.






Your company sounds very credible and look forward to helping with you on figuring out a lift for the patriot. I know many Jeep Patriot owners will be greatful.

Thanks
Marco

 

I have just dropped off my Patriot to Rocky Road Outfitters who will be working on slider and a lift for my patriot. They should have it done by Friday. They say that because of the ESP they might only be able to manufacture a 1.5-2.5" lift. They said that the Sliders would be no problem. I will keep all posted.