good looking jeep....how is the molle panel working for you ? was thinking of either that or going with the full tactical seat cover route from coverking but their over 200 just for the front seats...also be easy on those hood mounts I had those before switching to another set and it's super easy to strip out those set screws

 

good looking jeep....how is the molle panel working for you ?

Perfectly, might even get another. 100% recommend them.

Sure but what do you keep in those molle pouches?

Also what's in your aid kit?

I keep napkins, plastic utensils and wet wipes in the top left pouch and writing implements in the bottom right. I also keep a full FAK inventory in case I need to replenish anything:

2 pair nitrile gloves
1 paper tape
4 wet wipes
6 antiseptic wipes
4 gauze rolls
4 Mirasorb

2 Steri-Strip
20 fabric bandaids
4 nylon sutures
2 NAR chest seals
2 trauma pads
2 triangle bandages
4oz iodine solution
1 NAR CAT
1 NAR trauma shears

Neosporin, Chapstick, nail clippers, nail file, Benadryl

 

Sure but what do you keep in those molle pouches?

Also what's in your aid kit?

 

Good list. Are you by chance an EMT/Paramedic/health provider of some sort?

I'd also recommend combat gauze and 4" ACE wraps for pressure dressings. The combat gauze is pricey but worth it if you ever need it, and the ACE wraps are better than anything at wrapping a dressing for bleed control plus you can use them for sprains etc.

 

Good list. Are you by chance an EMT/Paramedic/health provider of some sort?

I was a caregiver for a long time, but otherwise no, I just like being prepared.

I'd also recommend combat gauze and 4" ACE wraps for pressure dressings. The combat gauze is pricey but worth it if you ever need it, and the ACE wraps are better than anything at wrapping a dressing for bleed control plus you can use them for sprains etc.

Good suggestions, and nice kit!

 

Medical is one thing i never mess around with!

https://imgur.com/a/fylNTE8

 

So, a few updates.

Firstly, I'm thinking Night Owl is a better name. Drive enough at night, and it's set up nicely for it. Working on a window decal design of it, think it's coming along nicely.

Secondly, I did grab another molle seat cover. Man I love these things. New pouches just hold stuff I use a lot when I'm out, like extra plastic forks and toothpicks etc.


Third up, I grabbed some Diesel LEDs Super-B reverse lights on sale. I want to do a bigger writeup on them as soon as I can, but the short of it is, they're way brighter than the DD XP-50's.



Lastly, tomorrow I should have a step bit I ordered arrive. Since I have these XP-50's floating around unused, I think I'm finally going to do a quad reverse light setup I've been sorely tempted to do for a while. Should be ballpark 2920 raw lumens like that, and then add on another 4000 if I flick on the C2's. I might actually be able to see through the tinted rear window now.

Apparently I forgot to put the XP-50's in the original post... Fixed.

 

Modding the tail lights was a fun and fairly quick project today. Image links to an album with more pics I took along the way.



And for anyone wanting to try this, I used these connectors. They have too many posts to fit in the enclosure, but could probably fit if you shaved two of the posts off. They were perfect for the Super-B's though, as those fit directly into the 5/8" hole I drilled. That section is so thick I had to drill a little further than expected, so anyone trying to replicate this with a step bit just has to be careful not to drill fully into the next step.

I can actually see out the back window now, it's pretty sweet.

 

 

I see you've got autostick, which means CVT for a 2012. https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/transmission-fluid/automatic/synthetic-cvt-fluid/ This stuff will help it work ALOT better, ya just gotta stick with fluid changes at 60k or less, be extremely picky about fluid level, that sort of thing. Maybe even add a CVT cooler https://www.amazon.com/Hayden-Autom...3DDKO/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1520715199&sr=1-1&keywords=hayden+678 but definitely a drain pan with a plug so you don't make as much of a mess after the first change. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z7NXLPQ?tag=jeeppatriotconvert-20

 

Lift kit and wheel spacers next week. :surprise:

 

Got in some Rugged Ridge floor mats today. My old ones were beat and all I do is track dirt in with my boots.

 

I've had to wait entirely too long to get this.

 

Where did you bought this?

 

1.25" wheel spacers and Rough Country lift kit.

 

Thing looks good!!!

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

Lookin good! Which model is yours? And how do you like your lift? Any vibes on the road? Is this your daily driver?

Is that a custom rear bumper? Your prob the only one in the country with it.

 

Lookin good!

Thank you!

Which model is yours?

If you're referring to trim level, it's an Altitude Edition.

And how do you like your lift? Any vibes on the road?

Love it. Managed to casually drive through some ruts at Crater Lake in NJ that would have most likely highcentered me before I got it done. I do have a little vibration when I accelerate, but it's smoothed out a bit. Really not too bad.

Is this your daily driver?

Yep.

Is that a custom rear bumper? Your prob the only one in the country with it.

I don't know any other Patriot running it, at least, but it's not super rare or anything. It's a Wilco Offroad Hitchgate Solo. I've had it since May but I had to wait for a hitch extension. I got the hi-clearance thinking it would fit but the hitch is too far recessed on the Patriot. I think the normal one may fit better but buy at your own risk. For my tastes it sticks out further than I'd want but I'd have to cut a slot in the top of the hitch to get it closer to the body.



The hitch extension and the hitchgate have two hitch pin holes, and I have it at maximum extension since, as you can see above, any closer and the wedge smacks the hitch. I might mod the hitch eventually to bring it in a bit.

One thing to note is that I chose the hitchgate over a dedicated offroad bumper with tire carrier because it's about half the price and a quarter the weight if you go for the same utility (tire carrier, fuel carrier, swing-out arm etc).

 

Where are you finding aftermarket rear bumpers?

 

Patriot: BlueLakeOffroad

 

Broke a tail light in NJ while wheeling so I replaced them with the smoked Spyder tail lights you can find on CARiD.

 

Looks good!

 

I like that! Where did you find the spare tire rack at?

 

Bought it directly from the manufacturer. https://www.wilcooffroad.com/

 

RRO Rocksliders installed.

 

Installed the RRO winch bumper last weekend. Few snags along the way but it's in and it works.

Biggest issue is the clutch on the X2O doesn't line up with the cutout in the bumper. I had to mag drill a hole at work and then sealed it up with POR-15.

From there the install wasn't too bad, but it did suck taking off everything including the tow hooks.

I had to loosen the bolts and angle the bumper forward to mount the winch, it's snug but it fits. I left the bracket over its motor off when I rotated the contacts up.

While the front was off I installed a Hella Supertone low tone.

From there I had to trim the bumper cover, probably the most tedious part. I used a Dremel cutoff wheel. Fascia went on and off at least a half dozen times.

Wired it to a Blue Sea Systems circuit breaker that works like an on-off switch. I should have read specs more closely, it's way overkill.

Then all I had to do was button it all up.

And today I installed some edge trim to clean up the look of it.

 

Nice job. Years ago i took the frontend apart like you did but bolted a u-haul receiver hitch on the front. I can slide in winch whenever i need to.

 

How is your lift been long term. I’m looking at the lift options and just can’t decide on which one.

 

Hasn't been perfect. Spacers up front have been fine, but the rear control arms never gave me much lift with my setup (hence stu hd rear coils) and my OEM coils started squeaking for whatever reason. Also at some point a snap ring popped out of the right control arm but a work friend sorted that for me. They also don't fully align right, camber is a bit out of spec in the rear, but it did that before the lift.

That said, I haven't broken any of it and I do actually wheel this thing. If you can live with the possibility of not getting a full 2" of rear lift, it's not a bad option.


Somewhat on topic, another work buddy and I were discussing more advanced lift options the other night. Research phase for now, but it's possible to find someone who designs independent suspension long arm lifts and see what it would take to get one made up for the Patriot. Idea is to source CV's from another vehicle and design the geometry around those, or maybe even boost the full setup off another vehicle entirely. I know there's folks who've done crazy stuff to fit big tires on their Pats but I haven't seen anyone do this, so as I near completion of Phase 1 of my build I'm daydreaming up stuff to do further on.

 

 

Alright, it's been a while since I've added to this. In the meantime my horn died again so I added a pair of Hella supertones running off of a relay. I mounted them to the radiator cross support where my brush guard bolts in. Just recently I also installed Valkyrie's headlight adapters with a pair of KC Gravity LED headlights.

I ran into issues with the Valkyrie adapters. They have slots cut into the backplate's mounting locations but the mounting posts on the Jeep were way out of tolerance. I ended up having to drill out the holes on the bracket to fit the studs through, except before I got to that point I ended up bending the passenger bracket by accident. Valkyrie's customer service is amazing though, they sent out a replacement backplate for free. I feel like if they elongate the slots it wouldn't be an issue but it remains to be seen if they'll revise the product in the future. I hope they do, the brackets have pretty good build quality overall. I did have a little smudge in the powder coat on the backside of one of the backplates and the screws on the driver side retention ring were shorter than the passenger side's, which made it more difficult to secure that headlight, but those were the only real flaws.

The KC's are pretty great, though I did have to grab a decoder harness from Amazon to get them to fully function properly. Highbeams put out a lot of light and the lowbeams seem to be subtle enough for other drivers that I haven't had anyone flash me, which has been an occasional issue with the stock headlights when climbing hills with oncoming traffic. I still need to level them out when I get a moment, they're slightly rotated, but it's not really noticeable while driving and the Valkyrie brackets have rotation adjustment so it should be easy enough to fix.

Hellas. One of these days I need to clean up my wiring.


Bent bracket.


Replacement backplate.


Replacement backplate with the slots widened. Go go gadget stepped drill bit.






Beam shot. Lowbeams. The driver side needs to be rotated a little. The passenger side is a lot better aimed than it was with the bent bracket. It might need a little more adjustment, worst case scenario I can stick some washers behind the top mounting hole.


Beam shot. Highbeams plus my G46 auxiliary driving lamps.