The Pat is such a nice vehicle isn't it ? Kudos.

 

if you ever been to ikea, you know they sell mattresses that are rolled up. well the one we ended up with was not and was damn heavy and wouldnt fit in the cargo area. so we strapped that bitch to the hood. I was afraid of it flying off bc i have seen it too many times with people who have actually tied it down correctly. So we tied the hell out of it down. We also had a 30 min drive. So I slowly went faster and actually went the speed limit and finally got it home safe. Thanks riot.

 

I think patriots are bigger on the inside than what they appear on the outside. I had a friend hop into the back seat one time and said "Man this thing is long!" It kind of surprised me at the time because I don't consider it to be long, but compared to some other vehicles, like the jeep liberties, it actually does have a longer cargo space.

When I moved up north for a few months I fit an entire drum set, end table, and quite a few other items in there. And I still had room for someone to ride up front with me.

 

Mine is loaded up a lot. It as one of my "must haves" when looking for a vehicle. I think my back seats have been up, like normal, once. They are almost always folded down.

Once I knew I fit in the drivers seat well, I threw my big dog box in the back to assess the cargo space.

 

Same with me. In the rare occasion that I need to take more than one other person with me, they'll have to do some rearranging to get a seat folded back up and some leg room back there.

 

My back seats are always in the upright and locked positions, and I am still happy with the cargo room in the boot. We took a road trip last moth from Erie to Chicago to Indy and back. With luggage, toys, etc... for 2 adults and 2 kids, I was always able to see out of the rear window, and I didn't have anything on the roof rack.

 

The Compass I rented a while back only had two positions for the rear seats: up or down. In my Patriot I have the reclining 2nd row, which allows the seats to be upright a little more, allowing for more rear cargo and still able to fit extra passengers... it a really nice feature

 

My downhill Mountain bike didn't even fit with the seats down.

 

May I refer you to:

http://www.etrailer.com/manufacturer.aspx?nav=Thule&fTab=cargo&gclid=CI2yk96MoqsCFSkBQAodOHNZkg

 

Tell me about it.

This was before I add my rear heavy duty coil spring thought.

Now with the same amout of junk plus the cargo roof with the springs:

 

Today i'm back at it: Going to be putting two mackie 1801 Subs, giant cargo box filed with cable, 9 mic stands, 2 keyboards & their stands, Roland Amp, and proabably a few smaller things i can't remember. Also, i've found the tie-down points to be really helpful in securing things that normally slide around on the plastic trunk/wheel cover.

 

No doubt, our Patriot is very versatile and capable.

 

The deal-maker for me was the flat-fold front passenger seat, and it paid me back big time this weekend. Bought a door (29" wide, but wide enough, considering) and with the psgr seat flat down, I was able to get the entire thing in the Riot with the hatch closed! Not sure I could get away with anything wider than that, however, but I was happy to do it this time...epper:

I also hauled four 17" wheel rims--still in boxes--in the back with the second seat upright. Unfortunately, they were for my brother's CR-V...but that's another thread...

 

It's amazing the room that this little thing has. I normally use my Dakota to haul sound gear on the weekend but I blew a heater house about a month ago and didn't have time to fix it before I had to hit the road so..... Pat to the rescue. Wish I had taken pictures but I fit a 12 space mixer rack, a 6 space mixer rack, to Mackie speakers, a medium size light back, mirror ball and stand, two laptops and various other peices and parts and still had room for a passenger if I needed. The only thing that wouldn't fit was a large sub-woofer and a large hand truck. There was a fair amount of weight on board and it still managed to haul it without complaining and still got 24 mpg. This thing is a magician!

 

Here's 30 boxes loaded in the back of my Patriot. Each box weighs about 22lbs, my total for this load was over 600lbs! Didn't drive it far, but it felt pretty solid on the road. Not too much slower but you could sure feel the weight.

 

Yowza! I've fit mine pretty full with a bike rachet-strapped to the roof, but it never sagged that bad!

 

Helped someone move too, first time ever using the roof rails! Did it like a champ!

 

These do hold an amazing amount of stuff! Not just volume but weight also. I've hauled 30 bags of pellets (over 1/2 ton) multiple times up my ridge and it doesn't even blink.

 

i'll add my load
i used to be able to fit 40 of such boxes in my cherokee sport,
at about 40 lbs each 1600lbs
i can only fit about 30 of such boxes in the Pat at 1200 lbs
i used to go through shocks often on the cherokee
still on original shocks/suspension with 145k miles on the Pat

 

Cute kid! Time was kids could ride in back. That's why my folks got a wagon -- it had a playroom in back. :smiley_thumbs_up: Now, of course, they'd throw my parents in jail and I'd be in the system. :doh:
As for Patriot loads, I got a refrigerator in back a few weeks ago, and managed to close the gate. Wifey complained there wasn't much space left with the seat all the way forward. Took the refer to our summer cottage. Ignatz rode and handled fine 40 miles on the highway, and (FWD) handled the snow in the driveway just fine. No appreciable effect on fuel economy. The Patriot is a versatile vehicle.

 

Here's a couple pics of mine about as full as I've had it:

Guess the suspension is sagging a little, but not too bad, considering....

 

I've hauled A$$ in mine, nothing like what you guys been hauling.