my lifted FDII has a shimmy and a shake in it occasionally. Unless you need the lift to get where you're going with it, I wouldn't lift.

I needed the lift to get where I'm going, but have a Vibe for commuting.

 

warrantee? The speakers are still covered, but not the suspension. It was worth the risk for me.

 

Hi,

I do 110km's per day and no probs here for the last 11,000km. All going good.

Every dealer will be different when it comes to lift and bigger rubber.
Just find one that is ok with mods.


If the lift is for just home to work and back then don't do it. Your fuel bill will go up a small amount plus add the cost for the lift and new rubber for what? Just to go from home to work and back?

But if you want to play around etc.. then go for it. But remember Jeepin around is not cheap and things do go wrong. The wear and tear on your Pat will be much greater and faster.

But it does bring a big smile on your face and the Pat is soooooooo goood what ever people say just because it has no low range.

That is the FD1 here in AUST. I wish we had the FD2.

 

Thank you all for giving me some input so fast. And yea I have to be honest I would mainly be doing it for the looks and the occasional (very rare ocassion I may add) off roading trip. I just can't get over how much better the pats look with the lift. I'm still trying to make up my mind.

 

3000 miles on our lift and NO problems at all. The $800 was worth it. The 215s had to go though, too much room in the wheel wells, plus the noise from the SRAs after 15k miles. 235s are a nice compromise vs. the extra road feedback and float a 245 would give you. You may just consider bigger rubbers, you won't need a lift for 235s. I am getting much less wheel torque, too.
I still think a 225/70/17 would be just right, but find one! Better for you snow bunnies up north as well, width in snow makes you float and lose traction. Take it from the snokat, 245s in the snow at highway speeds is risky IMO with a Pat.
A good bargain H/T tire made by Cooper is the Definity Dakota H/T. After the rebate you get in the door for under $500, plus a 60k warranty. Yep, Pep Boyz!
Quiet as well

*Laptop is back, it had to be scrubbed, replaced ROM, and OS re-installed, so I am spending my weekend reloading pics, software and preferences. YUK!!! No pics until then.

 

I would not install a lift on an FDII if it's just for the looks. I scraped up my hitch and undercarriage quite a bit before I installed it, just to be sure I needed it.

The CV joints are definitely stressed more than stock. We'll find out what the reliability is on the CV's in a (hopefully long) while.

 

The CV joints are definitely stressed more than stock. We'll find out what the reliability is on the CV's in a (hopefully long) while.

This should be obvious but I'll say it out loud anyway: there is a difference between lifting a FDI and FDII Patriot. With the FDI, you end up lifting it about 1" higher than the CV joints were meant to handle, whereas with the FDII the joints are already at their limit, design-wise. The fact that my lifted FDI does not shimmy nor shake, but polished_hecklers does, would seem to indicate that there could be a big difference in that extra inch of lift.

Now, a dumb question of my own: doesn't the size of tires affect the angle of the joints, too?

 

ive done another 30,000 klm after my lift the fuel does increase slightly etc, but all good sofar

 

So 235's would fit not problem without a lift on a trail rated? How much bigger would they look compared to the 215's? Yea I know that's a dumb and difficult question to answer on here but basically what I'm asking is will it look a lot bigger or barely noticeable?

 

Haven't tried. This made me confuse . . . I wonder if anyone did this.

 

Ok thanks you guys. I'll probably be needing some new tires come Christmas time (which works out nicely) so I'll probably go up to the biggest size I can fit on it.

 

235's on 16's will rub like hell even after custom mod's you cant turn steering all the way i would go with the 225 (i got the lift done hade the 31's and now i got my winters i got 225 no rubing i could do a U turn i dont suggest more then 225's)

 

which one work better? what lift?

 

By the by (and I just noticed this myself yesterday :icon_rolleyes, if you look at the Patriot on Rocky Road's web page you'll notice that it seems to be a FDI... It's possible RRO did not design the lift for a FDII at all? This is strictly speculation on my part though, I haven't asked them.

 

its not even a FDI it is a 2wd fwd.

 

I'm running a RRO lifted FDII with 245/65R17's...5,000 miles so far on the upgrades...recently I developed a very slight vibration in the steering wheel between 60mph to 70mph...I'm guessing this is a tire balance issue that will be confirmed when I can get it back to the tire shop for a tire balance...I drive ~20miles of freeway each way to work 5 days a week...I've taken it off-road too...I haven't noticed any other issues with the steering or control of the vehicle

My local Jeep dealer did the initial alignment (I recently had it re-aligned since I had to add 1-1/4" wheel spacers) and I had a local off-road shop look it over...I asked about the prolonged affects of the lift on the drive train and neither place voiced much concern about it or the CV joints...the lift is just not that extreme.

 

I'm running a RRO lifted FDII with 245/65R17's...5,000 miles so far on the upgrades...recently I developed a very slight vibration in the steering wheel between 60mph to 70mph...I'm guessing this is a tire balance issue that will be confirmed when I can get it back to the tire shop for a tire balance...I drive ~20miles of freeway each way to work 5 days a week...I've taken it off-road too...I haven't noticed any other issues with the steering or control of the vehicle

My local Jeep dealer did the initial alignment (I recently had it re-aligned since I had to add 1-1/4" wheel spacers) and I had a local off-road shop look it over...I asked about the prolonged affects of the lift on the drive train and neither place voiced much concern about it or the CV joints...the lift is just not that extreme.

Nice to hear not every one has problems with lifted FDII, I don't think there is too many out there yet. For me 9" clearance is just not sufficient for our logging roads in BC, so I will need to lift my Pat as well. Please update when you check your wheel balance.

I have not considered 245/65/17, only 235/65/17 or, height permitting, 225/70/17 Yokohama Geolanders - the only A/T tire in this size available. These should be same height as yours - about 29-1/2", so I assume it clears the spring platforms. Someone has suggested that wheel spacers increase the chance of rubbing (outside of the tire moves in larger radius). On your modification with 1-1/4" spacers and 245 width - 1-3/16" wider then stock 215 - inside tire edge is about 5/8" further out and the outside edge 1-7/8" out. This really changes the outside edge radius - and it does not rub anywhere? Do you think 225 width and only 5/16" spacers could work? All comments welcome...

 

I've only had the spacers on for about a week now...I think I've heard some slight rubbing at times when turning the wheel...I'm guessing it will rub the plastic fender skirts when off-roading...I'll have to wait and see...I plan on driving it for awhile and then checking the plastic for rub points before I do any modifications...it definitly doesn't rub at full turning lock like it did without the spacers...I'll do a write up when I get a break from business travel in Novemeber.

1-1/4" is as thin as you can go without needing to modify the wheel stud length...mine bolt onto the OEM studs and then have new studs pressed into the spacer from which the wheel is mounted...they look just like the ones offered through Spidertrax...but our MK's require custom ones because our hubs are a different size than all other Jeeps...I don't trust those spacers that look like washers for a bolt (don't seem safe).

 

it's quite possible that my shimmy and shake (jeez, that sounds funny now that I re-read it) is due to alignment and not the FDII lift. RRO is right that their lift will fit no problem in an FDII. And I don't consider it to be a problem, just a minor annoyance. My wife tells me she doesn't notice any vibration in the passenger seat, which tells me I'm feeling it in the steering wheel.

 

I just could not resist emailing RRO and ask them about lift installation on FDII "tall" Patriot and any possible problems. Bellow is their almost instant reply. I would feel better if they actually had done one in their shop, but I am less hesitant now about ordering the lift. And Polished_Heckler seems to be confirming shake problems may be tire/balance related. I think at higher speed lifted FDII may be also suffering from air stream turbulence?

From RRO:

"We have not had one in our shop. But we've sent literally hundreds and hundreds of these lifts around the world now and have not had reports of vibrations. We have had customers will the factory taller suspension pick up our lift. If we don't hear back from them, we just assume everything is going very well. Since the re-design of our swaybar connectors, haven't had any negative reports come back from anywhere in the world.

Shimmys would be the result of tire balance or alignment, but these 2 items can be addressed by a competent tire/alignment center. The control arms in our kit are adjustable, not fixed. So they can be used for standard or 1" taller suspensions as needed."

Not a 100% answer, but I would bet they will try to at least look at lifted Off-road now...

 

no high speed problems here at all. My shimmy is at low speeds (10 to 15 kph). Once accelerated, it's fine.

i think the key may be a competent offroad alignment shop doing the alignment. My regular mechanic didn't want to do the alignment, but I talked him into it out of convenience (he's next to my work).

Petbug, if you've dragged the skid plates on logging roads you drive, go for the lift! It makes a big difference. What did NSOR quote for install/align?

 

NSOR did not want to quote via email. They have not seen RRO lift so far (I am surprised), at least the guy who does the quoting via email. They asked for more info, so I've printed the instructions with pictures from the Forum and will take it to the shop. Perhaps then they will be interested. By the way I am ordering the lift (may be Rock Super Sliders too...) I am just waiting for shipping cost quote. How much did the kit cost you landed - shipping, exchange, taxes... if you don't mind. I still want to come and see your lifted Pat, just been too busy