If they haven't been done recently, I would change the transmission fluid and the oil in the PTU and RDU.

 

Yep! Doing that this Friday

 

Probably time for tuneup type stuff. Spark plugs, make sure your battery is good, etc.

 

Spark plugs done about 12,000 miles ago and new battery as of July 2020

 

I've had three incidents over the years, not mileage, but fuel related. All were slightly different, but the common factor was I had been driving for several hours, only stopping for gas. The only one I know the cause of was the gas gauge getting stuck (a one time occurrence) at 3/8, so I ran out of gas. The other times the gauge was also over 1/4. The first time Jeep RSA towed me to the nearest dealership. They couldn't get to it until the next morning, and when they did it started right up. They speculated vapor lock and recommended not letting the gauge go below 1/2, which seems kind of unreasonable to me. Now, on long trips, I always try to fill up when the gauge is between 1/2 & 1/4, plus I reset one of the trip meters and try not to go much over 200 miles before stopping to fill up the tank.

 

The carrier is around 60lbs and the bike around 400lbs. Hopefully that's not too much. With another 150lbs in the back seats and trunk.

I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear. That's too much weight hanging off the little hitch on these Jeeps and too much weight behind the rear axle. If you manage to not end up in a collision the best case scenario is you end up in some peoples' instagram feed next to the other overloaded cars and you have approximately 9009 oncoming cars flash their brights at you because your low beams are aimed up at the sky. If you're less lucky you hit a pavement transition and jam your rear struts through the floor pan.

Anyway drive safe when you do it anyway, good luck!

 

I'm gonna tell you something you don't want to hear. That's too much weight hanging off the little hitch on these Jeeps and too much weight behind the rear axle. If you manage to not end up in a collision the best case scenario is you end up in some peoples' instagram feed next to the other overloaded cars and you have approximately 9009 oncoming cars flash their brights at you because your low beams are aimed up at the sky. If you're less lucky you hit a pavement transition and jam your rear struts through the floor pan.

Anyway drive safe when you do it anyway, good luck!

Agreed! Rent a motorcycle trailer from u-haul. They're only $12 a day.

 

First off congratulations on getting out of NY! I did that long ago.
I have 3 Patriots that I drive all over the country with and never an issue, except I do agree with others that it’s way too much weight on the rear of your Patriot. If I put half that weight on the hitch I get blasted with high beams the whole trip as the rear end will sag. With a motorcycle on back I wouldn’t recommend it. Get a small light weight trailer instead. safe travels.

 

Thanks!! Very excited to explore!
Yea looking into trailers now may have to buy one and resell when I'm done with that seems to be the cheapest option so far

 

100k Spark Plugs are due I think... Good to do them. I waited on my 2003 F-150 & 1 plug snapped off. Got it out but always wondered if that happened because I waited the extra 50k miles, or 6 years. If you've been keeping the CVT Oil changed as the manufacturer suggests, that would be good to do. You don't wanna let those expensive transmissions go bad from running with old oil.......

 

YES definitely change the plugs! Patriots come with 30,000 mile plugs in them. I found that out when I hit 36,000 miles and my Patriot was bucking so bad a thought the tranny was shot. changed the plugs runs like new. Same thing happened in my other Patriot at 33,000 miles so now i always change my plus ar every 30,000 reguardless. If the plugs are original I don’t know how it even runs.

 

Have to agree with the others about excessive weight on the hitch. If you can't get your hands on a small rental trailer, I think you'd be better off even buying a small Harbor Freight trailer and build your own floor and use some good ratchet tie downs than to take a chance throwing it on the hitch.

 

Yea I'm thinking this route I may go a little pricey and get an aluminum covered trailer the right size is only about 300 pounds empty and my bike is around 400 pounds so that should work

 

Hey all I'm about to make a big move from NY to Arizona and taking the Jeep for the ride. Just some questions on hauling stuff and weight capacity and if anyone would do anything different. I'm getting a hitch installed so I can bring the motorbike which will be attached via a carrier rather than trailer. The carrier is around 60lbs and the bike around 400lbs. Hopefully that's not too much. With another 150lbs in the back seats and trunk.

The Jeep has 96,000 miles havent done any big repairs or maintenance to her though I keep her fluids fresh and rotate tires change brakes when needed change air filters etc. Is there anything around that mileage I should look for before driving her 2300 miles?
Thanks to everyone and anyone who replies!

Hello!! Have a 2012 Jeep Patriot and drove it to Tennessee. The back was packed with suitcases etc. in Benson, AZ a red light came on. OMG now what - I pulled into Benson gas station and went in for some coffee and to read my manual on “Red lights”. It appears the keep was overloaded. Are you kidding!! Took a 30 minute break and headed out again. The light hasn’t come back on. It was like 95 degrees outside - maybe that had something g to do with it. Good luck and have a nice trip.

 

My .02 worth. Skip the worry drain the bike of all fluids, rent a small u-haul put the bike in back with all your other things. Rent the car dolly with it a pull the jeep. Lots of pluses no ware in tear on the jeep, no worries for pulling too much, no worries about putting the rear suspension through the jeep from overload. No buying a trailer you don't need or want. In the end the bike is safe. The jeep is in the same condition it's in today and for a little out of pocket change you return the truck and dolly

 

You could do the car dolly IF your Jeep is fwd.

 

Why would that make a difference?

 

If it is 4wd / auto trans it can't be towed with any wheels on the ground, IIRC, at least without disconnecting the drive shaft.
I am assuming a 2 wheel dolly vs. a trailer.

 

Oh I see. I thought the Jeep was doing the towing. Indeed, 4wd must be trailered.

 

Ok so I am purchasing a trailer from tractor supply(subject to change until I see the actual trailer) a 5x8 with mesh bottom empty weight is 400lbs my bike 400lbs and then we will have about another 250/300lbs of cargo (not in the trailer but in vehicle)

Getting tires rotated next week (should have been done twice by now 🤦‍♂️) having them check things out make sure all is well with tie rods and what not.
PTU and RDA fluid changed tomorrow as well as new tranny fluid and filter. I am doing a coolant fluid swap, brake fluid swap and power steering fluid swap in a couple of days.

Anything else you guys would reccomend to look at or replace??
Also should have mentioned this is for a traveling job so after a couple of months of Arizona I.will be heading somewhere else for a couple of months and then Alaska for some months and then somewhere else hence why renting trailers would be way to pricey

 

If you are doing a lot of towing in the future, do you have the tow package?
Mostly an auxiliary oil cooler.
For that much travelling, good to have the trailer.

 

No oil cooler I'm not too worried about as I dont plan on using the Jeep to tow alot just one big haul for now and mayb a couple smaller ones down the road and that's it.

 

Question to everyone tho. Why will no one service my transmission? Brought to multiple places and dealerships and they all say you have to take the whole transmission apart to service it?? This seems absurd to me but I'm getting the same response from everyone. it's not a cvt either so that really confuses me. Why would Jeep make it like that?

 

6 speed automatic, I assume.
A full service would involve tranny removal, because the filter is buried up inside.
A fluid change can be done without, though. However, you must make sure the correct fluid is used. If you just request a fluid change, the dealer could probably do that.
As for why, you would have to ask Hyundai.

 

Some places may be thinking it's a CVT because that's associated so closely with the Patriot platform. Which honestly I prefer the CVT as it's pretty smooth and has alot of potential, but that's a story for another time. I've heard of dealer techs looking at post-2013 Patriot build sheets and telling the owner "it says 6-speed but that means CVT", when the owner actually kept an eye on things and knew full well that's not the case, because Fiat or something.

 

Gotcha I can't keep up with what companies interact with who Haha (in regards to Hyundai response)

But either way that stinks as what the dealer would charge for that you could almost just get it rebuilt.
But ill do my best to keep the patriot maintained until she dies then on to bigger better things. Thanks for your help!

 

But either way that stinks as what the dealer would charge for that you could almost just get it rebuilt.

A CVT service should run +/-$400. That's more than a conventional tranny service but far shy of a rebuild ($4000). Yup, keep it maintained and it should go the distance.

 

But either way I've almost made it! From NY here we are at White Sands National Park pulling about 1100 lbs and stuff on the inside with the pup