Project Stormtrooper! 2015 Patriot altitude!

[Autism Family Travels]

Well,

I found this place entirely by accident. That being said...after lurking for a few days, I have signed up and will be buying a full membership with goodies for my family and I. We have a 2015 patriot we purchased new when I had my 2011 JK unlimited. I traded that in on a car and now the patriot is our little overlanding/adventure rig. I have only started to kit it out for back country exploring. A little back story....I owned a 2010 patriot FDII with some goodies on it and LOVED everything about the rig except that damn CVT. As soon as I saw the new 6 speed automatic (that gives close to the same "first gear ratio" and better than either CVT "last gear ratio" I was all in on one.

We are slowing adding the rest of the FD II skid plates, trans cooler etc onto our new rig. The lst of mods are not that long but very specific to our needs.

I will post a few photos and mods list soon!

 

[Autism Family Travels]

The build up includes

Suspension mods

2" rough country lift for extra clearance
Monroe sensi-trac shocks to smooth out the suspension (its a little stiff right now).
adding JKS flex connect swaybar links to the front and rear end to again smooth out the suspension a bit and give a bit more flex.

Exterior mods

Rhino rack platform on the stock rails with some good cross bars
rocky road winch mount/brush guard
LED converted headlights
rocky road rock rails NOT supersliders because I want them tucked away
ez flares fender flares to keep the tires covered
2" receiver trailer hitch to hold the hitchgate, bike rack and our little overland trailer (build of that coming up too)!
FDII skid plates on the engine and tanks
LED single row slim light bar on the underside of roof rack with a waterproof wire connector to be able to remove the platform when needed Full spot bar will be installed here for long distance lighting.
LED flood lights on the rocky road brush guard for wide lighting.

Interior mods

Good seat covers for protection and comfort
10" android stereo with replacement dash (replacing the lepan mini tablet for nav duties)
LED interior lighting
Raingler cargo netting and attic net
install 12v plug for our cooler and install some mounting points for our action packer setup
mobile 4g signal booster
Uniden's new all in one cb with firestick mounted on the rear of the rig with a quick release.

Other mods

Yakima medium RTT, Kayak, snowboard and bike racks
various storage containers etc


Stuff already done

1.25" wheel spacers
235/65/17 Kumho AT 51 At tires

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Before the tires and spacers!


After the tires and spacers. Gives it less of a car look imo!

 

[Matthew Reed]

I agree on the CVT sentiments! They are terrible. When my wife started looking for a new smaller SUV we ended up with a compass, but the patriots are pretty nice too. I wanted one when they first came out. I'm excited to see where you go with this build.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

Smart move on avoiding the CVT. My outlander sports CVT I think is about to go. Started acting up a few days ago. But hey, I have received 105k completely trouble free miles out of it, so I will happily get fixed what’s need as the car is in great shape.

Diggin your build so far!

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Thanks. I had the 2010 pat with cvt and it was always having issues, and my audi a4 cabrio with cvt is giving me fits too. Never again. It's going to be interesting. Buying our new second car very soon, a 2018 nissan micra Sr! Cannot wait for that.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Well, had the Jeep into the shop at work, she needs a little work. Shocks, suspension goodies and brakes. So I have seen some lower lifts available now and I'm going to pop on a 1.125 inch lift on it. 2 inch will make it look "not right". So all this will be going on asap.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

Well, had the Jeep into the shop at work, she needs a little work. Shocks, suspension goodies and brakes. So I have seen some lower lifts available now and I'm going to pop on a 1.125 inch lift on it. 2 inch will make it look "not right". So all this will be going on asap.

Are you doing a strut spacer lift?

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Yes. I was looking at the rough country one, but there is a more basic, lower height lift available off ebay. I am still un decided.

 

[Princeraptor47]

In looking forward to following your build. I just started my own patriot build. How do you plan o n tackling the skid plates? Everything I've read says the parts are wicked tough to come by .