[diver110]

I seem to be the only one posting. Attribute it to an overabundance of curiosity coupled with what I have already learned from members.

It seems to me if you want to go off road, you want a skid plate, no? That would mean an FDII, but they seem hard to come by used. Any reason (other than cost) and FDI cannot be converted to a FDII? Thanks. I really appreciate all of the help.

[Gramps]

Transaxle w/CVT, axle shafts, PCM, Differential solenoid, VIN. I made a list and never published it. I quit when I had gotten to about 20 items.

[Gramps]

For a quick over view, click on my "Profile" under my avatar and scroll down to my crawled threads where you can find links to ratios, tires, skid plates etc. Also look in the stickies and find the "Quick Links" for some helpful information. By all means keep posting any questions that you may have that's why we're here!

[Tony1911]

Originally Posted by diver110

It seems to me if you want to go off road, you want a skid plate, no?

The skid plates (The FDII comes with three) you can bolt onto an FDI vehicle. It's the rest of the FDII stuff that makes the off-road package so important - especially, in my opinion, the Brake Lock Differentials. All Patriots have poor articulation. In a cross-axle hangup (one wheel per axle has no traction), the FDI acts like any vehicle with open differentials - it is stuck. The combination of poor articulation and open differentials is not a good thing when you're driving on uneven terrain. With the BLDs, the FDII version will keep going where an FDI stops to spin its wheels. And thus far, nobody has figured out a way to retrofit FDI Patriots with BLD's. (It appears to be just a software problem, but without access to the source code it's a non-trivial software problem.)

[diver110]

So, recalling my thread about what is better, and Escape or a Patriot, if you want to go off-road, the Patriot wins hands down, no? As I understand it, the Escape does not come an the off-raod package.

[Gramps]

Not knowing poop about the Escape I had to go do some research. The Mercury Mariner, Escape and Mazda Tribute are siblings. With that being said my neighbor had a Mariner, that she hated, traded it in on a Compass (4X4) and loves it. A lady at work has a 2WD Tribute, she likes it but is not a car person at all, it's just gets her from point A to point B.

The Ford has rear drum brakes, no skid plates or any off road package pieces. It does have a decent 18:1 ration in 1st gear.

The Patriot has 4 wheel disc brakes, Off road pieces and some after market parts available. It looks more better to me.

There are several forums like JF on the Escape. You can Google them and see what problems they have had on the years that you may be interested in. We can tell you about the Patriot but our knowledge may be limited on the Escape. No, I don't hate Ford (my wife does) my Model A was one of the most fun cars that I ever owned!