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DizzyIzzy

DizzyIzzy

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What are your impressions (particularly offroad) now that you've had her for a month? Do you have any intentions of adding more weight in the future? I'm interested to hear impressions of the AEV suspension on vehicles that travel offroad fairly loaded down.

And they can take as long as they need to make it right; the only rear bumper going on my Jeep will be that one. I love it, and it also gives me a warm fuzzy to buy "local" even though they moved their manufacturing out of state years ago.
So far, I’ve been offroad once on a easy-medium difficulty trail and the only things I had with me was recovery kit and a Viair compressor. Have not loaded it down yet. To answer your question, the suspension felt stiff (bouncy) compared to stock, even with the air down, I think because of it being geared towards overlanding and that also made it feel very sure footed and always felt planted. There was plenty of travel and flex, and I don’t have anything else to compare it with, so for me it was perfectly fine. The only thing is that I couldn’t see the right front fender because of the snorkel and that made it hard sometimes to place where my right front tire was. I’ll get used to it over time on the trail.

Right now, I don’t have much to load it down with. Easing into overlanding. Just bought a pop up 6 person tent and 2 double sized self inflating pads. Installed a rear deck lid from JFTops with tie down anchors on it. Installed an outback tailgate table and bought a skottle for cooking. Going camping on the beach in 2 weeks. So altogether, with tent, camping and recovery gear, water, chairs and miscellaneous stuff, my guess would be about 60 to 70lbs. And three of us (family).

For future plans, I would like to put a Gobi rack with a rooftop tent and a Dometic fridge in the back with a Goal Zero battery and solar panel. But that’s farther in the future. As I said, I’m easing into the overlanding side of it.
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BOLACKEY

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Still no release that I have heard of yet. Full width is still not ready yet either from what I gather.
I read a reply from an AEV rep on their FB page, stating they will be available in September. "They" was not defined (full front, stubby front, rear), but at least it's something.
 

Jgmundy

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Can you provide your thoughts on the build for daily/road driving? I am on the waitlist for a build with AEV when the full width bumper comes out and I am torn between the 35” vs. 37” tire option. I current run 35” KO2s and it is great on the road. The JL see’s dirt roads and trails only a few times a year so not sure the 37” functionality and look is worth it. Would love your thoughts now that you’ve had yours for a while. Thanks!
 
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DizzyIzzy

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Can you provide your thoughts on the build for daily/road driving? I am on the waitlist for a build with AEV when the full width bumper comes out and I am torn between the 35” vs. 37” tire option. I current run 35” KO2s and it is great on the road. The JL see’s dirt roads and trails only a few times a year so not sure the 37” functionality and look is worth it. Would love your thoughts now that you’ve had yours for a while. Thanks!
Which package are you leaning towards? JL350 or JL370? 35" tires are only available in JL350. If you go with 35s, then it will be a spacer lift kit using the factory springs and shocks. With the JL370 you will get the 2.5" lift kit. I like the 2.5" lift kit better than the factory ride, which is way too soft (spongy) in my opinion. With the lift kit, on road feel is firm and responsive. Even the steering feels better than factory (could be a placebo effect, don't know, can't quantify it). The lift kit is built for heavy loads, and the Jeep doesn't roll much around corners. I like firmer, sporty feeling suspensions.

There's a caveat, my comparison to stock JL actually comes from renting a Sahara JL for a week on vacation before buying mine. I never drove my Rubicon stock because it went straight to AEV from the factory. So, others may be able to tell you if the stock Rubicon feels different than the Sahara. Also, living in the city and having a BMW 335 as a go to car, I don't get to drive the JL that much, so I can't give you a daily driving impression.

I just did a round trip of 500+ miles to camp on the beach. I have 37s and 4.56 gearing and got 19.5 mpg average. Just put the adaptive cruise control to 70 and relax. I had a little over 250 lbs in cargo on top of the 3 person family for the trip. There was no noticeable sag in the back or any change in the driving behavior whatsoever. Potholes, cornering, everything felt the same as unloaded.

It was fun driving on the sand even though the speed limit was 25 mph. I hooned around a little bit whenever I could, and away from the rangers. It's a blast to drive with traction controls off on 4H and 37s, and I don't feel like I lost much torque with the bigger tires. Actually the JL looks better with 37s than 35s. There is just too much gap otherwise between the high fender flare and tire. The KO2 tires are quiet and very comfortable but runs small in my opinion. If you go with the 35s, I feel it would look too small. The 37s looks just right for the JL.

With the 37s you feel like you can get over anything. There are not many offroad parks on the east coast, so the one I went to when I first got it was an easy to medium NORA track in Ellenville, NY and it felt easy to go over the obstacles. No problem.

Hope this helps in your decision making.
 
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Jgmundy

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Which package are you leaning towards? JL350 or JL370? 35" tires are only available in JL350. If you go with 35s, then it will be a spacer lift kit using the factory springs and shocks. With the JL370 you will get the 2.5" lift kit. I like the 2.5" lift kit better than the factory ride, which is way too soft (spongy) in my opinion. With the lift kit, on road feel is firm and responsive. Even the steering feels better than factory (could be a placebo effect, don't know, can't quantify it). The lift kit is built for heavy loads, and the Jeep doesn't roll much around corners. I like firmer, sporty feeling suspensions.

There's a caveat, my comparison to stock JL actually comes from renting a Sahara JL for a week on vacation before buying mine. I never drove my Rubicon stock because it went straight to AEV from the factory. So, others may be able to tell you if the stock Rubicon feels different than the Sahara. Also, living in the city and having a BMW 335 as a go to car, I don't get to drive the JL that much, so I can't give you a daily driving impression.

I just did a round trip of 500+ miles to camp on the beach. I have 37s and 4.56 gearing and got 19.5 mpg average. Just put the adaptive cruise control to 70 and relax. I had a little over 250 lbs in cargo on top of the 3 person family for the trip. There was no noticeable sag in the back or any change in the driving behavior whatsoever. Potholes, cornering, everything felt the same as unloaded.

It was fun driving on the sand even though the speed limit was 25 mph. I hooned around a little bit whenever I could, and away from the rangers. It's a blast to drive with traction controls off on 4H and 37s, and I don't feel like I lost much torque with the bigger tires. Actually the JL looks better with 37s than 35s. There is just too much gap otherwise between the high fender flare and tire. The KO2 tires are quiet and very comfortable but runs small in my opinion. If you go with the 35s, I feel it would look too small. The 37s looks just right for the JL.

With the 37s you feel like you can get over anything. There are not many offroad parks on the east coast, so the one I went to when I first got it was an easy to medium NORA track in Ellenville, NY and it felt easy to go over the obstacles. No problem.

Hope this helps in your decision making.
Thank you so much for the detailed response! I’m definitely leaning towards 37”
 

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From all my research, before buying this Jeep, I found that AEV thinks things through and engineers things nicely. For their previous hemi conversions they didn’t just swap the engine and call it a day, they switched the fan etc. making sure cooling and everything works well. It’s a shame everyone has been waiting for the bumpers for so long. I hope they come through and deliver a product that everyone will love.

One of the things I did notice on mine that is different from the show bumpers I saw at the expo is that there are more welded parts on it, for instance, the tow hooks in the front and rear bumper and the skid plates in the rear. The expo bumpers looked more like bolt on, pretty, clean, 3D printed parts.

This is just my guess and the feeling I get from talking to them, is that, with all these curves and one piece stamping for the new bumpers, it seems to be a more difficult process to manufacture than their previous one.
Any chance you could take some detailed photos of the front and rear bumpers? I am really curious how the rear attaches to the tailgate especially. I am patiently waiting for AEV to make these available for purchase. The money is burning a hole in my pocket waiting!
 

MattT69

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Welcome to the HellaYella Jeep Club 🤜🤛

Very nice setup and color... love the OWL tires. Also good to see how the black grill looks with the yellow colored fenders. I am very interested in adding that option.

Does AEV build or offer this package for the 2-Door JLRs? CHEERS 🤙

Also you mentioned it feels sporty like fast. Did you get the 2L Turbo? I noticed that Sporty felling when I switched from the Penastar v6 to the Hurricane I4. My 2 door is like a rocket on 37s. I assume the 4 door feels just as sporty. I also getting 19.5mpgs avg even with 2.5" lift & 37" tires, which I dont think is feasible for the laggy NA v6 engine.
 
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CWRUYOTE

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Welcome to the HellaYella Jeep Club 🤜🤛

Very nice setup and color... love the OWL tires. Also good to see how the black grill looks with the yellow colored fenders. I am very interested in adding that option.

Does AEV build or offer this package for the 2-Door JLRs? CHEERS 🤙

Also you mentioned it feels sporty like fast. Did you get the 2L Turbo? I noticed that Sporty felling when I switched from the Penastar v6 to the Hurricane I4. My 2 door is like a rocket on 37s. I assume the 4 door feels just as sporty. I also getting 19.5mpgs avg even with 2.5" lift & 37" tires, which I dont think is feasible for the laggy NA v6 engine.
You have the option of doing a factory order and having Jeep drop-ship your new rig to them in Wixom, MI for the conversion--you'd need to order through an AEV dealer--or bring your Jeep to them. AEV can do conversions on the 2-door or 4-door platform.

Hope this helps!
 
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DizzyIzzy

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Welcome to the HellaYella Jeep Club 🤜🤛

Very nice setup and color... love the OWL tires. Also good to see how the black grill looks with the yellow colored fenders. I am very interested in adding that option.

Does AEV build or offer this package for the 2-Door JLRs? CHEERS 🤙

Also you mentioned it feels sporty like fast. Did you get the 2L Turbo? I noticed that Sporty felling when I switched from the Penastar v6 to the Hurricane I4. My 2 door is like a rocket on 37s. I assume the 4 door feels just as sporty. I also getting 19.5mpgs avg even with 2.5" lift & 37" tires, which I dont think is feasible for the laggy NA v6 engine.
Thanks Matt. AEV should be able to build you a 2 door in that setup, no issues. If you've already bought one, you can try to do the build yourself or go to an offroad aftermarket shop near you and they can help build it for you if you supply them with parts. The sporty feeling is the suspension, and not the speed. I have the pentastar V6. It's still a behemoth with 37 inch tires, but it's not a slug either.

Man.. this thread is still getting some love after a year.
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