Expedition Ready

AEV Has Applied Its Many Talents To The JL Wrangler.

- Matt Raudonikis

FOR MORE than 20 years American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) has been the specialist company when it comes to suppling OE and better quality accessories and complete converted vehicles from the Jeep garage. Starting with the TJ Wrangler and booming through the JK era, AEV provided parts, V8 engine conversions, double cab pick-up conversions and complete turnkey vehicles for anyone wanting top-notch products for their Jeep.

With FCA’s own MOPAR brand branching out to market many of these parts, and Jeep developing its own pick-up, AEV has more recently ventured into the RAM trucks showroom and now beyond the FCA brand altogether with the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison which it co-developed with GM.

However, the Wrangler was always AEV’s bread-and-butter model and, with the new JL Wrangler available from Jeep, it was only a matter of time before the Michigan-based company revealed its product. That time came at the 2018 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where AEV displayed both long and short wheelbase JL Rubicons featuring its new gear. And, as we’ve done in the past, we took the Jeeps wheeling the day after the show finished.

The long wheelbase four-door is a Rubicon model which has been custom-painted in a colour they call Sand Glow. It’s not a Jeep colour, so don’t go asking your Jeep dealer for it. It features the AEV DualSport RT suspension which gives a 2.5-inch lift in ride height, new AEV front and rear bumpers, 17 x 8.5-inch AEV Savegre wheels wrapped in 37-inch BFG KM3s, and the newly designed air-intake snorkel.