V8 Jeep Wrangler on 35's . . . running fast on a road corse (vid)

[lupinsea]

Well, I found this interesting. You guys might know AEV (American Expedition Vehicles) as they develop some pretty bad-ass Wranglers. Usually it's a very well designed suspension system and a Hemi V8 all put together in an OEM-level engineered and fabricated package.

Here is their JK Wrangler version:

• 35" mud terrain tires on a 3.5" lift
• Full armor with HD steel bumpers front / back
• High-lift jack mounted on the rear bumper
• V8 Hemi under the hood

Anyways, some guys at Overland Journal took it out to a road corse to see how well it does on the pavement as they already know how well it does on the trail.

Given that it's a high COG offroad machines it seems to do ok. I'm impressed.

[bren]

$78K

Takes some serious cojones to slide that thing around like that.

[lupinsea]

Yeah, no kidding.

IIRC, I think the stock JK 4-door weighs somewhere north of 5,000 lb.

Then AEV adds 35" tires which are ~67 lb. ea + ~25-30 lb per wheel or ~95 lb. of unsprung weight per corner.

Then they add more weight with all the HD steel bumpers, swing out tire carrier, armor, etc.

Then add the V8 engine.

And the whole thing is rolling around on solid axles front and rear that probably represent about 250 lb. ea of unsprung weight.

Anyways, it impressed me. AEV is well known for a very high level of R&D, engineering, and quality. It might be silly but this vid is an indication of that. And you get what you pay for. In this case it's probably about as close to a factory turn-key product as you're going to get.


They have also done this, which I think they are gearing up for production, soon-ish:

[kognito]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

Is that the Brute??

Add a snorkle, rack with flood lights on the roof and I'll buy one!

[John V]

Um. No thanks. I imagine you'd have to be very careful to avoid fast left/right transitions because it would certainly roll over.

[JST]

In that regard, its probably a good thing that the tires have limited grip. Have to wonder how long the brakes lasted...

In a similar vein, I've seen teasers of a vid of Tanner Foust on the 'ring in a Raptor. Haven't seen the full video yet.

[bren]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

AEV is well known for a very high level of R&D, engineering, and quality.

I remember seeing AEV at a few Camp Jeeps sometime back in the late 90's when they were just starting out selling wheels and then later showing off v8 conversions on the new TJ.

[lupinsea]

Originally Posted by kognito

Is that the Brute??

Add a snorkle, rack with flood lights on the roof and I'll buy one!

Well, if you're serious you might be in luck.


AEV Brute Double Cab info.

Originally Posted by AEV website

March 16th, 2012

It’s the middle of March, time for a quick Brute Double Cab update, so we asked AEV’s President and Lead Designer Dave Harriton about the project recently. Here’s what he said:

“The Brute Double Cab we showed at SEMA ‘11 was built from a combination of production and prototype parts, and while it came together great for the show, it was far from a production model. Fast forward a few months, and the first parts of the final sheetmetal for the cab have just hit my desk for review, and I’m happy to report that they look great. We recently started building Brute #2 in Missoula, cutting our beloved Savegre in two. This build will be completely production-intent, and will be used to finalize all of the production components. From there the action shifts to our Wixom, MI facility where work will begin shortly on Brute #3. This build will be used to develop the vehicle build process that will be used for production volumes.

The most significant development work remaining revolves around fine-tuning the chassis and the suspension. Chassis development is being finalized right now, and once that is dialed in we can turn our attention to the suspension. Because of the changes in wheelbase and weight, our standard four door rear JK spring doesn’t deliver the level of ride and handling that we want on the Brute Double Cab, so we are developing a new rear spring specifically for the Brute. This will enable us to tweak the ride, frequency and load capacity specifically for the Brute Double Cab.”

Based on our current development timeline combined with production lead times on some of the critical components, we are shifting our projection for production launch from mid year to the fourth quarter. The response to the Brute Double Cab has been fantastic, and we already have a long and growing waiting list. The initial launch will be opened up first to current owners of AEV vehicles as well as to AEV’s network of certified Jeep dealers, and then to the general public after that. To get your name on the waiting list, please contact Jeff Clark at 248-926-0256 x217. We expect to release pricing on the Brute Double Cab this summer.

Also, if you're looking for some kind of camper set up, there are a number of companies that outfit a "regular" 4-door Wrangler with a camper setup. They aren't exactly "pretty" but they are out there and available. Here is just one of them.

[rumatt]

I like 4:20 in that video.

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by John V

Um. No thanks. I imagine you'd have to be very careful to avoid fast left/right transitions because it would certainly roll over.

Reminds me of the Evo school I did in DC, where after it was done two of the instructors (I think Strano and Junior?) competed on the course in their big-ass pickup truck and SUV.

We were all waiting for them to make a mistake and roll over. We left disappointed.