Grander Commanders

AEV Takes Jeeps to a Higher Level

American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) grabbed the Jeep world by the throat in the late '90s with its stretched-wheelbase Wrangler 112 concept vehicle. DaimlerChrysler took note of this and other AEV innovations such as integrated rocker-panel protection, subsequently making these features available off the assembly line. AEV has also won three DaimlerChrysler Design Excellence Awards for its custom Jeep vehicles.

In late 2004, AEV contacted Superlift for design assistance with its Mojave Grand Cherokee project. "We originally approached Superlift for a few reasons," says AEV founder Dave Harriton. "We knew the WK/XK platform would be a great seller if it were done right, so it made sense to invest in a high-quality suspension. Superlift was chosen because [they are] one of the few suspension companies to have all [their] own manufacturing in house. That makes prototype and development much easier and less expensive. Also, I had previously worked with Superlift's head engineer, Kevin Dill (who was responsible for the Atlas transfer case). Kevin really did a great job with the suspension, and we tested and tweaked it for over a year. Customers who purchase this lift are not going to tolerate poor handling, poor driveabilty, or any of the other typical shortcomings that most suspension companies can get away with on vehicles like Wranglers and pickups."

The Electronic Stability Program presented the biggest engineering challenge. "It really is an incredible system in terms of safety, but when you modify a vehicle with a lift kit, the ESP tends to go nuts," Dave Harriton says. "So the primary delay in getting the kit to market has been developing the necessary hardware and software to compensate for the lift."

AEV offers the lift installed on its new "trail-ready" Grand Cherokee and Commander conversions.