Within the first year of having my Rubicon, I knew I had to find a way to fit my 35 inch MTR tires from my previous jeep. It took 8+ inches of lift on my ’89 YJ to make it look right with the tires, and man did it look sweet. Plus the tires have much more ground clearance and grip, which is always the name of the game. The amount of problems I had while running a lift high enough to run that kind of rubber lead to a lot of headaches: drive line angles, Slip yoke eliminators, CV Drive shafts, and more than a few broken u-joints along the way.
I had a few choices for making the room for the tires. The obvious one being a lift. Then you begin to think about which brand to choose, how many inches, long arm, short arm, drive-line angles, transfer case drops, etc. More than i was ready to dive into AGAIN.
Then I came upon the Genright Fenders. Great appearance, but a bit more… extreme than i was looking for. They allow more room for tires, without having to start piling on the suspension woes. This led to what I finally settled on: American Expedition Vehicles‘ Highline Kit. The kit retained a stock look while adding its own creative touches, AND 3 inches of room over the tires. Sold.
On I drove to OK4wd, trailered home a new heat reduction hood, front fenders, and 4 new wide fender flares. Now logic would dictate that i should test fit all the parts, but being the impulsive person I am, I brought everything right to the paint shop. A day or 2 later I brought them home and on they went.
I could not ask for a more perfect fit than the AEV Kit provided. Every bolt hole matched up both to the body and under the hood. All components stayed in their factory positions and heights, with no stretching cables or hoses. Minor cutting was involved to the brackets under the battery, but aside from that, and 1 broken bolt while taking out the fenders, it all went on perfect. All rubber and trim parts were reused from the original hood and fenders. The only thing i had to buy was new RUBICON Stickers for the new hood. I think I’m one of the few people that should be allowed to buy those, after all my truck ACTUALLY IS a Rubicon (sorry it annoys me when people pretend to have things they done. Be Proud of the truck you have!)
With the Highline kit on, and a previous 1 inch body lift installed, the 35′s fit right in, though i think 33′s would have fit in slightly better. This was expected as I wanted to put in 2 inch coil spacers (which i did eventually) but all in all i was extremely happy with my kit. The truck looks much wider from the front because the fenders were moved up, as well as the wider flares. And i’m constantly grabbing people’s attention with the great functional heat reduction hood.
Yes, people do this kit at home using a sawz-all and drill and stock parts, but there is no way the fit is as great, and the look as perfect, as the AEV Highline Kit! I recommend this kit for those who don’t want to mess with their stock ride or center of to keep a low center of gravity.
Here is a video of the install taken with a Canon 40d set to take a picture every 30 seconds. As you can see 95 percent was done by myself, although i would not turn away an extra set of hands. This project can be done over a weekend with no problem with normal garage tools and basic garage knowledge and patience, aside from the painting.
