4wdave

I have a 5.7 Hemi installed in 01/2012 with one of the AEV kits. I have had good response from AEV when I called them over issues although they have not had to replace anything as in the case of the owner above. They did provide me information when requested. The hoses from the radiator had to be double clamped to keep them from leaking since the nozzle necks were a little to small for hoses. The installer said this had been an issue in the past.
I did have to rerun the transmission lines with hard tubing but I put that on the installer. They ran hose from cooler to within eight inches on the transmission and the hose ran under the oil filter so that it was not accessible for changing.
My catalytic converter just went out on the passenger side and after doing research it was a 2550R Catco although the exhaust was done by Flowmaster. The whole exhaust system fell apart due to the expanded joints were made to large and the clamps would not hold them tight enough. This is not exactly AEV since Flow master supplied the exhaust including the cat. Would I have expected the converter to last longer, Yes. I have new ones ordered and I am going to install then with flanges so that they can be easily be removed for cleaning.
All in all the install has not been easy do to issues with supplied parts but once I get past the converter issue I hope I am home free. I can certainly understand the ops frustration. I have been their myself. I wish him luck and patience in working through the issues.

rpost215

I met their reps at SEMA and thought they had quite the 'our shit doesn't stink' attitude then. I wanted to buy their rear dif slider and when I talked to the guy in the booth he was not informative or helpful at all. When we went to order one from them, we were referred to a dealership that was their only distributor and was price gouging their parts. When we asked about becoming a distributor ourselves we were told no as they already had a distributor in out town. The communication with them from start to finish was so disappointing that I decided to never deal with them again.

etl330

There's a reason a lot of people don't like them and as much as they insist that it's jealousy, I'm sure it's not after the service I saw.


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CajunTiger

Hearing all this very much made my mind up not to buy anything AEV! Thanks for ALL the good info guys!

Sent from the swamp!

Mark Doiron

I've helped install a couple AEV lifts and have an AEV snorkel. My only complaint isn't about one of their products, but rather their decision to offer Bilstein shocks that weren't fully engineered for the JK install. Having to trim metal to fit the passenger front shock is asinine and reflects a lack of proper maintainability design (so hate me for being an engineer who looks at such things). But this same lack of proper design is ignored by plenty of lift manufacturers who choose these same shocks.

As for support, never had any issues.

As for the hemi, I know nothing. But I wouldn't let the stories I read here deter me from buying AEV because my own experiences have been positive. I've installed dozens of lifts of all brands, and some of the "popular" ones on this forum are ones I'd avoid due to poor design and fabrication. But I refuse to come here and bad-mouth a brand that others have had good experiences with.

AmericanICON

But I wouldn't let the stories I read here deter me from buying AEV because my own experiences have been positive. I've installed dozens of lifts of all brands, and some of the "popular" ones on this forum are ones I'd avoid due to poor design and fabrication. But I refuse to come here and bad-mouth a brand that others have had good experiences with

^^ This.

I own about 5 AEV products and they have all satisfied my needs.
To not buy any AEV products because of one individuals issues with one item seems fairy closed minded to me.
I'm sure if you spend any amount of time researching you find every manufacturer being bad mouthed somewhere.

Littlejon

This is my experience as well. I have severla AEV products, and have not had one issue with them, and their support/service has been excelent every time I have needed it. Any issues I have had are because I have not followed the instructions when rushing, so not an AEV issue.

As far as trimming for a shock, I have installed several AEV lifts, and have yet to do any trimming of metal for the shock to fit. If I was looking for a discontinued part I wouldn't turn to the manufacturer to find it. If you want a YJ do you call or e-mail Jeep, or turn to other sources?

etl330

but according to AEV Bilstein 'custom tuned' the shocks just for AEV lifts...seems silly to have them 'custom tuned' but not otherwise adapt the product...maybe they're 'custom tuned' just like AEV wheels were 'hub centric' until someone pointed out to them that they in fact were not. Funny how when they were touting the wheels as hub centric AEV said this was such an important feature and then suddenly being hub centric made no difference once their false claims were revealed.

4wdave

Just an update on the catalytic converters that are being supplied with the Flow Master exhaust in the AEV kit. They exhaust supplied in the kit had Catco 2550R catalytic converters welded into it apparently by Flow Master. Mine had already gone bad within 1.5 years and I ordered new ones from Summit Racing. Upon inspection of the new converters it was found that one of the converters had approximately thirty percent blockage and both had eight or more of the holes in the ceramic plugged with buckshot from welding. Needless to say there is a QA problem at the manufacture of the converter. The holes in the ceramic should be a nice clean square not half way plugged circles as in the photo. So if you buy new cats make sure you inspect them.