AEV Highline Kit Installation Guide

This is my first post here as I drifted over from the AEV forum. I have an NOS set that I am installing now onto LJGator. I would be willing to put money down on a backup set of flares. You can try contacting Dave Harriton but his answer has always been the same.
I attached a photo of LJGator before I started to dismantle for repaint yesterday. Right now its just LJBlack.
Ward

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Welcome to the forum!

And yeah, I am not really too interested in contacting Dave as he doesn’t care about the TJ crowd anymore, and I’ve heard his typical responses before.

We will see what comes of this. Maybe I can make something happen. I for one think it would be cool to have a spare set of flares.
 
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Hey so same thing came over from the AEV forum. Genright does make a hood but I believe theirs is carbon fiber not steal. Which is why not a lot of people run it. AEV flares will not work on stock TJ fenders. Mounting holes are different. But I also don’t see someone paying the premium of A reproduction AEV flares to bolt on to their stock fenders. But like some people have pointed out. It’s one piece to a puzzle. Yes there will definitely be people interested but a lot of purist. Now with the flares comes the increase of value in the AEV fenders. Let’s say the fenders shoot up even 50 percent of their current cost because of ur flares they will only be harder to find. But also not everyone will be willing to spend 5 or 6k on fenders and flares. There’s always a one percent crowd
 
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Original AEV flares are almost non existent in some states. In my case I built my own by plastic welding 2 sets of Rubicon flares together. However, the 800 bucks I spent doesn’t hold a candle to what a original or reproduction may cost.

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Hasn't anyone made molds from original AEV flares so reproductions can be made in fiberglass? Making those molds would be a pretty straightforward fiberglass project and wouldn't harm the original flares used to make the molds.
 
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You would really think someone would have done them by now in fiberglass. Seems like a much cheaper and easier alternative to plastic. And something is better than nothing!
 
I'd love to have a full highline set, fenders and all. its about impossible to find. Always blew my mind that AEV just stopped making the TJ stuff.
 
I'd love to have a full highline set, fenders and all. its about impossible to find. Always blew my mind that AEV just stopped making the TJ stuff.
they didnt see a large enough market, and had to focus on coming platforms, but what blows my mind is why destroy the casts?? why on earth ??
 
Yes, my thought is that if you could buy a brand new set of the fender flares, people would probably pay $2000 for them given that they'd be brand new (I could be wrong, just a guess).

GenRight makes the hood, and then the only thing you'd need is the fenders. However, given that I've seen plenty of people do highline conversions with the factory fenders (and they look damn good too), I would think the factory fenders could be modified easily enough to fit the AEV flares.

At that point, the only irreplaceable part becomes the fender flares, once again.

I intend to look into this further. Maybe I need to reach out to Dave Harrington himself and see if he's open to me picking his brain at all.
agree 100% , the flares are the key here, the hood exists, and a good bodyman can make stock fenders to highlines, but the flares , not so easy , what I find amazingly stupid is why AEV would destroy the casts for the flares , even from the support standpoint! being able atsome piont to offer replacement flares for the people who help you build your company by buying your products and now cant finda fucking replacement flare, on a jeep !! to me thats a slap in the face of customers , AEV is dead to me !
 
agree 100% , the flares are the key here, the hood exists, and a good bodyman can make stock fenders to highlines, but the flares , not so easy , what I find amazingly stupid is why AEV would destroy the casts for the flares , even from the support standpoint! being able atsome piont to offer replacement flares for the people who help you build your company by buying your products and now cant finda fucking replacement flare, on a jeep !! to me thats a slap in the face of customers , AEV is dead to me !

I agree 100%. When I talked to AEV and they told me they "destroyed the molds" I rolled my eyes. Seriously, are they that stupid?

Like you said, AEV is dead to me. I'm not going to drive around a vehicle with parts on it that can't be at least somewhat easily replaced. Sure, you can find the flares every so often, but they go for absurd amounts.

At one point I was in love with AEV stuff and then I realized it wasn't as cool as I was building it up to be in my head. Nowadays they are just dead to me.
 
I agree 100%. When I talked to AEV and they told me they "destroyed the molds" I rolled my eyes. Seriously, are they that stupid?

Like you said, AEV is dead to me. I'm not going to drive around a vehicle with parts on it that can't be at least somewhat easily replaced. Sure, you can find the flares every so often, but they go for absurd amounts.

At one point I was in love with AEV stuff and then I realized it wasn't as cool as I was building it up to be in my head. Nowadays they are just dead to me.
I get it, but do you really think they could give 2 shits about a vehcile that’s been out of production since 2006?
 
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they didnt see a large enough market, and had to focus on coming platforms, but what blows my mind is why destroy the casts?? why on earth ??
I remember the story was that a sub-supplier that was making the plastic flares went under suddenly and AEV lost access to the molds. I don't think they ever intentionally destroyed them. Demand was always there but never quite enough demand to justify retooling them?