AEV Brute: The Ultimate Overlander?

[WrenchMonkey]

The payload of the Brute works just fine for me...

Except that, legally, it doesn't have any payload.
.
We weren't questioning the capability, but the legality. I guess "if monster payload is important, pick a different vehicle. If cost is, pick a different vehicle," and if being street legal and having your insurance actually cover you when you need it are important to you, you should also pick a different vehicle.

 

[ADVW/Liam]

OK... I'm gonna just say it... would it not be cheaper to SAS a Tacoma? Buy a Craigslist truck for about $15,000 and swap in a Dana 60 (Jock Rock or something another from 4 wheel parts for $7600) re-gear the rear end (or swap it for something else) and save tons of money!

Unless you have $80,000 sitting around doing nothing.

Let the bashing begin!!!!!

 

[Scott Brady]

If so, perhaps they'll listen and discontinue using IPF lamps, at least not for the headlamps.

I just checked our Brute. It has factory headlamps. Only the auxiliary lights are IPF.

Not sure where the assumption started that Brutes have IPF headlamps. Ours does not have them and I do not see any others in our photos that do either. It is also not listed as a part of the conversion. Maybe someone bought a Brute and swapped the lights, but it is clearly not a (current) matter of course.

 

[GFA]

I just checked our Brute. It has factory headlamps. Only the auxiliary lights are IPF.

Not sure where the assumption started that Brutes have IPF headlamps. Ours does not have them and I do not see any others in our photos that do either. It is also not listed as a part of the conversion. Maybe someone bought a Brute and swapped the lights, but it is clearly not a (current) matter of course.

Looks like it's an option but not part of the standard package

 

[kojackJKU]

that assumption came from the So called experts/Stern lemmings. Watch out scott, they are coming for you now. [removed personal insult]

 

[GFA]

Nobody's coming for him, just pointing out that it is indeed an option from AEV. The one hilldweller saw was probably a dealer ordered option for an inventoried vehicle.

There seems to be no assumptions about their legality though, just facts.

 

[Scott Brady]

Yeah, it looks like the IPFs are an option. Ours does not have them. However, I do take great pleasure in the irony of disputing which headlights are optional on the Brute. . .

 

[Scott Brady]

OK... I'm gonna just say it... would it not be cheaper to SAS a Tacoma?

Yes, it would be cheaper.

 

[AlaricD]

Maybe they should just hire Daniel himself to make every decision for them.

No, just decisions he's qualified to make, such as what lighting to use-- and certainly what lighting to NOT use.

Try contributing something meaningful, not letting us know how much you dislike Daniel Stern. 'Course, that's one of the few factual things you've said about lighting-- is that you dislike Daniel Stern.

 

[AlaricD]

that assumption came from the So called experts/Stern lemmings. Watch out scott, they are coming for you now. [removed personal insult]

Actually, it was you making assumptions:

Looks like it's an option but not part of the standard package

(Image removed)

Really, this is tiresome. Not only are you bashing Daniel Stern, and any other person who might dare assert a fact, but you're also missing actual, real, genuine facts yourself.

We get it. You throw tantrums whenever you hear the name. Maybe he wouldn't sell you an HID kit (since he hasn't any to sell) and explained to you why he wouldn't. Maybe you run a business selling junk lighting, and consistently lose business when people learn the truth. Maybe you just need to take a time out while the grownups are talking.

 

[toxicity_27]

I love how this has boiled down to arguing about headlights and what to do to a vehicle with the money instead of buying a Brute.

 

[mikeJKUR]

I love how this has boiled down to arguing about headlights and what to do to a vehicle with the money instead of buying a Brute.

Haha. Haven't you heard? Headlights is a major mod for Jeep. Guys actually list them in their signature.

Really what I love is one guy trying to convince everybody else that is this vehicle is worth 80k.

 

[aluke0510]

I got a quote from COTY since they are local to me. It ain't cheap, but I'd love to find a clean LJ and drop one in.

Yeah, you don't do it for economical reasons. In my opinion it is all about taking 150lbs off the engine bay and cutting your fuel payload by 1/3rd to 1/2 to go the same distance. By the time you pay back the install with reduced fuel consumption it is ready for a rebuild. You do better if you take the install money and earn 2% interest on it. But regardless there are few ways to drop that kind of weight off a vehicle and maintain the performance. Only other option to drop close to that kind of weight is to loose the hard top and doors dropping 150-200lbs; or switch to soft doors and save 75lbs.

But their swap is a very high quality engineered product...

 

[Jurfie]

You do better if you take the install money and earn 2% interest on it.

But what's the fun in that?

The hardtop is pretty dang heavy, and not easy on the hands to lift (thanks to the sharp edges on the bottom), but I couldn't give it up in the wet/cold/snowy months. In fact, I just put mine on this weekend. Now, the back seat? That was gone the day I drove my JKR into my driveway...that's gotta be 60lbs or so.

A diesel Jeep would be the cat's meow...I'm really hoping they come out with one (in NA) in the 2016 model. By then, I'll be ready to buy a second Jeep. But in the meantime, I still have my eyes open for a clean LJ. A swap would be more likely if the factory Wrangler remains the unicorn promises it has been for years...

 

[Scott Brady]

Really what I love is one guy trying to convince everybody else that is this vehicle is worth 80k.

No convincing necessary, in fact, I avoid the subject of "cost" nearly entirely. That you view the vehicle as overpriced has no impact on its real value, because you are already not a customer. In reality, many people buy Brutes and HEMI conversions, and Aston Martins, and Rolex. Something is worth what a customer will pay for it, and in the realm of luxury items or expensive, low volume awesome Jeeps, convincing of its "worth" is rarely, if ever required.

Remedial economics and consumer behavior here. . .

Purchasing a Brute is not an economic (i.e. worth) decision, but a psychological one.

Now if you said

Really what I love is one guy trying to convince everybody else that is this vehicle is cool.

then I would have been impressed