Sometime around 2004, I was in Moab for the Easter Jeep Safari and saw a Wrangler TJ pickup truck. My friends and I immediately cornered the owner and started asking questions about how he built it. He said, “I ordered a Brute kit from American Expedition Vehicles.” We were in awe. You could order all the parts you needed from AEV and build yourself a badass Jeep pickup.
Fast forward to 2018, and Jeep announced the Gladiator, which was probably inspired by the AEV Brute’s popularity. And while AEV has no reason to build the Brute anymore, that doesn’t mean they’re out of the pickup game.
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AEV is now offering two build packages for the Gladiator, the JT350 and the JT370. Each package comes with a veritable cornucopia of AEV’s bolt-on aftermarket parts for the Gladiator. Each kit has a new front bumper, skid plates, and alloy wheels. The JT350 comes with a 2-inch lift and 35-inch BFG All-Terrain or Mud-Terrain tires, while the JT370 has a 2.5-inch lift, 37-inch tires as well as a new 4.56 gears for your differentials. Check out the full parts list for each at AEV’s website.
Not including the vehicle, the JT350 kit starts at $12,475 and the JT370 at $15,024. Certainly not chump change, but if you think your Gladiator needs to be a little more brutish, this could be exactly what you’re looking for.
