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The best Jeep that Jeep doesn’t build
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North Carolina's Uwharrie National Forest is laced with off-road-vehicle trails, the most notorious of which, Daniel, is rated extremely difficult. Daniel's vehicle-mangling brutality is such that the park plans to fill in some of the more treacherous ledges, smoothing out the boulder-strewn ascent to render the terrain more accessible. Lucky for me, they haven't done that yet, because I'm here with the American Expedition Vehicles JK350. And it doesn't need any help.
AEV is best known for building six-figure dream trucks, turning Jeeps into Hemi-powered monsters such as the Brute Double Cab. But the company also builds more modest machines like the JK350, a thoroughly modified Jeep Wrangler Rubicon that doesn't tread on Aston Martin financial territory. The package starts at $14,897 and brings a 3.5-inch suspension lift, front and rear bumpers, a Warn winch, new wheels, and 35-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tires. There are also plenty of AEV badges so your friends know you didn't just bolt on a cheap lift kit from Slappy's Jack'R'Up.
Matt Feldermann, AEV's marketing coordinator, delivered the JK350 to North Carolina by driving it roughly 700 miles from the company's Detroit headquarters. Which brings me to the first revelation about the AEV-modified Rubicon: Despite its upgraded off-road gear, it's designed to mind its manners on pavement too. The suspension kit includes components that correct the steering geometry to lower the vehicle's roll center, minimizing the lateral head snap that can afflict people in tall vehicles. When Feldermann hands over the keys for the hour-long drive to the trail, he says, "Don't be afraid to throw it into some corners." This might be the first time anyone's ever said that about a Wrangler.
And in fact, the JK350 is admirably composed on back roads—stable and precise. The real action, though, comes when we reach the first ledge at the bottom of Daniel. It's a nearly vertical slab of rock, maybe 4 feet high and scarred with rubber. In the silt at the base, we see tire tracks from where somebody else simply turned around. But I'm going up and over. That's the plan, anyway.
On the first few tries I get the front tires up over the ledge but can't find enough traction to maintain momentum. Eventually I gain the confidence to stay on the throttle and the big Jeep claws its way over the obstacle. The rest of the ascent offers up occasional challenges for the JK350—and more or less constant ones for the stock Wrangler Rubicon we brought for comparison. Out here the stock Wrangler can tag along with the AEV, but let's just say that the driver will be doing a lot more wincing.
Yes, $60,000 is a lot for a Wrangler. But at that price, how many vehicles can comfortably handle a 1,400-mile round trip interspersed with expert-level rock crawling? Just one, the best Jeep that Jeep doesn't build.
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