I was looking at getting the AEV rear corner guards and was hoping to get some feedback from those who already have them. My main concern is debris getting stuck between the guard and the body, how they hold up over time (i.e. rusting, hardware, rusting in the mounting points, noise, etc.) difficulty of the install, or any other thoughts or opinions?

Cheers!

 

I have them and love them.

They do not rust and that includes the hardware. When you install them make sure you have some paint to paint the edges of the holes you have to drill.

They don't get a lot of debris stuck underneath for two reasons. 1) the mount very flush, 2) they are high up and out of a lot of the mud and dirt area.

The install is easy, but you have to be exact. You are drilling some pretty scary sized holes in the body. I bought a spring punch from Harbor Freight that worked great for marking the drill holes. Just be careful not to overtighten the nutserts. I made a mistake and thought I could use my 1/2 inch wrench. I had too much torque and could not feel the nutsert set. So I screwed one up. I had to drill it out and get a new nutsert. You don't want to do that. Use a 3/8 inch wrench and when you feel a little bit of tension stop, the nutsert is set.

The AEV corners are made really nice and fit the contours of the jeep exactly. If you get these be sure what you are planning to do with the rear of the jeep. Specifically I am now getting an Or-Fab tire carrier so I have to trim the hinge covering part of the corners. That sucks, but after talking to people and seeing others that have done it I am committed to it now.

 

I have them on my 4 door as well. Luv em but damn, drilling those holes will make u rethink "how drilling holes in jeep outer skin is protecting it?"

Once they are installed however they look great and they dont scratch up when smacked with tree branches and small hummers!

 

I should add that I use mine with my Gobi roof rack. They are way stronger than the body of the jeep and the metal pads Gobi supplied. Before the corners were put on I had a tightening issue with the rack when I was offroad and dented the body a bit (not really bad, but it bothered me). Once the AEV corners were on I had no issued no matter how loose or tight I made the Gobi rack.

I don't run the Gobi rack all year round so when it is off the points where the rack adjustments contact the AEV corners were rubbed smooth of their textured finish, but they are still black from the powder coating. Therefore I am happy and very impressed with AEV's powder coating.

Here are some pictures of what I am talking about:

 

I too, have these installed. Like the others, I was hesitant to turn the quarter into Swiss cheese with 8 holes per side, but the results look stunning in my opinion and like others say, they delicate hind area is now protected from branch backlash and such.

One thing I am leery of is if that rear area ever sustains a large impact, it might shift the corner guard and rip out the rivnuts/nutserts. Then I am royally "screwed."

Also, I had a hard time drilling adequate openings for the two rivnuts on the passenger's side between the hinges. The drill bottomed out on a hard steel member about 1/4 inch in. I need to contact AEV and find out if this is a structural member or provides torsion or something for the gate as I don't want to drill through if that's the case.

 

Thanks for all the input! very much appreciated! I just placed the order and now I just have to get the courage to do the drilling. Did anybody else have problems drilling the passenger side between the hinges? I just got a Gobi rack also and was really surprised to see those rub marks kinda worried now but hopefully the the new corners will protect it a bit better.

Cheers!

 

AEV corners really help the gobi, so dont worry.


Check out this one (dents pre corner install)

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...bi+aev+corners