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This is a step by step installation & Product review of AEV Rocker Guards on a 1998 TJ Sport.

-Works with body lifts
-Doubles as an entry step
-Designed by AEV, built by ARB in Australia
-Matches ARB bumpers exactly
-Internal gusset offers increased strength
-Durable powdercoat finish
-1 year warranty

Tools Required

Electric drill

Pop rivet gun

Floor Jack or a lending hand.

1" Hole saw

Drill bits: 9/32 & 3/16

1/4 Transfer punch & Hammer

After opening the box that they were shipped in, and getting a good inspection of them I quickly got the impression that these were a well built product. Removal of the door will make going back and forth from the inside and outside much easier. Next to be removed is the old side step bar (if they still exist) and any other moldings between the front and rear fenders. The small moldings located just behind the front fender on the tub were actually a bit tricky as they were held on with the round plug style retainer (Fig 1.0) that basically get pressed into the tub from factory, only they start to turn after you try to unbolt them and you need to work at it to get them off. You will need to remove / loosen the first two lower bolts that hold on the front fender flare as this will make the installation much easier. Once all the moldings are removed it was time to fit the AEV Rock rails into place. Using a floor jack to hold the Rails tight to the body and making sure that they are first aligned between the front and rear fenders so they have equal space on each end. We then used the transfer hole punch (Fig 1.3) to mark the center of the hole that needs to be drilled in the tub.

Once marked we removed the rails and drilled the 6 horizontal holes using a pilot drill bit first following with a 9/32" bit to finish it off. Once the holes were drilled and the surface area where the rails would rest against the tub was wiped clean, we fitted them back in place lining up with the holes we just drilled. There is a small bracket that supports the rails from the inside of the tub but on the drivers side you need to take the Vin# Plate off the tub using a basic Phillips screw driver and turn it upside down so you don't have to drill through the Plate. There are 6 bolts that need to go through the rail but start with the ones in the middle first as you will need to do a bit more for the two holes closet to the fender flares as we will get to soon. Once the 3 bolts on the inner bracket are tightened we drilled the 4 holes out on the inner stabilizer bracket (Fig 1.4)

Now that the inner bracket is secured it is time to fasten the two remaining bolts through the rock rail using special clips supplied with the kit. They are design to be able to use them two different ways for both applications. In the rear you will will have to lift the inside of the fender flare and poke a hole through the factory Tape that is located in the front and rear of the TJ body ( Fig 1.5) Once you have fitted the nut retaining bracket (Fig 1.6) behind the rear flare you will need to feed the bolt through the rail and thread it into the nut retaining bracket. Once you have tightened the bracket you just basically push the remaining bracket into the hole (covering it up with the rear flare). Next the front template needs to be cut from the instruction manual (Fig 1.7) so that you can locate on the inside of the tub to give you the dead center where to drill the 1" hole. Once we had located the template using some tape (Refer to Fig 1.7 for alignment) I used a Transfer hole punch to mark the center to drill the hole, removed the template & drilled the new hole. Don't worry the hole gets replaced with a nice grommet.

Same as before using one of the nut retaining brackets we fed it through the hole and secured it with the last of the 6 holes that needed to be installed. Now eleven holes will need to be drilled on the bottom side of the rail. These are as well held on with 11 (3/16) Rivets, however they are counter sunk to avoid getting scraped off when you get a little close the rocks. ** Quick tip ** Where the front fender comes down to meet the rail there is a bit of a gap due to the line. We used some Gasket Black to close this gap and just wiped off the access gasket maker that was left. Overall installation was fairly easy and the kit supplied you will everything to finish it off minus the gasket maker. As you can see below the difference between install and not installed they is a nice levitated rail that will help you protect the Jeeps body when you get a little close to those rocks or tree stumps.