American Expedition Vehicles Cab Closeout - Manual (Page 3)

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A. INSTALLING THE CAB CLOSEOUT
OVERVIEW
Installation of the cab closeout is the most time consuming and technical part of the Brute build.
AEV has carefully designed the cab closeout into one piece so that it can easily be installed by the
average fabricator or hobbyist with minor welding experience. Some builders lack the skills to do
this part of the conversion and instead choose to have a body shop install the cab closeout by
taking the Jeep tub and closeout to the body shop. The process involves installing the closeout and
re-welding the unit back together. The most time consuming aspect of this part of your Brute build
is positioning the closeout before welding.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place the tub back on the frame. Use the front four body mounts to hold the tub down.
No need to center everything at this point, just install snug the bolts.
2. Test fit the Closeout. With two people test fit the Closeout Assembly. The Closeout door
latch areas must be carefully fitted around the sport bar, do one side then the other, DO
NOT SPREAD THE CLOSEOUT OVER THE SPORT BAR. The Closeout must be tipped
forward in order to slip it down into place. Be sure the flange on the Pork Chop slips
between the bodyside and Closeout floor on each side. Sometimes it is necessary to tap
the floor down with a block of wood to fit the Closeout properly.
3. Align the Closeout in the cross car dimension. Once the Closeout is fitted, align the four-
way and two-way jigging hole in the Waterfall with the Closeout floor. Once these holes
are lined up, tack weld the Waterfall to the Closeout.
4. Install the Seam Doubler Plates onto the tub. Drill three 3/8” holes in both the body side
and the Closeout as shown. Remove the paint in preparation for welding. Fit the Seam
Doubler plates inside the body and mark the center. The Doubler Plates are made from
Galvanneal Steel so the outside coating will need to be sanded along the centerline to
remove the coating for a good seam weld. Plug weld the three 3/8” holes on the Tub to
the Doubler Plate once you are satisfied with the fit. DO NOT WELD THE CLOSEOUT
TO THE DOUBLER PLATE YET.
5. Align the Doors and bodysides. Time spent here is critical. We find that this process
normally takes between 45min to 3 hours to get everything perfect. Reinstall the door
strikers and nut plates. Check the fit of the doors. Adjust the door strikers so that the
doors close easily and sit flush in the opening. Sight down the side of the vehicle and be
sure that the doors aren’t sticking out at the top or the bottom indicating that the closeout
is racked to one side, or spread out at the top (two very common issues at this point).
Compare the cross car measurement to your initial measurement before the tub was cut.
Use a straight edge to be sure the doors are level with the body side, check in several
locations. Align the Closeout in the for/aft dimension. Clamp a straight edge across the
back of the Closeout assembly and check for an overall cab dimension of 61” from the