Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

Trail_Krawler & Trail_Willys

Lots of goodies came in. Not shown is 28 feet of 2" 0.25 DOM tubing. All links will be double adjustable.

PXL_20210925_164303925.jpg
 
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Out of curiosity, how come you chose to push the axle back in the arch instead of stretching the frame to keep the axle centered under the arch? I can’t wait to follow the rest of this build! A stretch is a dream of mine as well
 
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starkey480 said:
Out of curiosity, how come you chose to push the axle back in the arch instead of stretching the frame to keep the axle centered under the arch? I can’t wait to follow the rest of this build! A stretch is a dream of mine as well
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I'm pretty much just following in others' footsteps here. As I understand it, there is simply no need to stretch the frame. It will still be the tub that limits axle-up travel. I do know that on more extreme builds people will "back half" the jeep where the frame is cut completely off near the rear-most body mount and a new rear frame is fabricated. I'll do it if I have to, but would rather not lol.
 
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kmas0n said:
I'm pretty much just following in others' footsteps here. As I understand it, there is simply no need to stretch the frame. It will still be the tub that limits axle-up travel. I do know that on more extreme builds people will "back half" the jeep where the frame is cut completely off near the rear-most body mount and a new rear frame is fabricated. I'll do it if I have to, but would rather not lol.
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Awesome. I wasn’t sure if the frame would limit the uptravel or not. I suppose you don’t have to fit a collapsed spring between the axle and frame anymore so that frees up some room! You aiming for 7” uptravel?
 
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starkey480 said:
Awesome. I wasn’t sure if the frame would limit the uptravel or not. I suppose you don’t have to fit a collapsed spring between the axle and frame anymore so that frees up some room! You aiming for 7” uptravel?
Click to expand...
Thats my goal, 7 up, 7 down!
 
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starkey480 said:
Out of curiosity, how come you chose to push the axle back in the arch instead of stretching the frame to keep the axle centered under the arch? I can’t wait to follow the rest of this build! A stretch is a dream of mine as well
Click to expand...
starkey480 said:
Awesome. I wasn’t sure if the frame would limit the uptravel or not. I suppose you don’t have to fit a collapsed spring between the axle and frame anymore so that frees up some room! You aiming for 7” uptravel?
Click to expand...

I think you hit it right there in your comment about not having a spring between the axle and the frame. If you're going coilover then you don't have these issues anymore and that hump doesn't really mean anything anymore. I moved the center of the hump back to where the very top was directly above the rear axle so I could get maximum uptravel with my airbags. But if that isn't a concern anymore then it doesn't matter.
 
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Nice job! Looks really good. What’s your vertical separation looking like at the frame and at the chassis?
 
With the body back on the jeep, the axle upper link mounts are about 2" away from the floor of the tub when the upper links contact the rear passenger footwells. That's a lot of potential travel lost. I can do a few things...

Dimple the floor like wildman said (or let the links self clearance from use.) I'm not sure the body can give 2" before pinch welds start coming apart.

Move the frame-side upper mounting points rearward. My upper links are currently slightly longer (as viewed in two dimensions from the side) than the lower links, so I have room to work with.

Likely a little of both will be the solution.

Things I've got to consider...
I would like to get the axle upper mounts all the way to the tub floor at full bump, but on my 3 link rear, the driveshaft would bind at full bump. So it may be pointless to get all of that up travel. However, my new driveshaft is going to be considerably longer, so maybe...

As @NashvilleTJ had said, it will likely be the tires and body that dictate travel, so trying to get the axle all the way to the tub may be pointless
 
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