Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

@PNW Lj I guess to answer the other question....

Major plan? None before the trip.... Like I said a few posts back right now my plans are to take the Jeep like it is now and wheel it for this trip. Then when I get home in May I want to pull my daughters TJ into the garage and get her fixed so dad can start teaching her how to wheel in her own rig...

Then hopefully come fall I'll be ready to build my 1 ton axles and do the 8HP70 swap... I've got the wiring harness and shifter plus all the parts I THINK I'll need for the transmission swap...

Axle plans are as follows. I bought this narrowed 99-04 Dana 60 that has a 65" WMS. Going to use the Currie unit bearings on the front axle for the 5 on 5.5 BP.
Then a 80-early 90's 14Bolt is 67" WMS with stock hubs... But Solid Axle makes a 5 on 5.5" BP hub for the 14B that also narrows it 2.25" making it a 64.75" WMS which will work great with the way I've got the Jeep setup now.
Now ask WHY? Stronger axles so I don't break I guess. Going to go with 4.88 gears since with the 4.7:1 1st gear in the 8HP I've still got a great crawl ratio.

And I plan on using the Ballistic Fab shave kits on both the Dana 60 & 14 Bolt... Give me a little better ground clearance... When I need new shoes I might step up to 40's but for now I plan on running my 38's.
 
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Wildman said:
@PNW Lj I guess to answer the other question....

Major plan? None before the trip.... Like I said a few posts back right now my plans are to take the Jeep like it is now and wheel it for this trip. Then when I get home in May I want to pull my daughters TJ into the garage and get her fixed so dad can start teaching her how to wheel in her own rig...

Then hopefully come fall I'll be ready to build my 1 ton axles and do the 8HP70 swap... I've got the wiring harness and shifter plus all the parts I THINK I'll need for the transmission swap...

Axle plans are as follows. I bought this narrowed 99-04 Dana 60 that has a 65" WMS. Going to use the Currie unit bearings on the front axle for the 5 on 5.5 BP.
Then a 80-early 90's 14Bolt is 67" WMS with stock hubs... But Solid Axle makes a 5 on 5.5" BP hub for the 14B that also narrows it 2.25" making it a 64.75" WMS which will work great with the way I've got the Jeep setup now.
Now ask WHY? Stronger axles so I don't break I guess. Going to go with 4.88 gears since with the 4.7:1 1st gear in the 8HP I've still got a great crawl ratio.

And I plan on using the Ballistic Fab shave kits on both the Dana 60 & 14 Bolt... Give me a little better ground clearance... When I need new shoes I might step up to 40's but for now I plan on running my 38's.
Click to expand...

If your in Texas hit Wolf Caves if you can!!! Def worth the stop can knock out a lot of it in day def two.
 
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Wildman said:
@PNW Lj I guess to answer the other question....

Major plan? None before the trip.... Like I said a few posts back right now my plans are to take the Jeep like it is now and wheel it for this trip. Then when I get home in May I want to pull my daughters TJ into the garage and get her fixed so dad can start teaching her how to wheel in her own rig...

Then hopefully come fall I'll be ready to build my 1 ton axles and do the 8HP70 swap... I've got the wiring harness and shifter plus all the parts I THINK I'll need for the transmission swap...

Axle plans are as follows. I bought this narrowed 99-04 Dana 60 that has a 65" WMS. Going to use the Currie unit bearings on the front axle for the 5 on 5.5 BP.
Then a 80-early 90's 14Bolt is 67" WMS with stock hubs... But Solid Axle makes a 5 on 5.5" BP hub for the 14B that also narrows it 2.25" making it a 64.75" WMS which will work great with the way I've got the Jeep setup now.
Now ask WHY? Stronger axles so I don't break I guess. Going to go with 4.88 gears since with the 4.7:1 1st gear in the 8HP I've still got a great crawl ratio.

And I plan on using the Ballistic Fab shave kits on both the Dana 60 & 14 Bolt... Give me a little better ground clearance... When I need new shoes I might step up to 40's but for now I plan on running my 38's.
Click to expand...

Way cool. 65” onetons will be nice to have on this build.

Maybe I could join yall on an easy trail sometime in my Disco… Though I may be regressing now, thinking of downsizing from 33s to 31s. 🫣
 
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PNW_LJ said:
Way cool. 65” onetons will be nice to have on this build.

Maybe I could join yall on an easy trail sometime in my Disco… Though I may be regressing now, thinking of downsizing from 33s to 31s. 🫣
Click to expand...

I hit Tahuya fairly often. Im always looking for people to wheel with. I'll have to let you know next time.
 
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PNW_LJ said:
Way cool. 65” onetons will be nice to have on this build.

Maybe I could join yall on an easy trail sometime in my Disco… Though I may be regressing now, thinking of downsizing from 33s to 31s. 🫣
Click to expand...

65" is just about where I'm at right now with the wheel spacers on my axles so I won't end up any wider than I am right now. And yes TONS will be nice to have as a little more piece of mind.

We'll try to remember to give you a shout when I come over
 
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bbaldwin237 said:
I hit Tahuya fairly often. Im always looking for people to wheel with. I'll have to let you know next time.
Click to expand...

Wildman said:
65" is just about where I'm at right now with the wheel spacers on my axles so I won't end up any wider than I am right now. And yes TONS will be nice to have as a little more piece of mind.

We'll try to remember to give you a shout when I come over
Click to expand...

I’ll try my best to keep up!

1766701903724.jpeg


I still have decent articulation thanks to coil sprung solid axles, and my wheelbase is just 99”! So not horrible for an overlander on 33s.
 
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Wildman said:
Why are you thinking about going to 31's?
Click to expand...

Better fuel economy on longer trips mainly.

And the understanding that this isn’t the right platform for tight and/or rocky trails (Reiter, Rubicon etc), and bigger tires won’t solve those issues.

Yes it can be done, and many have, I just don’t want to be worried about leaning into a tree every couple dozen feet.
 
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There is a beauty in the TJ/LJ platform for rock crawling purposes, I think it’s somewhat unique.

The way the front/rear bumper, body, suspension etc are designed, really lend itself to capable builds that are light and slim.
 
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PNW_LJ said:
Better fuel economy on longer trips mainly.

And the understanding that this isn’t the right platform for tight and/or rocky trails (Reiter, Rubicon etc), and bigger tires won’t solve those issues.

Yes it can be done, and many have, I just don’t want to be worried about leaning into a tree every couple dozen feet.
Click to expand...

Isn't that about the size of a XJ? Or older 4Runner? Guy wheel them without totally trashing the bodies.

But I get it...
 
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John Cooper said:
Dang, y'all can have all that!! I like our snows here.

Snow today gone tomorrow, 2 days at the most.......
Click to expand...

It's why I "HOPE" to finally get the Jeep done with all these mods I want to do and then I'll head south around the end of Oct and travel around until April or May before I come back... I'll let those who enjoy this White shit stay here and I'll go where it's not as bad.

Funny thing is that it's suppose to warm back up to the mid 30's during the day for the rest of the week.. So we'll see if this stays or melts.
 
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Wildman said:
It's why I "HOPE" to finally get the Jeep done with all these mods I want to do and then I'll head south around the end of Oct and travel around until April or May before I come back... I'll let those who enjoy this White shit stay here and I'll go where it's not as bad.

Funny thing is that it's suppose to warm back up to the mid 30's during the day for the rest of the week.. So we'll see if this stays or melts.
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be close to 70 today and tomorrow here. Then start dropping and be in the 40's next week.
 
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Our storm is lasting a lot longer than they forecasted... New neighbors house is buried pretty bad. Wind was blowing towards the front of their house.

20251227_051829.jpg


I'd shoveled my front steps when I'd taken those pictures earlier... Can't tell it now.

20251227_051914.jpg


And I'd shoveled a path to the garage earlier too...

20251227_051930.jpg


Not sure how much but there's a lot of snow on the hood of my truck.

20251227_051943.jpg
 
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bbaldwin237 said:
A bummer for you, but the snow wheelers are going to be happy. If you got that much, they probably got a good bit in the mountains. IG and YouTube will start filling up with snow wheeling content any time now.
Click to expand...

I'd planned on having the Jeep in the garage by now... Between the damn sores on my leg & then being lazy it's still on the trailer.... Just means I'll have to sweep all the snow off of it before I pull it into the garage.

Get it fix so I can maybe take it out on one or two snow runs... I've got to do some checking to see what roads are still open now since most are closed as of 15 Dec until 1 Apr to wheeled vehicles for the snowmobiles.
 
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