Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Tennessee Red

Got it on it's on weight today and got everything tightened up. When I cycled it, I needed to add 1.5" bump stop to keep the tie rod from getting into the drag link when drivers wheel was at full stuff. Also needed the 1.5" bump stop to keep the tire out of the antirock arm when drivers wheel was at full stuff and turned hard passenger. Since I won't have time to do a shakedown run before heading to Windrock next month for a big weekend of wheeling I decided to go ahead and add 3" of bump stop to account for any oversight. I will reevaluate that after Windrock in Jan.

I then went to give it a spin around the block to see how it felt and something felt weird right off the bat, but it felt weird from the rear not the front, so I turned around and headed back to find my rear shock mount broke.
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And yes, I checked the other side and it is also cracked.
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DAMN... I'll keep an eye on mine.
 
Got it on it's on weight today and got everything tightened up. When I cycled it, I needed to add 1.5" bump stop to keep the tie rod from getting into the drag link when drivers wheel was at full stuff. Also needed the 1.5" bump stop to keep the tire out of the antirock arm when drivers wheel was at full stuff and turned hard passenger. Since I won't have time to do a shakedown run before heading to Windrock next month for a big weekend of wheeling I decided to go ahead and add 3" of bump stop to account for any oversight. I will reevaluate that after Windrock in Jan.

I then went to give it a spin around the block to see how it felt and something felt weird right off the bat, but it felt weird from the rear not the front, so I turned around and headed back to find my rear shock mount broke.
View attachment 580630

And yes, I checked the other side and it is also cracked.
View attachment 580631

Bad welds? Where did you get those?
 
Poly Performance. West coast doesn't understand the beating of a little TN bump. That is why Barnes stuff is always thicker 😂 And yes looks like bad welds.
 
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Poly Performance. West coast doesn't understand the beating of a little TN bump. That is why Barnes stuff is always thicker 😂 And yes looks like bad welds.

My old towers were Poly Performance but my new ones are TMR.

What's you plans for repairs?
 
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I don’t understand the conflicting welds by PolyPerformance. Look how they welded both sides of a seam on the lower, but when it comes to the towers where yours broke they only did one side of the seam. Difficult to get in there, but I’m definitely laying a bead down there. Sorry that happened Victor.

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And no penetration on mine. The single bead on the outside would have probably been adequate if it penetrated the vertical flange.

Same problem I had with that Dynatrac front truss that came apart on me. Pretty weld with no penetration - and only welded on one side.

Now it’s still a pretty weld, but also a good weld.
 
Well it has a little bit of a wander when driving straight, it is not bump steer (it is not bump/road sensitive), it is just constant working the wheel to keep it straight. I have the caster at approx 6 deg, and I have approx 1/16" toe in (I just adjusted it to have a little more toe in but haven't driven it after). The drag link and track bar are pretty parallel. All the steering is the same, the only difference is the pitman arm is now laying flat. The distance from the steering box shaft to the drag link on the pitman arm is 5.5", same as factory. I do have the ball joint eliminators set light, I can tighten it up to make the steering stiffer but not sure if that will have any effect on the wandering (it may effect return to center feel).

Anyone know if that flat pitman arm in lieu of in an arc would have any affect? Like I said all the steering is the same, it is the currie currectlync and the track bar is pretty much exactly the same length wise and where it mounts to frame inbd/outbid direction, it is just moved fwd to match the axle bring moved forward, and it is pretty parallel with drag link.
 
Well it has a little bit of a wander when driving straight, it is not bump steer (it is not bump/road sensitive), it is just constant working the wheel to keep it straight. I have the caster at approx 6 deg, and I have approx 1/16" toe in (I just adjusted it to have a little more toe in but haven't driven it after). The drag link and track bar are pretty parallel. All the steering is the same, the only difference is the pitman arm is now laying flat. The distance from the steering box shaft to the drag link on the pitman arm is 5.5", same as factory. I do have the ball joint eliminators set light, I can tighten it up to make the steering stiffer but not sure if that will have any effect on the wandering (it may effect return to center feel).

Anyone know if that flat pitman arm in lieu of in an arc would have any affect? Like I said all the steering is the same, it is the currie currectlync and the track bar is pretty much exactly the same length wise and where it mounts to frame inbd/outbid direction, it is just moved fwd to match the axle bring moved forward, and it is pretty parallel with drag link.

Because you rotated your steering box doesn't this throw off your draglink & trackbar alignment? Your draglink is now higher than it was before so your trackbar isn't parallel anymore? I'd think you need to raise the trackbar some. Just my uneducated guess.
 
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The trackbar picks up oem location on the axle side and was positioned on the frame side to make it parallel with the drag link. It is not "measured" to be parallel, I just eyeballed it, but by eyeball it is pretty parallel.
 
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The trackbar picks up oem location on the axle side and was positioned on the frame side to make it parallel with the drag link. It is not "measured" to be parallel, I just eyeballed it, but by eyeball it is pretty parallel.

I'd throw an angle gauge on them and see how close they are. I'd thought mine were close until I put a angle gauge on them. I never measured mine before I did the rotation so I don't know how much it raises the pitman arm. Do you have a stock TJ pitman arm you could throw on to try out and see if it helps?
 
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Bummer on your shock tower mounts. I used to run the Poly's but my current towers are Barnes and they are super beefy. I can't help on the steering as I'm full hydro now, but I will say that it might be the ball joint eliminators. I would think they would be tighter than spicers, but I don't know for sure. You street driving that beast? Mine's an adventure on the streets :)
 
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I was able to get out in the garage today and do some looking and head scratching and I figured out that my wondering issue was due to a bent shaft in the hydro assist ram. I finally remembered that when I was hooking it back up that the ram was super hard to start to move, even with air, so I removed it and went for a drive and the wandering was gone.
I pulled the ram apart and it is bent right at the "plunger" so when the end cap is tight the plunger it is bound up inside the cylinder. The "wandering" was actually the delay or the jumping of the actual ram. I had a spare ram in my tool box and installed it and confirmed all is good, now I will just have to get a new ram (the spare was a spare for a reason 😂).

Merry Christmas!
 
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I was able to get out in the garage today and do some looking and head scratching and I figured out that my wondering issue was due to a bent shaft in the hydro assist ram. I finally remembered that when I was hooking it back up that the ram was super hard to start to move, even with air, so I removed it and went for a drive and the wandering was gone.
I pulled the ram apart and it is bent right at the "plunger" so when the end cap is tight the plunger it is bound up inside the cylinder. The "wandering" was actually the delay or the jumping of the actual ram. I had a spare ram in my tool box and installed it and confirmed all is good, now I will just have to get a new ram (the spare was a spare for a reason 😂).

Merry Christmas!

Good catch & glad you got it figured out.

Apparently I am the only dumbass who didn't take a vacation day today.
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That means you're the BOSS right? since you're the only person there.
 
It just means that my boss is the only asshole who won't allow you to work from home in this whole freaking complex. Either take vacation or come into the office. (so that I can sit in a cubicle and not talk with anyone when I could be sitting in my home office doing the same work and not talking to anyone!)

I need my vacation days to go wheeling so I am sitting in the cubicle.
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts