Onboard Air Tank Added
I finished this up this morning using the air tanks Brody gave me. Quite simple, ran an air line from the manifold to the tanks in the back of the truck using a check valve. Attached an air hose coupler and pressure relief valve to the tank along with a new gauge.
Ran the compressor for maybe 4-5 minutes, shut it off and the tanks are holding better than 60 psi. When I get a chance I'll see how high I can get the tank pressure - the compressor puts out more than 90 psi, probably closer to 110.
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Chris in Florida
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
Looks good! Now I know why I left the mounting stand attached like I didn't do with my set!
Makes for a real easy mounting set up...don't know what I was thinking when I removed the stand from mine....
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
Yep, just chopped off the long feet and used a u-bolt through the frame between the tanks to the body brackets. Nice to take advantage of your experience.
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Chris in Florida
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
Coming along nice!
Re: Onboard Air Tank Added
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
I'll ask at the place down the road from me that rebuilds them. A lot of time, the compressors aren't even worth rebuilding and I bet they have some tanks kicking around. I am going down that way tomorrow AM and I'll check...The Hitachi style tanks that both Chris and I are using have a very narrow profile and will fit into a pretty small area. This is what I am going to look for, but I'll see what else is around, too.
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
Photos added back in earlier posts. Apparently they were lost when I moved to the new server.
Thanks for letting me know Danny!
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Chris in Florida
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
So.. How did it do airing you back up on China Wall?
Re: A/C Compressor to Onboard Air
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Chris in Florida
hey Chris )or anyone that knows)
i am looking into doing this mod- i found your write up a long time ago and signed up so i could ask some questions. do you still have/ use this system? did you like it? what was wrong with it (if anything)? what other parts (if any) did you add later? did you use the factory switches or did you add a toggle to run this system? any suggestions over whats in your write up? ive read through this write up many times but i wanna see the answer as a reply to my post--- this is for a toyota right? i have a 3.4 in mine and im gonna ASSUME ( i know dont do that) that everything should be close to the same.
im looking at starting this mod and am gonna use your parts list and want to make sure if i pick this stuff up at our local grainger that im getting the "right" stuff.
thank you sir
Hey Thomas, it is a great mod but I sold my Cruiser a few months ago. I used it regularly with little problems and all the part numbers should be the same. I highly recommend it and guess the 3.4 comprssor is similar, check the output - mine was 160 psi which is comparable to the much acclaimed York. The oiling system is critical, I burned one compressor out when I didn't check the oiler before using it but that's the only problem I had outside of a few hoses popping off during the trail period. I used a toggle under the hood so I would remember to turn it off when done.
It's not as fast for airing up as CO2 but it's always there and doesn't need refilling. That being said I'll turn this over to Pete (Brody on the forum) because he really did the whole thing in the end as I helped by handing him screwdrivers and such.
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Chris in Florida
Pete has the same rig on his heap if you need to check it out first hand.
Thank you Chris.
im not to worried about the speed- as long as it could fill my 39's with out destroying the truck or destroying my battery im fine. im getting a little annoyed at these iroks (at crawiling pressure) changing lanes for me wether i want to or not. at least 10 times a mile. i have friends with compressors but i feel if ive got a compressor too then im that much more of a help on the trail. i have a small ARB copressor for just my lockers, and to make that purchase legit and to save a little cash (over buying a different compressor) plus having it this way is kinda different idea (around the clan i crawl with) so itd be nice to do it this way. and it seems like fixing a couple of hoses on my A/C unit would cost the same and i havent had A/C since ive had the truck so i wont miss it. id like to have it but i crawl with tube doors and no topper soooooooo............
ill wait for "brody" to chime in before i go out and get the parts. i just wanted to make sure this was a good setup and that you didnt change any part because of size limits or burn ups. (knowing about the compressor issue you had mentioned) like the seperator- ive heard if you buy one you gotta get one rated for high temp. now when you say check the oiler is it a self contained system or do you need to check the "level" all the time??????? is it like a constant mister or do you need to fill/check it during operation? (sorry for my noob type questions, just wanting to hit the high points)
im reading pirate now to see how to hook up the factory dash switch to make it work, im adding a tank and pressure switches to have it turn on and off when it needs to. at least thats how i see it in my head. but having an instant use switch and switch on as i need it then off i eliminate a few unwanted issues later. so im still planning.
thanx chris
A few things. I have a similar satup on mine. It is done with a york, so I dont need an oiler, but its the same concept. What I did was run it through 5 gallons or tanks, and a pressure switch. It turns on at somewhere around 100 (i think) and turns off at 125. I could have run it higher, and kind of wish I would have, but this was the switch i could find, so I used it!! I used a lighted toggle in the cab, and I also wired an idiot light from the switch to a very obvious location so it is very challenging to leave it on when I dont mean to. You can also hear it compressing which helps with that issue. The other thing I did was take a seperate electrical feed from the pressure switch to another idiot light in the cab. What this does is let me turn it on when I am getting to the end of a trail, and plan on using it soon, and it will start charging. While it is charging, it give me the second light to know what is currently happening. When the light turns off, I know the tanks are fully charged and ready to use. I am able to run air tools of mine with no problem, and do so very commonly. I would definitely do this mod over again!!!
I think I had a fairly decent writeup on mine somewhere, but I cant seem to find it on here anymore.
i like the idiot light idea. i was looking into finding a way to make the tank pressure switch turn off the A/C compressor when it fills up, it seems like more work (not really harder just more) so the minimalist approach seems better.
as for adapting a york into my truck unfortunately (not really, its kick a$$ having this much power) i have a 3.4 in my truck and the engine takes up almost all of my free space so a york would require major fabbing. or so it seems. plus im about to lose what little free space i do have by adding coolers, lines, and a bigger resevoir for my hydro assist. id like to have a york to eliminate the oiler but .................
not trying to push the York. It just happened to be stock on my rig so it was easy. I am sure the Yote one will do just fine as well.
The pressure switch really isnt had at all, or much work. I think I finally found mine at Ace Hardware. But all you do is plumb it into the air line, then your toggle for your air goes through. the switch on the way. WHen thetank is full, it turns off, when below x pressure, it turns on. I would not do OBA without a pressure switch!! Its just too much hassle. My tank will refill 4 or 5 times while I am filling tires. If it didnt have the automated switch I would have to climb in, wait for it to charge, then turn it off again (so it doesnt over charge and blow up), then run it down again, etc. It was worth the $20 (or whatever) switch.
Here is the link to the FR thread on OBA: http://www.frontrange4x4.com/forums/...cles-and-Links
More information than you will ever need to know.
The Yorks work better, but you also have the mounting holes for the set up on your 3.4L. If you already have the compressor, your are 3/4 of the way there. Stick a small breather on the intake line, plumb in an inline oiler, adapt the other line (hose to hose works better than trying to fine the right fittings) to the output line and run it to a multiple outlet port, either pre made or just use standard brass fittings. The multi port also allows you to plumb in the cut off, an overfill valve, and a gauge for air. Take the AC on/off line and run a switch and power to it and plumb this under the hood, adding an idiot light if you want it. ANY pressure switch will work for your cut off switch, but remember that there are adjustable and non adjustable pressure switches. A non adjustable one will cut off at 80psi, whereas an adjustable one you can set up to about 120psi.
The multiple port fitting is nice as it lets you plumb in a fitting to the front and a fitting/tank in the back. Keep in mind that if you don't have an oiler with a healthy drip rate for the Yota AC, it will burn up the first time you use it. The way I have mine is with a 5 gal tank in the back with an inline on/off which is nice as it lets me fill my tank up pre run with a regular compressor, run the air from the tank or bypass the tank altogether. There is a separate fitting on the front and on the back for ease of access.
There is an outfit that works on small compressors here in town and they trash the tanks and pretty much anything attached to them. You can pick up a tank with all the fittings and sometimes a pressure switch for around $10. I am sure there are compressor repair places near you that do the same thing. These guys in Denver, just stuck all the tanks in the back of the shop outside as they had no other use for them. Since I posted there stuff and told other people about the cheap source of tanks, they are happy to be moving some of these.
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