On board air

[BarryG]

Looking for suggestions/comments on adding an on board air compressor. Also ideas on mounting locations for compressor and small tank. Will be used mainly for tires and horn. If powerful enough an impact wrench could be handy. Ideas on brands and quality would be much appreciated.

 

[Thomas]

This looks pretty good.

 

[Ted Constantine]

Barry,



I have actually been looking at this in the latest couple days. Dave Fritz has a nice system as Thomas' link shows. Bill Swail has a simliar set up in the Earth Roamer Truck . I was looking at heavier duty compressor and came across a number of sites. Some of the best are designed for low riders.

Check out:

Oasis Offroad has the trail head compressor which is a York compressor driven by a winch motor.



Blow-jax



Airbag it sells blowjax as well as other products



Extreme outback Products has three different compressors, the Big red, Extremeair, and a belt driven model. The extreme air is one of my favorites.



I have not made any moves for my own rig but the trail head looks way over kill and to heavy. any of the others would be great but are different enough that it is worth going through them in detail.



Also

Currie Enterprises has a compressor that is out of a hummer but for the performance it is WAY to expensive.



Good Luck

Ted

 

[Wheaties]

What about highway service trucks?

Maybe someone knows what highway service trucks use? Do they use air at all? Or do they hand wrench everything? Or do they go with a gasser compressor and up the cylinder count?



Somewhere out on the web, I spotted some air driven winches. They used a pretty big comressor as well!



Matt



... . ahhh, I misspoke, I found those winches and they're hydraulic, not air. The company is called Mile Marker and they sell gasser compressors side by side with the winches.

 

[Turboman]

Group purchase on Blowjax

I tried to put tigether a group purchase of the Blowjax about a month ago and only got a couple of responses. If some more want to let me know and we will put this together. I think we can get them real reasonable.

 

[Ted Constantine]

Turbo,



i am in if they come down on the price. it is already pretty low at 279 and it seem that with ten or more you can get them for 225. this is through AIM INDUSTRIES. I was sent there when I hit buy on the Blowjax site.



did you ever talk to Blowjax or were you waiting for interest?



Also I can not find info on the dimensions, mounting requirements, etc on the blowjax site. Can they be mounted on there side, ie. on the frame rail of our trucks? Can they handle the elements?

Ted

 

[scott4glamis]

the best solution to your air problem is to adapt a big rig air compresseor off a f**d or ?that has a 5. 9 Cummins, all the brackets, etc . , should be available from the dealer / wrecking yards or adapt a v twin chrysler a/c compressor to you needs, best of luck , somewhere i remember a 4x4 mag doing an article on this set up on a jeep?.

 

[JKloppe]

Air

This is a serious compresser 70cfm 175psi

http://www.throttlecommander.com/underhood/index.htm

 

[CJ Johansson]

Re: What about highway service trucks?

Originally posted by mwheaton

Maybe someone knows what highway service trucks use? Do they use air at all? Or do they hand wrench everything? Or do they go with a gasser compressor and up the cylinder count?

Well, I'm not sure about highway service, but the local tire guys who service us farmers have PTO driven air compressors on their trucks (an 18. 4-38 tractor tire holds a *LOT* of air, even at a measly 20 PSI).



I'd sure like to get air for impact wrenches, tractor tires, etc. , but for PTO, you're talking some bretty big bucks. The PTO adapter (the thing that mounts to your transmission and gives you a shaft to connect to) runs about $600, then you need a compressor, drive shaft, air hoses, tank, etc. , etc. If you can find a truck wrecking yard, you might be able to pick up some of the stuff cheaper used. The PTO is a standard 6 bolt.



Once you have the PTO output, you could use an old York A/C compressor (about $20 at wrecking yards). They typically can do 7 to 9 CFM at around 120 PSI, which is pretty good for $20. The PTO is the only hard part.



As for air brake compressors, the problem we have is that the accessory shaft is used for power steering and a vacuum pump on the Ram. There's not enough room to put a compressor in there too. I'm not sure if it'll fit on the end of the power steering pump if you take the vacuum pump off. On newer Ram's, the vacuum only runs the air doors in the climate control, so a cheap electric one would work fine. On older trucks, it also does the power brake booster, so you'd need a more substantial vacuum pump (the one on the engine is really a bit small for the brakes anyway).



-cj

 

[fj40charles]

Here is an email I got from a fellow 4 wheeler. Personally I like the York compressors because they're lubricated with oil and are reliable and easy to come by.





Charles,



I just installed a 10 c. i. d. York on my 5. 7L Vortec

engine using a new serpentine clutch sold through Kilby

enterprises. You can check out his products and order

at:

http://www.onboardair.com/



They charge $110 for a new clutch -- pretty steep,

IMHO. BTW, they are also selling the brand new Yorks

manufactured by Climate Control Inc. , so if you don't

want to take chances at the pick-and-pull, this is an

alternative.

http://www.ccicompressor.com/



CCI does not sell directly to the public, but many

dealers for 18-wheel rigs (e. g. , Kenworth, Freightliner,

White, etc. )sell their products retail.



The sperentine clutch sold by Kilby Enterprises is

manufactured by Ogura Clutch Co. of Tokyo and has the

part #MA-N03D-901. If anyone finds a cheaper source let

us know. Otherwise, Kilby Enterprises or a Truck

parts shop appear the best bet.



------------------

Jack Rice

Cruise Further

 

[Wheaties]

Yes, the PTO option sounds like a good idea if it can be done on the cheap, you use it all the time, and/or it isn't used to power tools when you're working on your own rig. You can't really run the engine to power the air tools to repair it, can you?



I suppose the cheapest solution would be to mount an air tank with some capacity under the bed, and simply fill it up periodically off the shop compressor you conveniently have in your garage This would not be a good idea if you have high usage or used it to power essential equipment. It might be okay for a horn, but maybe not for an air locker used far from home. I remember someone who did a lot of beach driving made a rear bumper out of well pipe with the ends welded shut and used it as an air tank for re-inflating his tires when he got back on the road.



I'd still like to know what Highway service trucks use, but until then, I guess electric driven compressors are the best answer.



Matt

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

I've been considering this for a while and. .



I like the

http://www.throttlecommander.com/underhood/index.htm

VMAC UNDERHOOD PRODUCTS CUSTOMER SERVICE 1-800-738-8622



I called them and they referred me to a vendor in Ottowa City, Ks

Ottowa truck. . -- email address removed --

888 229 6300



Part #'s for our trucks are:

V900040 compressor

A700040 mounting kit

A700019 200 hr svc pts

A700020 400 hr svc pts



I sent an email for pricing. . Randy is out of the office today and they are having a power outage. . hows that for luck???



and...

http://www.extremeoutback.com/catalog.htm

ENDLESS AIR BELT DRIVEN AIR



COMPRESSOR



Endless Air compressors are built and designed in Australia for the harsh Outback. Belt driven, this compressor puts out a whopping 8 CFM at 100 psi. Capable of 200 psi, the unit has a greasable zerk fitting for lubrication and is painted a harmmertone blue. Endless Air compressors will fill tires, run air tools and can be used whenever large volumes of air is needed. Each unit is manufactured with the highest quality components for the ultimate in performance. The compact size makes for easy installation. Dimensions are 5" in diameter, 8. 5" long with eight mounting ears. This is the ultimate compressor for speed, volume and performance.



Endless air belt driven compressor, 8 CFM @ 100 psi... ... ... ... ..... $379. 95

Sorry for the long post... .

 

[Ted Constantine]

I personally don't like the idea of having my truck running if I was working on it. Take a look at the trailhead compressor I put earlier in this thread. It will do what you want with unbeleivable cfm rate. It is a york (new or rebuilt) with a winch motor.



trail head



Specs for trailhead compressor



Ted

 

[Wheaties]

Hey Ted, how are you?



Well, you could have the engine running and work on the chassis and such, but don't change out any injectors, okay?



Matt

 

[BarryG]

Thanks for the great response.



Thomas, Daves setup looks nice should of thought to check out his site. Thanks for the link.



Ted great sites looked them all up.



Mark the VMAC stuff looks awesome but almost afraid to know how much but interested. Post if you get the info.



So far looks like extremair and blowjax stuff looks most promising but will look for Mark's post after he hears back.



Anybody have personal experience with extremeair or blowjax compressors?



Thanks again to all that responded