Project Onboard Air: York Compressor

[jonheld]

Originally Posted by AppleTech

- I'm going to customize a trigger-style inflator to have a more accurate gauge relevant to tires (it goes up to 220PSI right now!)

FWIW, I built a 4 way inflator/deflator with brass parts from the plumbing isle at Home Depot. It has a 3" fluid filled gauge from McMaster (0-60 psi) and a nice ball valve with QD connectors and locking tire chucks. Works great.

[bhmmapping]

Originally Posted by jonheld

FWIW, I built a 4 way inflator/deflator with brass parts from the plumbing isle at Home Depot. It has a 3" fluid filled gauge from McMaster (0-60 psi) and a nice ball valve with QD connectors and locking tire chucks. Works great.

where did you find the locking tire chucks?

[jonheld]

McMaster part# 6140A61
Pressure gauge 3845K13

[CruisinGA]

Originally Posted by AppleTech

Next on the list for this month:
- I'm going to modify my tire gauge/air down tool so it will drain the tires faster... it's got a pinhole outlet and it's annoyingly slow!

valve core removal tool...

The only deflating tool you need...

[jonheld]

Originally Posted by jonheld

FWIW, I built a 4 way inflator/deflator with brass parts from the plumbing isle at Home Depot. It has a 3" fluid filled gauge from McMaster (0-60 psi) and a nice ball valve with QD connectors and locking tire chucks. Works great.

A pic or 2...

[AppleTech]

Originally Posted by jonheld

A pic or 2...

Cool!

I'm thinking about the gauge though... would you still be reading 30PSI from all tires or wouldn't you add all the pressures together for all tires? Maybe its just late, but I can't think of how it makes sense that all tires would still be 30 psi...

[96r50]

The system (tires, hoses and gauge) all pressurize simultaneously. It's all the same "container" of air so the pressure at any one point would be the same as any other point

[jonheld]

Adam is correct. The manifold allows all 4 tires to equalize to the same pressure. I use it on my wife's Acura when she says it needs an alignment. Usually it's just one tire that's a bit low.

However, during the air-up, the manifold pressure rises and you get a high reading on the gauge simply because of the volume of air being put out by the York system. The schrader valves on the tires don't flow fast enough and the manifold pressurizes. I need to close the valve periodically to get a true reading. It's a non issue.

[AppleTech]

Originally Posted by AppleTech

Next on the list for this month:
- I'm going to modify my tire gauge/air down tool so it will drain the tires faster... it's got a pinhole outlet and it's annoyingly slow!

- I'm going to customize a trigger-style inflator to have a more accurate gauge relevant to tires (it goes up to 220PSI right now!)

Expect... no, DEMAND pictures!

-Phil

OK, I promised, so here it is. I wasn't happy with the available selection of trigger-style inflators and having to sit there while it aired up, so I changed my mind and built my own after seeing Chris' this last weekend on the Cleghorn run (Chris is the SoCal TTORA president).

So here it is... there are 3 components - the red leader line - this extends the air line so I can reach my front tires or on other people's rigs without stretching the coiled hose. The coiled hose follows and is then hooked into the tire inflator. All three are hooked together with quick disconnects. This way, the inflator can be detached and used to air down tires (I just bought Stauns, but I might be able to help others air down quicker).

The whole setup:


closeup of the inflator:


I also got a chance to finish hooking up everything on the York so it would fit inside the hood. The braided line is going to run over the motor (through the hoist bracket) and over to a waiting line that runs down the DS of the truck to the tank.



Getting so close now! I am really excited about the quality of the system and everything looks really professional. Thanks to everyone for their help!

I will provide pics of the air line routing once everything is installed.

-Phil

[96r50]

Looks nice! I would definitely like to see some more pics of the system as you complete it.

Will that pressure gauge read accurately enough at low pressures?

[chitown40]

johnheld and Phil --

Nice looking manifolds. I understand the reasoning for John's setup -- to fill all four tires equally and at one time, but Phil I'm not quite sure why you have both air hoses. If you don't want to stretch the coiled hose, how come you didn't just pick up a 50ft. length of PVC or rubber hose? I'm not knocking your design at all, just curious to your reasoning. Nevertheless it looks real nice and would imagine it works as well as it looks. Good work overall with your install. Nice and clean.

[AppleTech]

Originally Posted by 96r50

Looks nice! I would definitely like to see some more pics of the system as you complete it.

Will that pressure gauge read accurately enough at low pressures?

Therein lies the problem with running a 150PSI system... if I get a smaller gauge, it will mess it up when the air is trapped in that section of hose, which will be the full 150PSI until it is hooked up.

Not a huge deal, that gauge will be accurate enough for me...

Originally Posted by chitown40

johnheld and Phil --

Nice looking manifolds. I understand the reasoning for John's setup -- to fill all four tires equally and at one time, but Phil I'm not quite sure why you have both air hoses. If you don't want to stretch the coiled hose, how come you didn't just pick up a 50ft. length of PVC or rubber hose? I'm not knocking your design at all, just curious to your reasoning. Nevertheless it looks real nice and would imagine it works as well as it looks. Good work overall with your install. Nice and clean.

The main QD for the system is zip-tied up on top of the spare tire bar... I haven't gotten a piece of metal and a bulkhead to mount it up nice and pretty yet. But since it is so high up, if you hook that coil hose directly into it and do the PS side tires, the coiled line is sitting against the exhaust, which wouldn't be good for that plastic hose. This 10ft line extends it so I can reach all 4 tires without pulling anything against the exhaust pipe and gives me more reach. Plus this amount of hose is much more manageable than 50ft of hose...

-Phil

[chitown40]

Originally Posted by AppleTech

The main QD for the system is zip-tied up on top of the spare tire bar... I haven't gotten a piece of metal and a bulkhead to mount it up nice and pretty yet. But since it is so high up, if you hook that coil hose directly into it and do the PS side tires, the coiled line is sitting against the exhaust, which wouldn't be good for that plastic hose. This 10ft line extends it so I can reach all 4 tires without pulling anything against the exhaust pipe and gives me more reach. Plus this amount of hose is much more manageable than 50ft of hose...

-Phil

Ahh.. makes sense now. Are you still waiting on a bracket? Or are you all hooked up and good to go now?

[AppleTech]

Originally Posted by chitown40

Ahh.. makes sense now. Are you still waiting on a bracket? Or are you all hooked up and good to go now?

Still waiting on Lumpdog to finish the kit... he's just been crazy busy lately. Should have it within a month...

-Phil

[theferg]

You get this finished Phil?

[AppleTech]

Originally Posted by theferg

You get this finished Phil?

haha... nope. Everything is ready except waiting on the backet from Lumpdog. I've been in contact with him back and forth - I guess he's just been crazy busy lately and hasn't got to them. He knows that there are people waiting on them.

I've also been working on my Volvo engine swap, so it's kinda been on the backburner, especially with the price of gas taking it's tole on my recreational driving :(

I'm thinking of picking up a Slee kit as an interim then selling when Lumpdog's comes out... got a couple wheeling trips coming up and I am gonna need air for them. Nothing wrong with the Slee kit, I just like the design on Lumpdog's kit better.

-Phil

[chitown40]

Phil --

I originally went with a single belt setup with my custom made bracket. I found that once I got the belt and pulleys wet and full of dirt, I just didn't have enough contact on them utilizing only a single belt. I had no slipping on the York, but the a/c compressor whined like a whore all the time. I tested it out on my trip out to New Mexico, Arizona, and Moab last May, and found that inclement conditions caused the moaning and slipping. Daily driving it only moaned occasionally. I decided to purchase a triple groove water pump pulley and convert over to the separate belt setup and everything has been working flawlessly with no belt slippage or noise.

I would seriously consider a custom bracket where you can add a tensioner to the system and go with the extra belt setup over the lumpdog design. The Slee kit could probably be easily modified to accept a tensioner and might be the most cost effective and easiest route.

[alia176]

Originally Posted by chitown40

Phil --

I originally went with a single belt setup with my custom made bracket. I found that once I got the belt and pulleys wet and full of dirt, I just didn't have enough contact on them utilizing only a single belt. I had no slipping on the York, but the a/c compressor whined like a whore all the time. I tested it out on my trip out to New Mexico, Arizona, and Moab last May, and found that inclement conditions caused the moaning and slipping. Daily driving it only moaned occasionally. I decided to purchase a triple groove water pump pulley and convert over to the separate belt setup and everything has been working flawlessly with no belt slippage or noise.

I would seriously consider a custom bracket where you can add a tensioner to the system and go with the extra belt setup over the lumpdog design. The Slee kit could probably be easily modified to accept a tensioner and might be the most cost effective and easiest route.

I thought that the new Slee brackets DO come with tensioners

[chitown40]

Originally Posted by alia176

I thought that the new Slee brackets DO come with tensioners

Are you on the down-low with Slee?

He only has the picture of the original run brackets on his site.

[AppleTech]

Ok, so here's an update. I got the system at least up and functioning for my bachelor party weekend run up to Big Bear last weekend.

I ended up getting the Slee bracket, as I needed to have the system up ASAP and Lumpdog still hadn't finished his kit. I'm going to still check his out when I can as I think it is a nice kit as well.

The Good:
- The system airs up very quickly - not much more than 1.5 min for each tire from 20psi to 35 or so. I was running at idle as I haven't installed a hand throttle yet.

- The Slee bracket doesn't involve relocating the metal heater line and was easy to install. The unit DID NOT have tensioners built in, but I was able to tension it with Mr T's OEM jack underneath pushing up from the frame rail. A little elbow grease to get it in line with the new tri-groove pulley. Installed with a new belt (I'll upate with the part #) and the setup is squeel free (with a new belt).

The Bad:
- The bracket doesn't tilt the compressor enough to match the slant of the engine, so the belt from the compressor to the main pulley is a little twisted. This may have been on purpose though, as the belt is within .5 of an inch of the front of the engine block. My first belt installation squeeked, but it was an old belt, so I got a replacement that was the same length but as skinny as I could get it. That belt is much quieter and seems to ride in the grooves better, even with the slight twist.

- Oil, oil, oil! The compressor spews oil, and I stayed on the low side of the York recommended amount (only about 8oz of oil in there right now). There was enough oil that I could see visible oil bubbles where there was a slight leak in my system. I did not have an oil/water separator installed for first use, so my tires have a bit of oil in them right now, but this will be fixed when I install one.

- Leaks! Make sure if you use barbed fittings that your clamps are VERY tight - I found about 3 leaks in the air system where clamps that I thought were tight weren't tight enough for the 150PSI system. Not a huge deal to track down - just use your ears and some soapy water.

Overall (Slee Kit):
I like the Slee kit, but I wish it lined up a bit better. Other than that, it is a great product, especially at the new and improved lower price. However, I was hoping a belt would have been part of the kit to make the install easier. Still, easy to obtain.

Overall (York System):
I am very happy with how this turned out. Once I get an O/W separator I will be much happier as I won't have to worry about filling my tires up with oil! The sytem airs up faster than any other unit I have used. One word of advise... get a screw-on tire chuck if you can - the clip on ones (at least the cheapo one I got from Harbor Freight) have trouble staying on at the 150psi system pressure. I'm still on the lookout for a screw-on type connector to complete the system.

Please feel free to ask any questions or want more pics!

-Phil


Completed system with Slee Bracket:


Pressure switch in front of the battery. I've got to find a better way to secure it!


Bracket Detail:


Belt Detail - notice the angle difference on the belt:

[LandCrusher'70]

Watch that bracket. Mine cracked right where your (red) clutch wire runs over your bracket.

[NLXTACY]

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70

Watch that bracket. Mine cracked right where your (red) clutch wire runs over your bracket.

Ugh, does Christo know about that? I am just about to pull the trigger but would hate to find that little surprise waiting for me after being installed.

[AppleTech]

Originally Posted by LandCrusher'70