"Gettoest" onboard air setup (1 Viewer)

[joshoisasleep]

So recently I have been inspired to create an onboard air setup for my cruiser. There are several very solid threads on here about creating onboard air setups by converting air conditioning pumps. All of these threads end up with very nice, safe finished products with all the bells and whistles. I want to do something a little simpler.

I was inspired to do this in Bolivia, where there are literally FLEETS of landcruisers with AC onboard air conversions. These guys don't have fancy valves or even pressure tanks... I was talking to them to make sure, and all they do is literally take the hose straight off the pressure side of the factory AC pump, as it was installed by Toyota, attach a tire filling hose to it, and use it just like that. That's what I want to do.

The only problem with doing exactly this that I've come across is the oil thing. Many AC compressors get their lubrication from the refrigerant, which poses both the problem of adding a lubricant, and also that of stopping it from going into the tire. I noticed that when the Bolivian cruiser drivers filled my tires, they held a rag between the valve and the filling hose... I guess this was to filter out the oil??

Can anyone who knows the ins and outs of the stock 60 series AC compressor offer any insight on lubrication and how to get around this problem?

 

[Randy88FJ62]

I was also looking at AC compressor setups today and they use a separator to keep the oil out of the air line. I don't know much more than that right now. Still researching it.

 

[joshoisasleep]

With the getto setup the end result will be that you press the AC button on the dash and your hose is pumping out high pressure air until you turn it off. It will not wait for you to press it to the tire valve stem... it'll just shoot it out until you turn it off. This is not as desirable as a well designed setup with a tank and valvel, but it is MUCH simpler and of course means less to go wrong. And also for myself, I plan to use my AC again someday but for now would like onboard air, and to always have the option of trading my AC for a compressor in real emergencies.

This whole thought came about after my electric compressor blew itself up in a remote desert, leaving me without enough air costing me a tire, which was a VERY lucky outcome considering how remote I was. With an air hose and the right connection, every AC equipped landcruiser has emergency onboard air.

 

[inkpot]

With the getto setup the end result will be that you press the AC button on the dash and your hose is pumping out high pressure air until you turn it off. It will not wait for you to press it to the tire valve stem... it'll just shoot it out until you turn it off. This is not as desirable as a well designed setup with a tank and valvel, but it is MUCH simpler and of course means less to go wrong. And also for myself, I plan to use my AC again someday but for now would like onboard air, and to always have the option of trading my AC for a compressor in real emergencies.

This whole thought came about after my electric compressor blew itself up in a remote desert, leaving me without enough air costing me a tire, which was a VERY lucky outcome considering how remote I was. With an air hose and the right connection, every AC equipped landcruiser has emergency onboard air.

Howdy! So they just pump Freon into their tires? John

 

[philos1]

Steal a CO2 bottle. How's that for ghetto?

 

[CDUFF7]

i CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT a/c!!!!!

 

[joshoisasleep]

Howdy! So they just pump Freon into their tires? John

No all the freon escapes pretty quick when you open the system. If you're using it as an AC, it's a REAL emergency compressor because if you use it you have to go get your AC recharged right away. If not then it doesn't matter.

Steal a CO2 bottle. How's that for ghetto?

If you were in a place where you could steal a Co2 bottle, then you could certainly steal tires as well. Why not just steal an already inflated set? Or better yet wait for a whole landcruiser to come along and steal that!

 

[cruiser_guy]

If it were me, I'd simply have either the front or rear bumper designed as an air tank and pressurize it to say 80-100 PSI whenever compressed air was available. It's been done before and you don't blow your A/C charge just because your tire is low on air.

If you want to use an A/C compressor as on board air just use an oil separator on the output and an oiler on the suction side.

 

[joshoisasleep]

Hmmm that tank idea would be a good idea for me... my rear bumper could hold a massive amount of... anything if I closed it off and sealed it. Of course, the trick would be finding a welder who could/would seal it well enough to hold air

 

[Randy88FJ62]

carry a hand pump if you feel your electric compressor was not reliable. I'm still contemplating using my AC compressor but I'm thinking that living in Sothern California will make me change my mind.

 

[joshoisasleep]

carry a hand pump if you feel your electric compressor was not reliable. I'm still contemplating using my AC compressor but I'm thinking that living in Sothern California will make me change my mind.

What like a bicycle pump? I have one now but it won't get it much over 25psi... not enough in rough rocky terrain. Also they die just as easily as the electric ones... overheating after a few hundred pumps... not good enough for more than one tire for sure. It is actually faster than the electric pump though!

What I want is something tougher for the exact situation that I found myself in... days from anywhere out in the desert, spare tire destroyed and three leaky tires one of which will be flat by morning every morning. Before you make it home a tank might be emptied, and electric or hand pumps are crazy slow and prone to dying. The AC pump the bolivian cruisers had were the only thing to have out there. Sure most people aren't regularly in that situation, and it's better to be prepared when it comes to your tires... but sometimes you think you're prepared when you're not! (in my case I had four tires that had never had so much as a leak in equally rough terrain, a spare, and an electric pump)

 

[sandcruiser]

If you can live without AC, then the compressor could be converted easily enough.
I'd beware of watching what the local "bush" mechanics do-- I've seen literally dozens of examples of practices that, in the long run, are a bad bargain-- fried AC compressor comes to mind. They can probably source the parts to rebuild one pretty easily. Can you?

A good quality 12v pump won't be fast, but they can last a long time and endure some pretty rough use. I've had mine for 5+ years, running an air locker and airing up tires. In some pretty dusty conditions. No worries (yet). And I've still got AC.

If you really want to take that route, maybe you can find a spare compressor in a boneyard and adapt that. I don't know how much space you have under the hood to make it fit, but it would be my first choice vs. potentially killing and expensive stock AC compressor. And you could build it right with a pressure switch that disconnects the electrc clutch. Those switches are less than $15.

 

[joshoisasleep]

I have no problem with building it right, except that I have no knowledge of electrics, pressure switches etc to wire it properly, and when I don't know exactly what I'm looking for finding all the parts other people put into this project down here seems really daunting. I know they're all readily available... it's just a little over my head. An oil/air separator definitely sounds doable!

 

[cruiser_guy]

I'm 100% with "Sandcruiser", the local "mechanics" or mechanic wannabes come up with ideas that may work for the short term but are not necessarily good ideas.

I'd bet that "Sandcruiser" doesn't often leave his vehicle at the local mechanic and I know that I never do, not even for an oil change any more (I had to pull the diff cover last time just to remove the plug by using an easyout because the last guy made it so tight)!

No offence to latinos but it seems that the prevailing mentality here in Central America is "just make it last for today, we'll worry about tomorrow when it comes". I'd be hesitant about adopting an idea just because the locals do it. First give it a good think, it might be a fine idea.

 

[joshoisasleep]

I hear yah... the amount of bolts, threads that have been stripped, mashed, hammered... I've still got to get that shock replaced thanks to exactly that...

Still it makes sense... if you can lubricate it, it should be fine...? I like the thought that it's a dual purpose item... back home in Canada I'm sure not gonna need the AC except a few days/weeks in the summer that would be spoiled by not having the window down anyway...

 

[Eporter]

This is how I roll these days, all classy with my Park Tool Floor Pump:

I used to have a "ghetto" foot pump. It blew so little, it sucked.

Definitely worth it to have a nice floor pump if you're at all serious about road/mt. biking. I usually throw mine in the truck, along with a plug kit, and I'm all set.

YES, it takes awhile to pump up a 33 to 10PSI, but it CAN be done!

Cheaper pumps overheat and crap out. Good floor pumps are built to be used.

 

[cruiser_guy]

Still it makes sense... if you can lubricate it, it should be fine...? I like the thought that it's a dual purpose item... back home in Canada I'm sure not gonna need the AC except a few days/weeks in the summer that would be spoiled by not having the window down anyway...

It's NOT a dual purpose item, it's an A/C compressor until a tire needs inflating and then it's an air pump until you spend some serious coin to make it an A/C compressor again. Personally, if you're set on "on board air" using an A/C compressor I'd figure out what a common A/C compressor is in the wreckers at home and set up one dedicated to on board air.

I for one would not be so easy to give up my A/C. It's handy at home even if it's not hot. Did you know that when your windows are all foggy from the rain in B.C. that you can run the A/C AND the heat (once the engine is warm) and your windows will clear off in a minute (because the A/C dehumidifies the air)? It beats wiping them with your sleeve or a rag or whatever every few minutes and the heater easily overpowers the A/C. Handy too when you've been skiing and everything is wet and the windows get foggy. It's not just useful in Arizona at 115 degrees!!

 

[joshoisasleep]

Did you know that when your windows are all foggy from the rain in B.C. that you can run the A/C AND the heat (once the engine is warm) and your windows will clear off in a minute (because the A/C dehumidifies the air)?

Nice that's a really cool trick. Now it does sound useful back home afterall.
By "dual purpose" I didn't really mean like you could switch back and forth... I just meant that without actually making any mechanical changes you could have AC one year if you're in a hot place, a compressor the next if you're doing a lot of wheeling... yeah I dunno - you're totally right that it'd be a better idea to just mount another AC pump, but my refrigerant's vented now anyway so I'm for sure gonna give it a go! In my case it's not making the AC work any worse than it was. Now to track down an air hose and an air/oil separator.

 

[sixty]

Nice that's a really cool trick. Now it does sound useful back home afterall.
By "dual purpose" I didn't really mean like you could switch back and forth... I just meant that without actually making any mechanical changes you could have AC one year if you're in a hot place, a compressor the next if you're doing a lot of wheeling... yeah I dunno - you're totally right that it'd be a better idea to just mount another AC pump, but my refrigerant's vented now anyway so I'm for sure gonna give it a go! In my case it's not making the AC work any worse than it was. Now to track down an air hose and an air/oil separator.

You will also need a way to add oil to the intake or you will fry the compressor quickly. York compressors work alot better since they have a sump. They are still a pain in the ass cause they tent to get blow-by no matter what you do (especially when they get hot) & you need to drain the oil from the seperator and add it back into the compressor.

I would look into an electric MV-50 and maybe a spare too for about $50 ea. shipping will kill you though.

 

[cruiser88]

C02 is the bomb yo