LXColorado
LX -> LC
- Thread starter
- #21
Gotcha. I've got the same kit and purchased an ARB inflator gauge to go with it. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy and missed something. Thanks for the response.
ARB Twin Compressor Install (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter LXColorado
- Start date
-
- Tags
- arb compressor
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Question for everyone:
I have the new Slee tray,the ARB twin compressor and manifold. In what order does everything get installed? Do I install the entire battery tray, then add the compressor and then the manifold? Do I mount the compressor to the tray, then mount the tray in the Land Cruiser? Trying not to do everything twice (like I typically do).
Thank you for the help.
I have the new Slee tray,the ARB twin compressor and manifold. In what order does everything get installed? Do I install the entire battery tray, then add the compressor and then the manifold? Do I mount the compressor to the tray, then mount the tray in the Land Cruiser? Trying not to do everything twice (like I typically do).
Thank you for the help.
I did not have the compressor at the time I installed the battery tray, however I would suggest tray 1st so that the compressor doesn't block the ability get to a tray mounting bolt. You don't mention which compressor you have, the twin is a tight fit. I juggled the battery around and the twin compressor to get the best clearance.
LXColorado
LX -> LC
- Thread starter
- #25
MAKE SURE YOU USE GAS THREAD TAPE AND GASKET MAKER ON ALL CONNECTIONS. Don't repeat my mistake and he-man the bolts, you WILL break something 
Make sure you have extra wire of the same gauge as the wiring harness to connect to battery (I got mine from Home Depot). Make sure you have good crimper/cutter, wire connectors, correct size heat shrinks and wire tubing. This is how I would do it again...
Pre-Step 1: Crack an Avery Brewing's Raja Double IPA
1. Setup the compressor before mounting to the battery tray (following the instructions provided with the compressor)
2. Attach the SS line from the manifold kit to the compressor. This setup requires the SS line to come out of the compressor at an angle
3. Run the interior portion of the wiring harness through the firewall. Once you have the wire in position, move it to the side
4. Follow Slee instructions for the tray installation
5. Attach the compressor to the wiring harness, and mount to the tray. Lightly tighten the bolts for now.
6. Attach the manifold kit to the tray. You may have to tinker with it as there are many ways to attach it. For example, I ended up flipping the mounting brackets on the manifold kit around. The goal is to have the quick connect (from the pump up kit) towards the passenger side, and the SS line attachment bolt on the drivers side.
7. Attach the SS line from the compressor to the manifold, and finish tightening mounting bolts
8. Mount the interior switch and finish interior wiring
9. Connect the wiring harness to the main battery. The goal here is to check the functionality of the compressor, and make sure all connections are air tight before making work space VERY limited. It's a PITA to fix a leak once you've installed the airbox and dual battery. Attach the pump up kit hose with a tire inflator (this will make releasing pressure from the manifold easier later on). If the compressor functions normally, and has no leaks, disconnect from the main battery (if you are going to run a dual battery, go to next step) and release the pressure from the manifold by turning off the compressor and engaging the tire inflator from the pump up kit. If you are running off the main, dress and run the wires to the main and re-install airbox.
10. Re-install airbox
11. Complete IBS (or your preferred dual battery management system) before finishing compressor install.
12. Once the IBS is completed, dress and run wires from the compressor to the aux. battery.
I don't have the instructions in front of me, but from memory, that's how I would do it. Good luck, take pics and add info for others!
Make sure you have extra wire of the same gauge as the wiring harness to connect to battery (I got mine from Home Depot). Make sure you have good crimper/cutter, wire connectors, correct size heat shrinks and wire tubing. This is how I would do it again...Pre-Step 1: Crack an Avery Brewing's Raja Double IPA
1. Setup the compressor before mounting to the battery tray (following the instructions provided with the compressor)
2. Attach the SS line from the manifold kit to the compressor. This setup requires the SS line to come out of the compressor at an angle
3. Run the interior portion of the wiring harness through the firewall. Once you have the wire in position, move it to the side
4. Follow Slee instructions for the tray installation
5. Attach the compressor to the wiring harness, and mount to the tray. Lightly tighten the bolts for now.
6. Attach the manifold kit to the tray. You may have to tinker with it as there are many ways to attach it. For example, I ended up flipping the mounting brackets on the manifold kit around. The goal is to have the quick connect (from the pump up kit) towards the passenger side, and the SS line attachment bolt on the drivers side.
7. Attach the SS line from the compressor to the manifold, and finish tightening mounting bolts
8. Mount the interior switch and finish interior wiring
9. Connect the wiring harness to the main battery. The goal here is to check the functionality of the compressor, and make sure all connections are air tight before making work space VERY limited. It's a PITA to fix a leak once you've installed the airbox and dual battery. Attach the pump up kit hose with a tire inflator (this will make releasing pressure from the manifold easier later on). If the compressor functions normally, and has no leaks, disconnect from the main battery (if you are going to run a dual battery, go to next step) and release the pressure from the manifold by turning off the compressor and engaging the tire inflator from the pump up kit. If you are running off the main, dress and run the wires to the main and re-install airbox.
10. Re-install airbox
11. Complete IBS (or your preferred dual battery management system) before finishing compressor install.
12. Once the IBS is completed, dress and run wires from the compressor to the aux. battery.
I don't have the instructions in front of me, but from memory, that's how I would do it. Good luck, take pics and add info for others!
Last edited:
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
The compressor is my least favorite install so far and that's counting replacing my steering rack (I don't want to do that ever again either so maybe they are on the same plane in that regard).
I don't have a warm fuzzy about the durability of the aux battery / compressor mount. It moves too much when you push on it. Kind of like flaps around. That's going to eventually fatigue, crack, and break.
The wiring harness is a cluster of wires that I haven't sorted out yet. My power run will be a lot shorter since I'm going to use the aux battery but the @!$#* fuses are so far down the cable I'll have to either throw them away and buy knew, splice (urp... I hate splicing DC cabling so that ain't happening), or wad it up and hope it doesn't look as ugly as I think it will (yes I realize that ARB made the harness to fit in a lot of applications.... the should have fused it closer to the compressor)
^^^ (LXColorado) post above has the most information that I've found so far. Maybe my searcher is broken.
The manifold kit is only shown with a single ARB compressor in online ads. That's not helpful if you have a dual ARB compressor (I do)
I mounted mine here (ignore the flesh colored object. Someones (mine) thumb got in the way):
but it can't stay there. I need it to be at the top of the bracket so I can put locker solenoids on it. There's no way to do that when it's mounted at the bottom because of the air box. I didn't realize that until I installed the air box. Bummer.
I don't want to have to touch this thing again if I get lockers so, all of this has to come back out. Next weekend.
The compressor only came with 4 bolts so 1/2 of the holes are unused. Apparently that's by design?
Once I do that, the air quick connect is going to be too high. I can come out of the side and either plug the top or put a back tapped pressure gauge in it.
I don't like the connection pointing up anyway. That's just asking for dirt and bs to get into the connection and cut an o-ring or something.
I think that I spent too much time fiddling with this thing and wasn't thinking clearly when I mounted the manifold kit down there. It would be fine if I didn't have to put the air box back
I changed the brackets on the air locker manifold 2 or 3 times to see if I could get it to match the mounting holes for the compressor. That didn't work out and it added some needless frustration to the job.
Reading through this thread I see some notes about leaks and thread sealant. The air manifold I have has o-rings. I can see lubing them but not putting sealant on them.
ARB calls it an Air Locker Manifold Kit. It's not a kit. It's a box of parts.
I still need to route a pair of #2 cables for the DC panel in the cargo area. That'll come through the firewall with the compressor control wiring and IBS so I should probably do that during this install before I put the air box back after fixing my mounting screw up.
I don't have a warm fuzzy about the durability of the aux battery / compressor mount. It moves too much when you push on it. Kind of like flaps around. That's going to eventually fatigue, crack, and break.
The wiring harness is a cluster of wires that I haven't sorted out yet. My power run will be a lot shorter since I'm going to use the aux battery but the @!$#* fuses are so far down the cable I'll have to either throw them away and buy knew, splice (urp... I hate splicing DC cabling so that ain't happening), or wad it up and hope it doesn't look as ugly as I think it will (yes I realize that ARB made the harness to fit in a lot of applications.... the should have fused it closer to the compressor)
^^^ (LXColorado) post above has the most information that I've found so far. Maybe my searcher is broken.
The manifold kit is only shown with a single ARB compressor in online ads. That's not helpful if you have a dual ARB compressor (I do)
I mounted mine here (ignore the flesh colored object. Someones (mine) thumb got in the way):
but it can't stay there. I need it to be at the top of the bracket so I can put locker solenoids on it. There's no way to do that when it's mounted at the bottom because of the air box. I didn't realize that until I installed the air box. Bummer.
I don't want to have to touch this thing again if I get lockers so, all of this has to come back out. Next weekend.
The compressor only came with 4 bolts so 1/2 of the holes are unused. Apparently that's by design?
Once I do that, the air quick connect is going to be too high. I can come out of the side and either plug the top or put a back tapped pressure gauge in it.
I don't like the connection pointing up anyway. That's just asking for dirt and bs to get into the connection and cut an o-ring or something.
I think that I spent too much time fiddling with this thing and wasn't thinking clearly when I mounted the manifold kit down there. It would be fine if I didn't have to put the air box back
I changed the brackets on the air locker manifold 2 or 3 times to see if I could get it to match the mounting holes for the compressor. That didn't work out and it added some needless frustration to the job.
Reading through this thread I see some notes about leaks and thread sealant. The air manifold I have has o-rings. I can see lubing them but not putting sealant on them.
ARB calls it an Air Locker Manifold Kit. It's not a kit. It's a box of parts.
I still need to route a pair of #2 cables for the DC panel in the cargo area. That'll come through the firewall with the compressor control wiring and IBS so I should probably do that during this install before I put the air box back after fixing my mounting screw up.
hoser
SILVER Star
I'm sure they last a lot longer when not installed in the engine compartment.
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
I looked at a half dozen "what do you think of the ARB compressors reliability" posts, mostly Jeep guys but not all, and the consensus seems to be that it's very reliable.
Then there was this comment "One thing to consider is that not only will the twin air up tires faster then most compressors our there,it is 100% duty cycle so you can air up a whole bunch of tires." Except it's not 100% duty cycle. It's 50% duty cycle.
Here's a test of some alternative compressors: Overland Journal: Air Compressor Test
Then there was this comment "One thing to consider is that not only will the twin air up tires faster then most compressors our there,
Here's a test of some alternative compressors: Overland Journal: Air Compressor Test
Last edited:
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
That question did come up and generally that's where people put them. But it's got to shorten the life based on the amount of heat that's under the hood. ARB makes a 1 gallon tank for the dual compressor model. That seems like a good idea (except for the part where it has to be mounted somewhere)
Found this- "The ARB high-volume compressor is a smart upgrade by ARB from their original low-volume unit, which was intended solely for activating locking differentials. It’s now vastly more capable as a multi-purpose com- pressor, and a highly recommended upgrade if you currently use an original ARB compressor for both lockers and tire inflation. Given how hot it runs while inflating multiple tires, I’d mount it outside the engine compartment to keep it as cool as possible (a good idea with any compressor)."
This is making me rethink where I put the compressor. I wonder if it would fit under the rear (not third row) seat?
Last edited:
Well I mounted mine on the slee bracket. In general I'm pleased, the line to the front air locker is short, the wiring lines are short. As far as the ambient air in another location being lower, I don't think that's a huge factor.
Guessing here: If the air in the engine compartment is 110 and the other location is 80 when you crank it up it get hot from pumping quickly and maybe as much as 150.
If you want to increase the life, not airing up your buddies tires right after yours or taking 5 minutes off before airing up the rears would help more than starting off at a lower ambient temp. My 2 cents.
Guessing here: If the air in the engine compartment is 110 and the other location is 80 when you crank it up it get hot from pumping quickly and maybe as much as 150.
If you want to increase the life, not airing up your buddies tires right after yours or taking 5 minutes off before airing up the rears would help more than starting off at a lower ambient temp. My 2 cents.
RET2
SILVER Star
If you loosen the 10mm bolts on the black ends of the manifold you can rotate the silver center section so that the 2 locker solenoid holes face up. You can then get a combination of brass fittings to move the air out connection to a more accessable location. I think in it's current position it would be very hard to utilize it?
RET2
SILVER Star
^^^ This
Nice mod, what kind of discount was Christo and the gang running?
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
In Death Valley or Big Bend the outside air temp reaches 110°F with ease. I have to think in terms of where I hang out the most. I don't know what the under hood temps reach but it's more than ambient by a good margin. Heat of compression is most affected by the compression ratio. Just before cutoff the compression ratio is about 11:1 (assuming sea level pressure and 150 psig cutoff). Heat of compression is going to be over 500°F with 70°F intake air but some of that will be dissipated by the compressor cooling fins and metal body. The Overland Journal said the head temperature of the ARB twin compressor reached 329°F during their test. The were testing the portable version.
If you want to do your own math:
dT = T1 * [(P2/P1)^0.286 - 1]/eff
dT is the temperature rise °R
T1 is the inlet temperature, degrees absolute °R
P2 is the final pressure, absolute, not gauge
P1 is the inlet pressure, absolute, not gauge
eff is the efficiency of compression and this is where you'll see the amount of heat generated be most affected. I don't know what to use here. I think 0.70 (70%) would be generous but it's a place to start
Convert °R to °F subtract 459.67 from the number
For sea level add 14.7 to PSIG to get absolute pressure (sort of. Even at sea level air pressure varies. It's close enough though)
All that said, halving the intake air temp by moving the compressor into the LC (but where??) is not out of the realm of possibility and that would make a noticeable difference.
BTW - if you're up in the mountains the compression ratio goes up quite a bit. 0 to 150 = 12 - 162 psia. 162/12 = 13.5:1. That's a full 2.5 ratios more than at sea level. That will generate a lot more heat.
100% agree with your last sentence. Observing and respecting the 50% design duty cycle of the compressor (30m on / 30m off)
The reality is that there aren't a lot of options for putting the compressor inside. That would greatly increase the wire length and therefore size. The compressor pulls something like 32A so 2 gauge wire isn't out of the realm of possibility. Noise... I've never heard one run but it probably doesn't whisper.
Maybe I'm missing a bracket? The compressor flexes a lot on my bracket. Flexing is going to cause it to fail at some point.
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
Yeah... I don't know what I was thinking when I put it there. I've had the manifold completely apart, swapped brackets, put them back, rotated things, etc. I put the holes the way I did because of a picture I saw of a manifold wth solenoids on it. But it wasn't installed at the bottom of the bracket. Without the air box there are no issues
The next time I work in it, it'll be better. I may move the compressor but I pretty much talked myself out if it ^^^. The negatives outweigh the positives. I will definitely move the manifold to the top.
LXColorado
LX -> LC
- Thread starter
- #37
Feels like you're missing something on the install. The bracket is rock solid in mine. Slee will not leave you hanging, give them a call. If it's on the compressor side: Go over the instructions again and see if you're missing a bolt or something. ARB has left things out on more than one occasion for me - products are great, but their instructions and included hardware are seriously lacking. I've had to run to Home Depot to pick up bolts/washers/nuts they've left out.
Can you clue me in on the 50% duty cycle figure? On ARB's website, it states the twin is 100%.
The only other logical place to put it is in the back. I know the 200 peeps can tuck a twin behind the panels, but not so sure on the 100.
Can you clue me in on the 50% duty cycle figure? On ARB's website, it states the twin is 100%.
The only other logical place to put it is in the back. I know the 200 peeps can tuck a twin behind the panels, but not so sure on the 100.
Well, you got me with the math and Death Valley temps for sure. We don't see those kind of numbers in the North East.
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
I suppose I should clarify- Slee Offroad is awesome. I have zero complaints about them. The order process was great. Fit and finish of everything is great. The bracket flex surprised me and I looked around to see if I missed something. I'll take a look at the parts list and see if something is missing. I could put a piece of 1/4" thick x 1" angle on one side and get rid of the flex if necessary (I think)
I saw the 50% duty cycle mentioned here: Overland Journal: Air Compressor Test
BUT!!! That was for a ARB CKMA12 High-volume compressor and mine (and probably yours) is an ARB CKMTA12 compressor
- 100% duty cycle that pumps out 6.16 CFM—the highest air flow rate of any 12V compressor of its size
Mike6158
Random Pixel Generator
Yeah, well... it doesn't matter lol I don't want to eat up interior space with a compressor and I don't want to listen to it. So it's staying right where it is. A little light bulb came on- it's only going to run when I need it to and that, for the most part, is going to be when I have to air up and air isn't available, it not that often. Or if I add lockers in the future. I've been over thinking again. It's a curse I tell ya...
