The current inlet filter set-up for my engine bay mounted O.B.A. Viair 460C compressor routes the air through a dinky little Viair filter mounted on the top of the firewall next to the second battery, then through a 5 ½’ long 3/8” I.D. hose to the compressor mounted in front of the engine air filter box. I originally selected that filter location so it would be high and dry (It’s actually zip tied to my extended diff breather filters). This set-up has worked fine for years but all of a sudden I realized this thing is sucking in 150 to 180 deg. air directly from the engine bay! Very hot air into an air cooled compressor (with no cooling fan) didn’t make much sense and definitely would not contribute to longevity.
You might ask: "Why don’t you just open the hood while you are running the compressor?"
Well, because I don’t need to unless the ambient air temp is over 80 Deg. because where the compressor is mounted, any outside temperature below 80 gives an inside hood temp within specs for running the compressor (around 150 deg as I recall) and I usually like to run the compressor to fill up my slider air tanks ahead of time, if possible, when I know I’m getting near the end of a trail run which decreases air-up time considerably.
So, I came up with a simple solution for a COLD air intake where almost ambient temperature, highly FILTERED air could be fed directly to the compressor.
It taps cool outside air from the filtered side of the air box.
This air is up to 100 degrees or more cooler then the original set-up using hot engine bay air.
I researched bulkhead mounts to use for the air box hose fitting on line but decided I didn’t want ANY possibility of anything breaking or coming loose inside the air box and ultimately going through the engine so I ended up making my own flange out of Acetyl plastic and screwed it to the outside surface of the air filter box. I then coated the protruding S/S sheet metal screws on the inside with Sho-Goo just for added pullout strength.
The hose between the air box and compressor is now ½” I.D. and only about 10” long providing MUCH better flow than the original 5 ½’ long 3/8” I.D. hose.
The two new OEM Toyota hose clamps I just happened to have on hand completed the project.
I’m really happy with the way it turned out and have confidence that the change will increase the life span of the compressor and maybe even decrease air up time. We’ll see!
You might ask: "Why don’t you just open the hood while you are running the compressor?"
Well, because I don’t need to unless the ambient air temp is over 80 Deg. because where the compressor is mounted, any outside temperature below 80 gives an inside hood temp within specs for running the compressor (around 150 deg as I recall) and I usually like to run the compressor to fill up my slider air tanks ahead of time, if possible, when I know I’m getting near the end of a trail run which decreases air-up time considerably.
So, I came up with a simple solution for a COLD air intake where almost ambient temperature, highly FILTERED air could be fed directly to the compressor.
It taps cool outside air from the filtered side of the air box.
This air is up to 100 degrees or more cooler then the original set-up using hot engine bay air.
I researched bulkhead mounts to use for the air box hose fitting on line but decided I didn’t want ANY possibility of anything breaking or coming loose inside the air box and ultimately going through the engine so I ended up making my own flange out of Acetyl plastic and screwed it to the outside surface of the air filter box. I then coated the protruding S/S sheet metal screws on the inside with Sho-Goo just for added pullout strength.
The hose between the air box and compressor is now ½” I.D. and only about 10” long providing MUCH better flow than the original 5 ½’ long 3/8” I.D. hose.
The two new OEM Toyota hose clamps I just happened to have on hand completed the project.
I’m really happy with the way it turned out and have confidence that the change will increase the life span of the compressor and maybe even decrease air up time. We’ll see!
