Post your CO2 Tank Mounting Ideas - For FAQ (2 Viewers)

[FirstToy]

ability to reseat a bead, run air tools and air up very quickly. You can take it out and also use it elsewhere. It's a simple, easy solution.
Those are the advantages for me and it doesn't take up much room. Good compressor is nice too but it can't do the above things (unless you have a aux.air tank setup).

 

[nakman]

Stripper Pole Mount

Hey, that guy's running the same CO2 mount that I am..

And for the sake of perpetuating this friendly discussion, I leave mine in the truck all the time, and have never worried about CO2 leaking into the cabin. There seems to be plenty of air coming in to displace any leaking out of the tank.. which I doubt there is.

What about heat? I'd be freaked out to leave a tank up on the roof, there was quite a warning about heat that came with my tank, I believe it was temperatures over 150F? I'm more worried about the tank exploding from pressure buildup due to heat than I'm worried about the tank exploding and asphixiating (sp?) the passengers. I keep it covered with a club head cover, just so it never sees direct sun.

 

[Beowulf]

I'm more worried about the tank exploding from pressure buildup due to heat than I'm worried about the tank exploding and asphixiating (sp?) the passengers.

As mentioned above, the tank will not "explode." There is a pop-off valve built in to the tank valve. If the pressure exceeds the limit, the safety valve will pop and you will be unable to have it filled until the valve is replaced.

-B-

 

[clarkrw3]

How much usable CO2 do these 10lb tanks give you?? I had planned on setting up a tank and compressor system but if these thanks allow air tools, repeated airing up ect maybe one of these is the way to go??

 

[hoser]

Clarkrw3--here are some figures from the powertank website.

http://powertank.com/chart.htm

 

[Beowulf]

...repeated airing up ect maybe one of these is the way to go??

Clark,
CO2 is very convenient, fast, portable, and relatively inexpensive. The biggest drawback is that it is a finite resource; when you're out, you're out and a refill may not be convenient. The other thing that is an irritant is that you have to guess at how much CO2 is in the tank and what that translates to tyre fills. Example: you weigh the empty tank, then weigh the "full" tank. You use it a few times and re-weigh; estimating that you have 1.2# remaining. Is that enough for 4 tyres? You and a buddy? If you are taking a multi-day trip do you purge the 1.2# and refill?

With CO2, a spare tank would avoid some of these issues *or* you can rig up a portable air compressor like the MV50 so that you can use all of the CO2, then switch over to compressed air. The addition of an air storage tank makes compressed air viable for running air tools & reseating beads where a compressor alone usually will just fill tyres.

With a big compressor (York, ExtremeAire, Thomas) you can do a lot but installation and cost becomes a bigger issue.

I have decided to have both; CO2 for portability and speed; tank with compressor for infinite source of air and capable of running air tools, reseating beads, or just inflating tyres.

-B-

 

[Rich]

...The other thing that is an irritant is that you have to guess at how much CO2 is in the tank ...

There are stick on liquid crystal "gauges" that are intended to be used on propane tanks. They work only when the tank is in use. They are temperature sensitive, and depict the level in the tank based on the difference in temperature that exists due to the cooling that results from the liquid expanding into a gas. I would guess that they would also work for a CO2 tank.

 

[Brentbba]

Here's my solution to a CO2 mount. Credit for the idea goes to Chris Geiger and Beowolf with a little innovation I'll credit to the welder I had do the work.

The CO2 bracket that most of us have is a fairly standard fire extinguisher bracket.

I used a 7"(w)x8"(d)x1/4"(h) piece of steel that's welded between the two circular knobs found on the 3rd row seat bracket. The knobs sit 7" apart, thus the 7" width. The bottom of the plate is futher supported with a triangular piece that's welded in on the bottom of the plate and to the seat bracket. I chose to have the CO2 tank bracket welded to the steel plate as opposed to just bolting it on. Bolts would add some versitility to the bracket as an option. The entire welding job and piece of steel ran me all of $20. I cleaned up the piece with some acetone I have. You could use paint thinner or other solvent to remove residue left by the welds. Your paint will adhere better if you spend just a couple of minutes cleaning the bracket before painting. I did rattle can primer before rattle canning the gloss black to match the OEM bracket and CO2 tank bracket. Total paint cost $10 for a total project cost of a whooping $30!. It's extremely sturdy.

Here are some pics of the bracket:

 

[Brentbba]

One more pic of the bracket showing the triangular support piece and one of it installed in position without the CO2 tank. Yes - those are 12V outlets to the left of the tank bracket - one switched and one unswitched.

 

[Brentbba]

Here are a few of the bracket with the CO2 tank from The Source installed. I've subsequently rotated the tank so the regulator faces the rear of the truck and with the supplied air hose, I can reach all four tires thru the rear without taking the tank out. You could also route the air hose out the passenger doors or rear sliding windows.

I've been very happ with it. No rattles, nothing. It's solid.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Nice Work Brent!

 

[Brentbba]

Nice Work Brent!

Thx - outside the rattle can's, I didn't do any of the welding. Guy at the welding shop used to own a 60, so while one of his guys welded the steel plate to the brackets, we BS'ed about cruisers.

I did take my time with the painting. Like I said, I cleaned the piece very well, taped off all the rubber pieces in the bracket and applied several light coats of both the primer and the black.

 

[krisfj40]

Here's mine...
I'll take some other close-ups of the bracket itself when I get home.

 

[Romer]

These are great guys thanks. I am going to install theone Brentbba showed up above. I just bought the seat bracket from a wrecked rig part out. I will have to order the CO2 bracket/holder and then have my friend weld up the same setup.

hmmmm, I have a 10lb Outback air setup in the 40 I move back and forth. Keep using that or get a new one with a 15lb tank?? Brents looks like a 10lb, so the 15lb tank would probably be too tall. Leaning towards using my existing air setup and using the new bracket in the Lexus for swapping.

I know the pic below is an FJ40, but its the system I would be swapping between that and the bracket Brent and B came up with.

 

[spressomon]

Drawer mount...

 

[Romer]

I copied exactly the setup above that Brentbba posted that he gave credit to Chris Geiger and Beowolf . I even used these posts as the instructions to the guy who made it for me.

The ultimate tank had the tank bracket. I bought an extra seat bracket for $15 and that way I can swap them in about 10 minutes if i need a people hauler. My friend welded it together for $20 including materials.

I really like this set-up

 

[Boston Mangler]

Here is mine

Very similar and it uses the stock 3rd row seat brackets with some mods. This is for the big daddy 20lber!

The pics are in various stages of completion of the bracket!

 

[Romer]

Here is another solution from this thread

I've been working on my wildyoats rear bumper for the last couple days but I spent about an hour working on a bracket to hold my CO2 tank in the truck.

I still use my 3rd row seats periodically so I bought an extra passenger side 3rd row seat bracket from racerdave's wrecked truck that I could modify. Used some 3/4" bar stock and a little flat stock, along with my newl acquired vehicle mounting bracket for my 20lb tank and......viola! Still needs paint.

Really easy and the thing is super solid. Since I used the extra seat bracket I can just bolt this one in when I'm headed to the trail and leave my seats in the rest of the time.

 

[Romer]

I thought I should update. My previous mounting setup has been moved to my daughters 96. I have since installed drawers and mine are bolted to the drawers with some foam behind the bracket to keep it from bouncing against the side

 

[alvarorb]

I mounted mine on my roof rack. It's convenient and out of the way.

Alvaro