Vintage Air woes (2 Viewers)

[asu4runner]

Hey mud. It’s been a while since I installed my VA kit. It works just fine, but there are a few things I don’t like about it about a year of use. Last week the bracket that holds the compressor and alternator broke in half. Don’t know why. When it broke it rammed the AC compressor into a rad hose and caused a coolant leak, which is how I found it all. The location of the alternator is so close to the battery that I have had to repair the alternator plug twice. The battery is moved all the way back, on the oem tray at least. I’m looking at mounting an oem compressor with oem mounts and plumbing it into the VA kit. I’m sure someone here has done this. Wondering about fitment. Specifically what you did about mating the AC hoses. Did you have custom ones made? Enjoy these pics of me glueing back together the bracket today .

 

[charliemeyer007]

Looks like a nice repair. No clue why it broke, flaw in the metal maybe. Add like a 10 gauge or 1/8" piece of steel to that base, skip weld the perimeter.

 

[3_puppies]

stock a/c rig has a different battery mount, as it needs to move towards the firewall more.
you could redrill the battery tray and slide it reward on the frame mount for more clearance

 

[asu4runner]

stock a/c rig has a different battery mount, as it needs to move towards the firewall more.
you could redrill the battery tray and slide it reward on the frame mount for more clearance

Excellent thank you.

 

[asu4runner]

for anyone that was curious, vintage air reached back out to me after i left them a message. the guy explained that i was not the only one who had this happen, there was a slew of them all from right around the same time area of production. they dropped a new bracket in the mail to me. the only other issue i have to sort out with this thing is that the alternator is too close to the battery. the battery rubs up against the plug on the back of the alternator and i have repaired the plug twice now. the factory tray is moved as far back as it allows, i am currently trying to come up with a clean way to move it all back another inch or so.

 

[John Smith]

Did VA mention when this bad batch was produced or shipped? When did you purchase your VA unit, and is this the bracket for the Toyota alt? Reason I ask is I have a VA setup I purchased in early 2020 with the GM alt bracket. And now I am going to have to inspect mine when I get home for a crack... For the battery tray, my 79 came with factory AC, and my battery tray I understand already sits further back from non-AC trucks. Even so, I drilled some new holes to move it further back,so I would have plenty of room for the alt and AC. I did not need to modify my fan shroud like in the instructions, but my radiator is also unique to a factory AC truck.

 

[bikersmurf]

stock a/c rig has a different battery mount, as it needs to move towards the firewall more.
you could redrill the battery tray and slide it reward on the frame mount for more clearance

Excellent thank you.

Worst case, Id make a plate with two sets of holes to shift the mounting tray further back. I'd recommend having 1.5" clearance between the plug and the battery. 1" to allow for twisting and movement of the 40 and an extra 1/2" for good measure (in case your next battery is a bit larger or you change alternators).

 

[asu4runner]

Did VA mention when this bad batch was produced or shipped? When did you purchase your VA unit, and is this the bracket for the Toyota alt? Reason I ask is I have a VA setup I purchased in early 2020 with the GM alt bracket. And now I am going to have to inspect mine when I get home for a crack... For the battery tray, my 79 came with factory AC, and my battery tray I understand already sits further back from non-AC trucks. Even so, I drilled some new holes to move it further back,so I would have plenty of room for the alt and AC. I did not need to modify my fan shroud like in the instructions, but my radiator is also unique to a factory AC truck.

i purchased my system in summer of 2022 i believe, and received it later that year. i am using the bracket they supplied that holds the oem alternator, just below their compressor. good info on the factory ac battery bracket, i have already started looking into this. in my opinion, this crack is due to stress and leverage. its pretty difficult to get enough tension n their compressor because they dont have a tensioner. in fact, its a big pain in the arse. that paired with the compressor sticking out forward of the mount put a lot of stress n the bracket. i should also mention, i found one of the mount bolts sheared in half, the head gone and the stud still in the block (very forward hole near alternator), i believe when the bracket broke the initial snap probably broke that M10 bolt.

 

[asu4runner]

Worst case, Id make a plate with two sets of holes to shift the mounting tray further back. I'd recommend having 1.5" clearance between the plug and the battery. 1" to allow for twisting and movement of the 40 and an extra 1/2" for good measure (in case your next battery is a bit larger or you change alternators).

great advice and i am working on a design i like now. looking at something like a "seat riser" design that is offset, but also allows you to access the bolt heads. i am running the oem battery from toyota, so it is quite large. i also just considered gettting a smaller battery lol.

 

[charliemeyer007]

You should use graded bolts 8.8.

 

[asu4runner]

You should use graded bolts 8.8.

according to Ace Hardware, they are.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Maybe try some other brand next time

Tacoma Screw Products | Home

www.tacomascrew.com

 

[asu4runner]

Maybe try some other brand next time

Tacoma Screw Products | Home

www.tacomascrew.com

yeah, not really concerned with the brand of bolt. it only broke because of the VA bracket snapped in half in the first place. i have a stash of M10 factory hardware in a bucket somewhere, i may dig some out and use this go around.

 

[youpers]

Am I the only one that sees having AC in a 40 is like a screen door on a submarine, then again I rock half doors and a bikini top year round. Also I love when a shop admits their flaws and works to make it right. Thats definitely worth something. Also also worth mentioning I am a happy owner of their heater setup.

 

[asu4runner]

Am I the only one that sees having AC in a 40 is like a screen door on a submarine, then again I rock half doors and a bikini top year round. Also I love when a shop admits their flaws and works to make it right. Thats definitely worth something. Also also worth mentioning I am a happy owner of their heater setup.

you are definitely on to something, but the California way of thinking doesnt really match the rest of the country lol. try doing a few summers in Arkansas with 115 degrees and 80% humidity and get back to me. i also added AC to my 1st gen 4runner to make it bearable to drive in summer months.

 

[bikersmurf]

great advice and i am working on a design i like now. looking at something like a "seat riser" design that is offset, but also allows you to access the bolt heads. i am running the oem battery from toyota, so it is quite large. i also just considered gettting a smaller battery lol.

Smaller battery… I’ve always gone the other way. Battery of choice is a 31P series from the local Comercial Truck shop. 1050 CCA & 210 minute reserve capacity. RC is how long it should run if the alternator fails… ie. 3.5 hours in this case.

Hopefully, should it ever be needed, 3.5 hours will ensure I’m back to civilization. In reality it’s how long it’ll handle a 25 amp draw without the voltage dropping too low. Which I’ve found to be a reflection of how long it’ll handle the demands of winching. It certainly won’t winch for 3.5 hours… but a battery rated for 210 minutes will handle a large drain for longer than one rated for 90 minutes. Or how long it’ll still start for if you left the headlights on. I’ve never felt like I’ve had more battery capacity than needed.

 

[charliemeyer007]

+1 for a big battery, when I get my welder this spring I plan to make mine hold 2 big batteries. I'll make a bladed rocker switch so I can run either battery or both. My AC is 2 x 55 plus the kick vents and the cowl induction

 

[Trollhole]

Lets see your belts and pulley configuration. To me it looks as if the belt was too tight or you have a something possibly misaligned.

 

[Trollhole]

Am I the only one that sees having AC in a 40 is like a screen door on a submarine, then again I rock half doors and a bikini top year round. Also I love when a shop admits their flaws and works to make it right. Thats definitely worth something. Also also worth mentioning I am a happy owner of their heater setup.

The Gen 4 system with the high flow blower is really nice.

 

[asu4runner]

Lets see your belts and pulley configuration. To me it looks as if the belt was too tight or you have a something possibly misaligned.

hoping to get it all back together this week, waiting on the new rad hoses to show up. ill post some pics afterwards. the new VA bracket did show up in the mail last night, which is nice. having the belt too tight sounds accurate, other than the point that it has no tensioner and i had to hold/tighten by hand which is tough. even then i got some squeals in wet weather.