what kind of on board compressor should I buy?

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chris777

chris777

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I want to put an onboard compressor under the hood of my Fj60. I thought I would just get an Arb on board compressor in case I ever add a rear Arb Air locker, then I will already have a suitable compressor in place to power the Arb Lockers.

But I wanted to check with this forum first. Maybe there are better compressor I should consider, and maybe I don't have to have an Arb air compressor to power an Arb locker.

One thing is for sure, I don't want to spend any more that what it costs to buy an Arb compressor, atleast not MUCH more.

I mostly need one right now for airing up my tires on my truck. I have no plans at all to use a compressor to run any air tools.
 
get a good one for airing up

You don't necessarily need an ARB compressor to run the lockers. I have an ARB compressor, and it takes a long time to air up tires. it's kinda small and heats up pretty good. If you're patient, it'll work OK.

I don't know alot about'em, but I've heard York makes a good one, and the one that Slee-Off-Road sells I've heard is good. I'm sure there are other options that may be better...

For a really good airing up option, you may want to look into a CO2 tank?

HTH
 
You don't need an ARB compressor to run ARB lockers. Just a manifold to attach the actuators to is all you need-- it doesn't care where the air comes from.

My personal solution? I'm welding a tank out of 6" pipe to ride under the truck between the frame rails and the rocker panels. I'm thinking for balance and center of gravity concerns I'll have one on each side.

Then I'm looking for a compressor out of a truck-- Like a Mercedes or Volvo cube van. Weld up a bracket and plumb it in, wire in a pressure switch to the compressor clutch, and put a safety poppet valve on the tank. Presto. Industrial volume air compressor under the hood. Will go well with the underhood welder.

The hard part will be fitting this stuff under the hood and whether the the pipes will fit under the truck with sliders attached.

Fred
 
I went to the salvage yard and snagged two York compressors off of IH Scouts. I plan to use one of these plus some sort of 4 or 5gal tank. Here is a little bit of info:

http://www.coloradok5.com/york.shtml
 
the outback air is supposed to be the best. I have been researching the best way to do an onboard air set up--other board members have recomended this brand.
 
I went out and bought that Tsunami compressor at Pep boys for $49.95 I am sure that the others (for almost $400) are better, but they can not be 10 times better.

I am going to mount it under the hood. I suppose I will put it on the battery side and mount it to the top of the wheel well. Should I just drill holes and bolt it down with stainless steel bolts? I don't need to do anything else do I? like seal the hole, or dampen the mount with a thin sheet of rubber, do I?

question: I want to hard wire it.... so what do I wire it to?
 
chris777 said:
I went out and bought that Tsunami compressor at Pep boys for $49.95 I am sure that the others (for almost $400) are better, but they can not be 10 times better.

I am going to mount it under the hood. I suppose I will put it on the battery side and mount it to the top of the wheel well. Should I just drill holes and bolt it down with stainless steel bolts? I don't need to do anything else do I? like seal the hole, or dampen the mount with a thin sheet of rubber, do I?

question: I want to hard wire it.... so what do I wire it to?
Click to expand...

check this out. It's been done before. https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=55156&highlight=cookie

Tsunami Master flow well worth the money
 
I converted a 4kg LPG gas (BBQ/camping) cylinder as an air tank. It measures approx. 12" dia x 12 " high. I pumped it up with my Bushranger Maxair compressor to 125 PSI. Then I deflated my (31x10.5x15") spare tyre to 15 psi and attempted to reinflate it to 35 PSI. It took 2 minutes to pump up the tank and about 30 seconds to pump the air into the tyre. The tyre and air tank equalised at 25 psi (and therefore stops being useful!). That is, it added 10 PSI to one tyre!!!
Going by this test I would say that I would need more than two of the LPG cylinders per tyre, or 8 tanks for the four tyres.

If you want to inflate tyres faster then I recommend either the CO2 tank, or a converted A/C compressor as an air pump and an air tank big enough to run air tools (if that's what you want to do), or a small air tank for your air-lockers.

BTW: the CO2 system works better because they are designed to hold 2000 psi, and the CO2 turns liquid at the high pressure.
 
RoddQLD said:
I converted a 4kg LPG gas (BBQ/camping) cylinder as an air tank. It measures approx. 12" dia x 12 " high. I pumped it up with my Bushranger Maxair compressor to 125 PSI. Then I deflated my (31x10.5x15") spare tyre to 15 psi and attempted to reinflate it to 35 PSI. It took 2 minutes to pump up the tank and about 30 seconds to pump the air into the tyre. The tyre and air tank equalised at 25 psi (and therefore stops being useful!). That is, it added 10 PSI to one tyre!!!
Going by this test I would say that I would need more than two of the LPG cylinders per tyre, or 8 tanks for the four tyres.

If you want to inflate tyres faster then I recommend either the CO2 tank, or a converted A/C compressor as an air pump and an air tank big enough to run air tools (if that's what you want to do), or a small air tank for your air-lockers.

BTW: the CO2 system works better because they are designed to hold 2000 psi, and the CO2 turns liquid at the high pressure.
Click to expand...

I'm not going CO2. I multiplied your 12x12=144 and my 3x60(5')=180. So my volume is not much more than yours. That sucks. I was hoping for at least 2 tires. Any one have a sucesses story on onboard tanks? Measurements?

Oh yeah I have no idea if that is how you come up with volume. I just thought It made some kind of since.
 
Check out www.powertank.com

Just picked one of the 10' units up and demo'd it in B.C. during our family vaca. Was quite impressed with the ease of use and how quick it was to air up again (like running air from a full size shop compressor). Cheap to fill too and totally portable. Comparable in price to a good hard mount compressor...

Two thumbs up,
-dogboy- '87 FJ60
 
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