Onboard air... options/opinions

[CityHick]

My Sanden compressor literally went up in smoke after completing the Rubicon trip and airing my 4 tires and two of my buddy's tires at the Tahoe staging area.

I have been using that very Sanden compressor with the "grease mod" that I've discussed on this forum before. 5 years of service. I run a 2.5 gallon tank under the body which then runs my air lockers through a pressure regulated tank outlet. Then of course its also on the hook for tire inflation duties post-trail.

The Sanden works reasonably well though I have never been a fan of sending oil/grease upstream even if using a coalescing filter. I have tried to find a way to mount a York but space is at a premium.

I do not love the idea of repurposing an a/c compressor for onboard air and probably won't run another Sanden compressor. The York at least has an oil reservoir, but friends who run them still get some oil upstream even with the oil passage modification that many here have done.

I am looking for new ideas... does anybody know of a viable belt driven alternative? I run a serpentine belt - would love to run some kind of purpose-built compressor (big rig style maybe... just a wild idea).

I've also been looking at the pumps from ARB and ViAir. Pricey but some deliver fairly respectable CFM+PSI. I don't necessarily need to run air tools but like to know I can air up my 37" tires from 15 to 25-30psi without spending all day at it.

In any case I may run a dedicated ARB compressor for my lockers and a second for tire filling, or perhaps a redundant system. Looking for relatively high duty cycle, reliability, and simplicity.

Any suggestions, part numbers, and links are appreciated. I am open to many alternatives... looking to improve upon what I have rather than replace with like kind.

Thanks in advance!
-Tony

[Fungus232]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I'm pretty fond of my Power Tank Tony. You could do the same thing cheaper by getting ahold of an old scuba tank or the like. I've got a bracket that holds it to the roll bar but quickly releases it should I want to carry it from vehicle to vehicle. Makes for handy situations sometimes when you can just pop the tank off and carry it to where it's needed with a short coil hose. It is a finite amount of air but lasts quite awhile. 2200+ psi in a bottle airs up a lot of tires!

[California Monkey]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

York.... If you can make one fit it's the best. I onced filled up 19 35" tall tires in a row. In that same time my buddy filled up the other 5 tires with his smitty built pump that overheated. Another buddy had an ARB compressor that was dead before his first tire was full. The owner of the smitty built compressor ended up getting a power tank and a year later he went to use it to air up after the trip and it was out. HE swore it was full a month before and didn't know what had happened.

Bottom line, the York is reliable, has high CFM rating and is cheap if you do it right.

[ntsqd]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I'm going to finish this long-stalled project for my own OBA and stash it under the truck somewhere. RV-2's have a real gerotor oil pump to lubricate the bottom end and can only be mounted 'V' up. Yorks appear to be splash lubricated. The one with a thrown rod that I disassembled had no obvious oil pump.



The RV-2's have a full cubic inch advantage over the biggest York. It has pumped air, but I've no idea if that Subaru starter motor will die a horrible death in short order, or if it will outlive me. My theory is that being a gear redux motor that it's won't get worked very hard, and won't over-heat from much longer run times than intended. We'll see what reality does to my theory....

[Efibroncoman]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I was curious about those RV-2's. They came on old Chryslers didn't they? Looks like it's cast iron. The York's are just splash lubricated but if you know where to look are cheap and still easy to find. Plus being mostly aluminum the weight isn't bad either. I had one coupled to an electric lift gate pump motor similar to the Oasis compressors but much cheaper. It worked good but needed to be bolted down because of the torque.

[jgaylor]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I have one of these warn compressors I am wanting to sell $500 plus the ride
http://www.amazon.com/WARN-75789-Air...=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Airflow rating - 20 CFM at 0 PSI, 8 CFM at 90 PSI

[CityHick]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

The RV-2 is a great pump - two of my friends ran them on Chevy-powered FJ40 Land Cruisers, they put out a lot of air. Cruisers have a lot more hood clearance than Broncos do - a lot. I am not sure that I can squeeze a York compressor into my current bracketry; I know that I can't squeeze in the RV-2.

On the electric pump topic - while pricy, ARB has a new dual compressor that delivers 3 CFM at 90 PSI, drawing 56 amps at peak. Pretty impressive, just expensive.

I am still searching around the internet looking for other options. There are industrial purpose-built engine accessory compressors intended for use on service trucks but they are a bit too much and involve too many components. Still looking for something outside of the ordinary.

As stated I'm really interested in something other than an AC pump but I know that is probably the cheapest and easiest option. Not a fan of the pre-oiler/coalescing filter setup, it gets a little busy looking.. but we'll see.

[ntsqd]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

The bulk of the RV-2 is iron, but curiously the bolt-on oil sump w/ integrated oil pick-up is cast aluminum. It is heavier than a York, but surprisingly not by as much as you'd suspect.
With it's one way only mounting requirement I figured an RV-2 wasn't a good candidate for being engine mounted in most rigs. Which is why the electric drive project.

Might look into the electric compressors used by the air spring hopper crowd. I found one and a tank in the JY and mounted them under the bed of our CTD. It clearly is an import that was cloned off of a Thomas, but is working quite well so far. I have it wired to come on with the ign as the only horn on the truck is air.
I've used it to air up that truck and it is way faster than anything else that I've used. Has no problem getting those tires back up to 50 psi.

[DoubleXL]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I had the same issue with wanting to run a York but had no room for it under the hood. I ended up going with the ARB and really like it. I run my lockers off an ARB mini compressor and mounted the dual compressor under my passenger seat. Pretty simple, lightweight solution and I can use it to run the lockers if I ever have a problem with the mini. Still consistently airing up my 40" MTRs from 8-22PSI in exactly 2min each. In fact, Its so consistent that I use the stopwatch on my phone instead of checking air pressure every so often. I just push start when I hook up the hose to my valve stem and take it off exactly 2 min later, same pressure every time. In Moab I ended up supplying air to several rigs and never saw any decrease in performance, Although I did learn that I have to keep the passenger door open to allow enough air flow for cooling when doing multiple rigs.
They are a little pricey, but for a 20 minute install with no tank/filters/plumbing, I'll be running one of these on the bronco for sure!

[plug ugly]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I had one coupled to an electric lift gate pump motor similar to the Oasis compressors but much cheaper. It worked good but needed to be bolted down because of the torque.

more info please. Id like to do something like this for my superduty.

[CityHick]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

Excellent feedback DoubleXL. I am leaning towards that ARB twin compressor - I've looked at so many different options in the last two days that my head is spinning, but I keep coming back to the ARB unit. Mounting it inside the cab or somewhere other than the engine bay is an intriguing option as well.

I am likely going to keep the under-body air tank in place and at least have the option to fill it up for a reservoir, to run my lockers with if nothing else. Still searching but I should just pull the trigger - ARB products have always served me very well. Really like the idea of 'clean' air in my lines... very tired of sending oil through the lines and into my tank. Added bonus - another open "spot" on my engine accessory bracketry for something else later...

[California Monkey]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

I'm surprised that its hard to fit a York under the hood of an early bronco. I know my current set up is cheating as I have the inner fenders out but still..... It's not much bigger than a sanden and it can be mounted at a wide range of angles.



here's the mount I did under my 1991 bronco where a sanden use to sit

[CityHick]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

Rich, the combination of my 351w, Econoline power steering/AC bracket, and full inner fenders makes the fit of the York extremely tight, to the point where I gave up after trying several different positions before installing my Sanden compressor. Others have squeezed the York into position on a 302 block within a stock engine bay but the 351 is just enough wider to make it not so easy.

As I recall, to clear the hood the pump would hit the fender, and to clear the fender the pump would hit the hood. I am not going to reinvent the wheel here just to accommodate the York pump. I may hit the junkyards again soon and pick up another York to do some more experimenting with but I am fairly stuck within my current constraints unless I'm forgetting something (its been years).

I would really like to run some form of redundant pump as well since my usual wheeling buddy hasn't added air to his rig, despite 5 years of reminders from me. lol.

[Bronco Brian]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

Tony How would the York fit if the bracket was 1/4 to 1/2 lower. Could shave it down some and bolt it all the way through.

[Efibroncoman]

Re: Onboard air... options/opinions

Try laying the York down at an angle on a flat plate bolted to the Econoline bracket. I don't have inner fenders and my hood is fiberglass. I need to make some kind of low profile output fitting for mine because it barely hits the hood but I'll make it fit.