Building On Board Air (OBA) on a Budget

MochaMike

MochaMike

All Whee Drive!
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
206
Messages
347
Loc
Concord, CA
I've been running CO2 for years. More than once, i've run out when I've needed it, and I hate exchanging a 1/2 full bottle at the welding shop.
I had a York on the shelf for years, but it would be too much work to set up.

I'd also like to help build up the tech on Irate4x4.com

So, post up.

My plan to start:
I already have a 2.5 or 3lb tank.
I'm planning on getting a single compressor to start.
I know ARB have the rep, but they are $$$
Viair has some great product, but still are $$

Are there good alternative out there?
Looking for something with 100% duty cycle and fairly rapid.
 
I am running a ford york compressor with a ryder fleet serp pulley. Works great, overkill really. But it fills tires fast, you can run air tools, etc. i had to make custom mounts for my application(5.7 vortec).
 
I’ve been running a converted Sanden AC compressor in my YJ for years. My Jeep didn’t have AC but I grabbed the compressor from a scrap yard for cheap and mounted it up. Just got the belt for the 4.0 with AC.

pretty simple set up. The intake line gets a Viair air filter, an in-line lubricator, a 1/4”NPT to 1/2” NPT adapter, and a 1/2NPT to 12 AN adapter.

the output side has a 12AN to 1/2 NPT, a 1/2 to 1/4 NPT adapter, a one way check valve, oil separator filter, then I used a couple of 1/4” NPT tee fittings to plug in the Viair pressure switch, a pressure gauge, and hose barb to run my hose to a Tee fitting at the frame which then sends the air to my bumpers which I have plumbed and sealed for air. I have a release valve and a quick connect fitting on the front bumper and another quick connect on the rear bumper.

90423f97ff3e4391936b1ea2de8590a9.jpg
 
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I have had a Puma compressor along with its 1 or 2 gallon tank under my Explorer for many years. I mounted it sideways on a skid plate with hinges where the spare tire used to reside. Before that it went in the cargo area or in the RV. I thinks its about 20 years old and still going strong.
Picture with my old shock setup
 
Been running the Puma on two rigs for at least 8 years, one is my crawler, the other is my tow rig with air fittings all around the rig, and plumbed into the bags. I use it regularly and it has yet to fail me. It's old and loud as hell, but no frills and works.
 
I mounted a York to my deleted 6.7 Cummins. Nobody makes brackets, so I had to make my own.
 
Biggest problem with Yorks is they are long gone from the junk yards. So the "cheap" setup is kinda out the window.

I got one for free and even though I read a ton on line about set up, I ended up redoing it like 4 times untill it finally became reliable-ish. It was pretty fast, especially if you set rpm around 1500.

I don't think I'd do one again, too much hassle. And even though the crank case is supposedly sealed, it still needed an oil separator and needed to be topped off every now and then.

I have a puma now. I bought some OK small jumper cables and made them into leads for the puma. It's a little heavy for a portable, but you could always ditch the tank. I wish they sold a tank less version actually. It's a pretty bad ass little unit for way less than the Arb or via air stuff.

The via air stuff I've seen has not been impressive at all. Maybe if you spend $1200 they're fast?



Another one I've used forever, but isn't really on the same level as the puma or York, is the little red tsunami or whatever from pep boys or similar. They're about $75 depending on where you go, and are super reliable in my experience. Small, light, compact, can throw in any rig. My buddy and I mounted 2 in his rig with proper wiring, pressure switch ect and it was pretty impressive for the price.

A single one is great for about 35s and down. I've used them with bigger tires and it's not terrible, but usually I'm just trying to get 10-15 lbs in the tires to get a few miles down the hill.
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I run a rover air suspension pump for my air locker with a Viair pressure switch with no pressure tank. OK so lockers, would suggest a tank for more than 1 and in a pinch would air up a tire but I'd bet it would take a bit.

I used and Viair unit of a friends and it worked really well. I'd look into them if I was gonna buy something bigger.
 
I havent done it yet but have a pto on my np205 and plan on putting a direct mount 7/8 13 compressor onto it with all of the bells and whistles that the v belt style have have tanks that ride under the truck bed that will hold air that total will hold about 10 gallons.

Since the PTO is air shift to engauge the pto would require air so if it runs out im SOL until i get to a gas station or back to the shop. LOL.
 
In the past I ran Yorks and Sandens with oilers and coalescing filters to apply and remove the oil. They work good but worry me about overheating and seizing up. I also was not fond of putting oil vapor in the ties or air bags. For my last buggy and new one I wanted continuous duty electric. I tried two big continuous duty VIAIR 480C, 200 PSI, 1 CFM each at 100 PSI at around 23 amps each and the output was decent, but they ran all the time and I still needed more air for the air ride. I looked for the best which I believe is the Thomas 12V, 1/2HP, dual piston, its rated continuous duty, 1.5CFM at 100 PSI with a max of 150 PSI . I ran my cutoff around 140.
Its rubber mounted so its super quite and hardly any vibration. The 1/2 HP motor is rated at 40 amps but I believe with the higher pressure it gets pushed to 50 amps and the motors can go up to 60A max. They are fully rebuildable. Thomas is a mil spec company and supplied the CTIS air compressors for the Hummers.

CLICK on the PDF under the picture for the specs on the Thomas.

EDIT: Not a budget part, but then again I have two old compressors sitting in storage now and had to rework the plumbing compared to getting a bigger compressor that would do the job the first go around. I have the two VIAIR 480C sitting in storage if anyone is interested.

1CZC7_AS01.jpg
 

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HYDRODYNAMIC said:
In the past I ran Yorks and Sandens with oilers and coalescing filters to apply and remove the oil. They work good but worry me about overheating and seizing up. I also was not fond of putting oil vapor in the ties or air bags. For my last buggy and new one I wanted continuous duty electric. I tried two big continuous duty VIAIR 480C, 200 PSI, 1 CFM each at 100 PSI at around 23 amps each and the output was decent, but they ran all the time and I still needed more air for the air ride. I looked for the best which I believe is the Thomas 12V, 1/2HP, dual piston, its rated continuous duty, 1.5CFM at 100 PSI with a max of 150 PSI . I ran my cutoff around 140.
Its rubber mounted so its super quite and hardly any vibration. The 1/2 HP motor is rated at 40 amps but I believe with the higher pressure it gets pushed to 50 amps and the motors can go up to 60A max. They are fully rebuildable. Thomas is a mil spec company and supplied the CTIS air compressors for the Hummers.

CLICK on the PDF under the picture for the specs on the Thomas.

EDIT: Not a budget part, but then again I have two old compressors sitting in storage now and had to rework the plumbing compared to getting a bigger compressor that would do the job the first go around. I have the two VIAIR 480C sitting in storage if anyone is interested.
Click to expand...

That compressor is around $1800, its probably great quality, but far exceeds the need of and recreational offroading. Im sure its geared toward and application that would be running hours per day and were limited to electricity driven. On the more expensive end, the extreme outback magnums put out a ton of air for $600, I may go to one of these if i don't end up putting my york 210 back on. For the last few years I have being running the larger shittibilt compressor filling a 3 gallon tank, for $120, it great.
 
92 Green YJ said:
I’ve been running a converted Sanden AC compressor in my YJ for years. My Jeep didn’t have AC but I grabbed the compressor from a scrap yard for cheap and mounted it up. Just got the belt for the 4.0 with AC.

pretty simple set up. The intake line gets a Viair air filter, an in-line lubricator, a 1/4”NPT to 1/2” NPT adapter, and a 1/2NPT to 12 AN adapter.

the output side has a 12AN to 1/2 NPT, a 1/2 to 1/4 NPT adapter, a one way check valve, oil separator filter, then I used a couple of 1/4” NPT tee fittings to plug in the Viair pressure switch, a pressure gauge, and hose barb to run my hose to a Tee fitting at the frame which then sends the air to my bumpers which I have plumbed and sealed for air. I have a release valve and a quick connect fitting on the front bumper and another quick connect on the rear bumper.

90423f97ff3e4391936b1ea2de8590a9.jpg
Click to expand...

i did nearly identical on my XJ a couple years back. Had the rear bumper setup as the air tank with the output coupling as well for quick connection. worked great the handful of times I used it before I sold it
 
I need to look into this also. I have used two different engine driven compressors, a york on my toyota and a sanden on my jeep, and I love both. However, I'm older now with a family and we need AC, so that kinda kills that idea.

I like using CO2, but filling and running out are a pain as well as storing the tank to a degree.

I had thought about a permanent electric compressor, but keep coming back to using a portable job like one of these: https://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/32.htm
Yeah, its noisy and slow, but its portable and easy to throw into any one of our 4 vehicles here. You do need to make sure the leads and hose is long enough to reach all the tires though.

Kevin
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Milwaukee came out with the portable M18 compressor. Might be more reasonable if you already have the M18 batteries or tools on the trail. 1.2 SCFM @ 90 PSI
Might be more useful since it can be moved around on the trail or from different vehicles. You can always recharge a pack on the trail or take a few big batteries.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...40-20#sp-specs
Click to expand...
This brings up a good point.

I am not shooting the oba idea down, on board air is always great to have. Are you using it primarily to air up tires? The new cordless stuff is pretty amazing.
 
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