On Board Air—where To Mount

Here's what I have coming off the pump.

There brass T from the pump to the pressure switch and also to an adapter to truck air brake hose to another T. One side of the truck air hose T goes to the tank, the other to a coupler on the right side of the Jeep:


The ARB supplied pressure switch turns on at 70psi and off at 100psi.

I put my couplers under the hood. It's a mild pain to need the hood open when airing things up but I didn't want the couplers vulnerable to the weather or getting scraped of the Jeep. The left side one is screwed into the end of the tank. Since we live in the land of dirt and mud, I jam some vacuum caps in the couplers when not using them. Keeps them clean:


On the passenger side, I found a bulkhead fitting and welded a bracket to the hood brace:


From these locations, an easily packed curly hose reaches all the tires.

I did not put a mechanical pressure relief valve in system, so I'm relying on the electric pressure switch to do its job.

 

Nice setup Fireball! I would recommend a pressure relief valve for safety. If you don’t want to plumb one in you could put one on a male quick coupler fitting and use it on whichever coupler you aren’t using. That would also remove the need for a protective plug on one of the couplers. The vacuum plugs never worked for me. They always came off somewhere when wheeling.

 

@Militarymetal Thanks for bringing this subject up! I've been scratching my ba.... er, head trying to figure out solutions to on-board air.
I bought a twin cylinder compressor from NAPA which is the same unit sold by a lot of "name brand" like Vevor
https://www.vevor.com/tire-inflator...5WXRWHUZDhS2_e0&gPromoCode=google202408&gQT=1
But my problem is it did not come with any sort of "control" and it has this annoying screw on valve adapter.
The compressor is FAST, but so cumbersome. Looking for ideas on how to make it easier to use.
Thanks!

 

Another good point. You should have a blow-off valve. Usually 5-10 psi above your pressure switch max. This usually goes on the tank if you have one. And it’s good idea to have max psi setting well below the limit of the system.

 

Fireball, what do you size your pictures to? You seem to have that pretty dialed.

 

1000 pixels wide for landscape and 800 pixels tall for portrait.

 

I decided to use the tank and SuperTrooper’s suggestion of on the firewall by the glovebox. Actually, I was able to mount it under the glovebox. The pigtail was plenty long enough to reach it there. The 165/200 psi on/off is what came with the kit. I fired it up and now I see what you guys are talking about. I think the cfm at 0 psi is 1.8. Not overly impressive. However, it’s there if I need it. I need a fitting for the 1/4 hard line (they gave me plastic) that will accept the quick releases. I wanted to mount a release on the bumper but I’m not sure if I need male or female there. I’m assuming female. Is there a fitting that can be bolted down to do this? I’ll look on amazon tonight.

 

Thank you. This is very helpful. I’m pulling my hair out over understanding these fitting threads. I want the bulkhead adaptor you show here to put a quick disconnect on the outside of the firewall right by the compressor. To do this I guess I need a bulkhead adaptor that accepts 1/4 npt on one side, but what is the male side thread size? Driving me nuts on Amazon. Also, I need some more compression fittings to couple the plastic hose to the brass bulkhead adaptor.

 

This thread is killing me because I took hydraulics and pneumatics for two years in college for aviation systems design... forgot most of it now.

Ideally Put the pressure switch on the top or side of the tank. Replace that petcock on the drain with a 1/4 turn valve and a hose you can run outside the cab. Have the relief valve outside the cab as-well. Pull air off the top or side away from the switch or it will trigger the compressor even if you have plenty of air.

The fittings are regular shop fittings run through brackets. I like how @ITLKSEZ did his having the curly hose mounted permanently (1/4 turn valve before the hose is a good idea) . Put your chucks on lanyards with the hose end and you won't ever forget anything. Then you can have an extra fitting should the main hose crack but I wouldn't want to be wasting a lot of room with hose. You also want to cap a male fitting to plug any exposed coupler.

 

That bulkhead fitting on the support rod tab is just a npt jam nut on a npt nipple. We have them locally at menards and ace.

 

The bulkhead fitting is not a jam nut on a nipple. It is a bulkhead fitting with a 1/4" female NPT thread on both sides. This is the one I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074FT9JJG

 

The bulk head fitting Fireball posted should would just fine. There is also a bulkhead mounted ARB air hose coupler but its expensive and uses AN or JIC fittings.

 

Nah, we die like men!

 

I use Parker caps made for hydraulic couplers on those. They don't get lost.

 

Now there is a great idea.

 

I charged the system and it bled down in a several hours. Normal? Or should it hold the pressure perfectly? Soapy water to find leaks? Always something.

 

It will bleed down overnight so dont worry about it. You'll pull your hair out if you tried chasing every tiny leak

 

Perfect! That’s the answer I wanted. I will be happy with the way it is.