On board air compressor. No room in engine bay.

[Mike W]

Fun little afternoon project during a meeting.

So I have had my Viar 450p compressor for a long time. It works fine. 100% duty cycle, plenty fast for airing up (usually just from like 20 psi to ~40+). It comes in a nice canvas bag, and has room for the hose and all its parts, but its huge. Takes up too much space. I am looking for ways to minimize and compact some things.

So.. engine bay on board air setup right? Boy that would be kinda nice. I hate having to pop the hood and take the plastic covers off the battery boxes and clip on those power clips. (Shown here is with the battery box covers off and engine cover off)

Well, I have just a tiny bit of space in the front passenger side there... but not enough for a compressor. The solar charge controller might go there.

Another problem.. the 450p is not waterproof and not really meant for engine mounting, but its too nice to just replace. So i need a spot inside. And.. this rig needs to be able to convert to full on family truckster mode, including family in town mode with the 3rd row seating. So right now I take the cargo barrier out for that, no drawers, etc.

The solution:

I will try this spot... in the LR4 we have some room behind the 2nd row under the folded down 3rd row seats!

You can see in this one that it is hidden all the way back and under the seats. And wont be in the way of the middle of the 2nd row where the middle seat normally goes... or in my case a cooler or 50 qt ARB fridge (note the strap tie down brackets where the seat normally bolts)

The air line runs back behind some panels and most of it stores in the side cubby. I can pull it out and reach all four tires and then some!

The other cubby on the other side is a bit tight. I have the main aux battery wiring and aux battery protection isolator. The power for the compressor and fridge runs back up to the 2nd row on the driver side and I use anderson connectors so I can easily remove the compressor.

The only potential issue that I can see with this setup is the top of the compressor is touching the leather on the bottom cushion of the third row seat. I put some neoprene foam stuff between there, but that might need something better. Suggestions welcome! It is a tight fit, the seat clicks down and holds the compressor perfectly while still letting it move around on its rubber mounts.

So... now I have "on board air"... kinda. Much easier to deploy though. I can leave the switch on during a trip and it just tops up the compressor tank until its cutoff. Super fast to deploy.

 

[Smiley52]

Eventually, it might dent the leather, but overall great idea! I'm guessing you use the rear seats every once in a while, but any thought to taking out the 3rd rows?

 

[Mike W]

Eventually, it might dent the leather, but overall great idea! I'm guessing you use the rear seats every once in a while, but any thought to taking out the 3rd rows?

Taking out the 3rd row might be cool. I haven't really seen examples of how people use that space, but I suppose a custom drawer system might use it?

I don't use the 3rd row that much, and I know I'd have more space with them out, however I would have to build some type of floor that lifts up. I do need the flat floor because my personal system is just using my cases which have wheels, as drawers. They roll out onto the tailgate and I open the lids up. It works pretty well. Its a Pelican 1630 and a Plano case right now. That leaves room between the table and plano case for chairs or tarps, or whatever. I don't like to pack things too tight, I prefer organized. Tents/tarps/folding items NEVER seem to pack down as tight at camp as they do at home. Things expand.

I did slightly damage the carpet on one side, so just today I modified the rigid load liner (hard plastic load space protector) to have a flat entry area (it had a lip at the back). I also added a little load ring in the middle near the back. The Front Runner stainless steel prep table fits perfectly on the ledges back there and I put my tent and other stuff on top of that. The table is snug and doesnt shift around under normal driving, but to be safe, i can put a ratchet strap over the tent and table and tie down from the cargo barrier to the center load ring now. That way the rig could be upside down (please.. never) and the cases, table, tent would stay put and not smash out the side or roof glass. The table could in theory pop up and slide to the side and hit the side glass without it.

I am a bit of a stickler for safety. You can see my fire extinguisher and my blue big med kit. I obviously also care about gear flying forward and thus use a cargo barrier. Which is something which I keep bugging @Michael and @Corey about because I see all the heavy gear they just stick behind them with no tie downs or barrier. #BeSafe0000

 

[Smiley52]

Nice! I like your set up the way you have it actually. If it were me, and I had enough time to do it, I would take out the seats (I don't have a use for a third row). Since you need a flat surface, I would make essentially a trap door where the top of the seats are, so it'll be a flat surface, and you can still utilize the plano case and the pelican. (top of the seats meaning when they are down) Drawers are cool and useful for many people, but not everybody. If you have a system that works, why change it?

As a medic, I definitely agree, and I too have a med kit and a fire extinguisher in my rig. I love the idea of the cargo barrier! I have a sleeping platform in mine, otherwise I would have one.
#BeSafeOB0000

 

[DDulie]

Fun little afternoon project during a meeting.

So I have had my Viar 450p compressor for a long time. It works fine. 100% duty cycle, plenty fast for airing up (usually just from like 20 psi to ~40+). It comes in a nice canvas bag, and has room for the hose and all its parts, but its huge. Takes up too much space. I am looking for ways to minimize and compact some things.
.....
The only potential issue that I can see with this setup is the top of the compressor is touching the leather on the bottom cushion of the third row seat. I put some neoprene foam stuff between there, but that might need something better. Suggestions welcome! It is a tight fit, the seat clicks down and holds the compressor perfectly while still letting it move around on its rubber mounts.

So... now I have "on board air"... kinda. Much easier to deploy though. I can leave the switch on during a trip and it just tops up the compressor tank until its cutoff. Super fast to deploy.

Why can't you clock the compressor so it sits 90° from it's current orientation. It looks possible as the Philips screws appear to be equidistant.

 

[Mike W]

Why can't you clock the compressor so it sits 90° from it's current orientation. It looks possible as the Philips screws appear to be equidistant.

ill check that out. thanks. its been working well so far this way. being tight in there also serves to keep it in place.