Last weekend I finally got the heavy metal installed, front and rear ARBs along with regearing to 4.88's. Since that took most of my two free days, I just capped the air connections until I could get a chance to install the compressor and lines. No pics of the diffs removal or installs, plenty of pics and info on that elsewhere.

A few months ago I started thinking about where to put the compressor. I didn't want to put it under the hood as it gets pretty hot here in AZ. I had pulled the interior panels at the back and decided thats where my compressor would live. Drivers side is a little tight so I decided to use the storage compartment on the right.



So tonight I decided to bolt it to the vertical brace behind the taillight. Since the compressor mount is a little wider, I used the backing plate as a mounting plate and made two additional holes.

drilling the holes through the brace


New holes with bolts


Mount bolted in place


Compressor installed


Here's where I ran into trouble. Naturally I wanted to see how solid this mounting system was going to be. So I grabbed the compressor and shook it slightly. To my surprise it came right off, but not where I might have expected.



The mount ring broke right off the plate! It looks like there are supposed to be 4 tack welds from the factory, but only one was silver, the other three areas still have paint on them. You can see the single weld on the ring.

Guess I'll call ARB in the morning.

To Be Continued...

 

Wow, that is bogus. For sure give them a call. They have always taken great care of me. I purchased the compact compressor, and when i got it, it was constantly blowing fuses. I called them up, they shipped me a new one 2nd day, and took me at my word that I'd send the first one back.

 

I'll be curious to see how that position works for your compressor. There is something mentioned in the operating manual that you need to watch for. It says "some oil mist around the solenoid is perfectly normal". I get that and a bit more. The last thing you'll want is a puddle of gear oil in the back of your 4Runner. Just something to keep an eye on.

 

I guess thats what I get for not reading the manual first. Thanks for the heads up and I'll watch for it. {EDIT} Did some research, looks like I can remote mount the breather externally... will look into it. Called ARB, found out my compressor is discontinued but they are shipping out the mounting bracket to me. Might have to get mine welded up to save some time.

 

i'd be weary of mounting it in a vertical position as well. might want to make sure you put the rubber grommets in between the mounting plate and the wall youre mounting to. being inside the cab..it'll vibrate quite loudly without it. i had my compact compressor in the engine bay. its buzzy...but muffled at least.


sucks that the mounting ring sheared right off...hopefully arb will sort that out asap. welcome to the world of double selectable lockers!

 

I love my ARB lockers but I have an Extreme Air full duty cycle compressor with (3) 2.5 gallon air tanks that I love even more as the ARB compressors are not truly meant for anything more than using for the lockers.

 

I assume you mean the solenoid? Are you talking about using a remote air manifold like Slee Offroad has?

 

Well to address the last two posts, I'll only be running lockers from this compressor. I have another compressor for tires. Anyway since I only have the two solenoids, I'll mount them to the compressor tank and then if I have blowback issues or misting I think I can remove the breathers on the solenoid and extend them to the exterior of the truck. Sort of like extended diff breathers.

 

Update: got the bracket from ARB this past week, haven't had time to install it. I did get all the wiring routed and connected and was able to dry run without connecting the air lines yet. So far so good...

In Seattle for a wedding this weekend. <sarcasm on> I'm really surprised that it has rained every day. <sarcasm off> Beautiful place and very cool city but I can't wait to get back to AZ tomorrow. How do you PNW'erners deal with the gloom?

 

Installed the compressor, wired it up and ran the plumbing. Works as advertised. So far I'm happy with the location, the noise is moderate but it doesn't run constantly and I can deal with it. I wedged a block of foam in the cavity above the compressor to attenuate the noise and vibration. If I get any seepage at least it will drain to the bottom of the cavity behind the wheel and not ruin the interior.

Mounting in this location requires that the power & switch leads be lengthened, I spent a few bucks getting additional wire. Also had to get an additional 20 feet of blue line for the front locker.

Click to view full size pics:




Can't wait to hit the trail next.

 

So I take it you got the front diff in okay? Fun huh? Now it's time to hit some of the trail runs since you spent all this money.

 

Yep got the diff in, no problems there, actually it took longer to install your skids on Franks taco!

Yeah I can't wait to give it a go on some tougher stuff, had to skip the last two runs since I simply didn't have time to finish this project up.

 

Well hopefully the skids went on okay. Maybe we'll see ya up at Desoto or Terminator.

 

UPDATE! How is the sound of the compressor? Do you like it mounted there? Have you had a chance to "lock her in"?

 

Yeah actually took awhile to get out to test it on a real trail. Report & pics here.

The system works great, so I guess I installed it correctly. As far as noise, well the compressor is "in" the cabin so obviously its *quite* noticable and does catch you off guard occasionally, but nothing I can't live with. We started around 9am and got off the trail around 5pm and the compressor ran maybe 10 times for about 10 or 15 seconds or so each time. Of course I only engaged the lockers on the more difficult obstacles.

I haven't pulled the panel back yet to see if there is any oil pooling or not, but there is definitely no diff oil odor at all.

So far I'm happy with the mounting location and have no plans to change anything up. With the fullsize compressor (I believe its discontinued) and ABS in my engine bay, my options were slim to none up front without moving some components around and doing some custom brackets. Obviously others have done it - I wanted to minimize fab work and also get the compressor out of the extremely hot engine bay.

 

I know this post is older then dirt wanna say thanks for the ideas on mounting locations for the compressor.