My on-board air setup

So probably a month after I got my truck I really wanted to do a mod on it. I had my air compressor which i normally just kept in the truck with me and decided why not mount it and run some air line. So here is what I did. (regrettably I did not take pictures while I did it but here are the after shots)

So the first thing was to make a couple brackets to hold it and then mount it in the engine compartment in that HUGE space toyota left for us. One thing I didn't think of was the vibrations. I hard mounted the compressor to the metal without anything to dampen so I ended up having to take it off and put some rubber in between the metal pieces. Nice thing was there were so many un-used hole I did not have to drill any new ones.



The next thing was to modify the compressor. The compressor is a Master Flow QMax that you used to be able to get at AutoZone or Costco for $25. I don't think anyone sells them anymore and I got mine on ebay for $20. The compressor works great for tires and will fill all 4 in about 10 minutes without overheating. The issue is that the coupler it comes with is not standard ... so I had to take it off, drill the hole larger, tap it, and then put standard couplers on. I also added a pressure relief valve, pressure valve, and splitter.



I ran air hose from one of the splitters down through the frame to the larger bed box on the drivers side and installed a quick coupler there. I left the other part of the splitter open so I can connect my air hose to either the front or the back of the truck. I carry a 25' air hose with a tire chuck in the truck for whenever I need to air up.





So yeah that is my on board air set-up. I hardwired the compressor to the battery so I can use it anytime I want. Let me know what you all think!


O I also installed new tie down points in bed today so here are some pictures of that too.

 

That's a cool setup. Nice idea.

Is that tie down on the side wall of the bed? It's a little hard to figure out.

GA

 

Its on top of the wheel well, not on the side wall. The side wall did not seem as sturdy as the top of the wheel well

 

great setup man!!! that will come in very handy in lots of situations!

 

So what can you run on a compressor that size? flow rate?

Great install, great idea

 

I have really only used it to air up tires, and it works great for that. To use tools I would think you would need to hook a tank up to it. here are the specs:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Maximum Air Flow: 72 Liters Per Minute (this works out to about 2.54 CFM according to my calculations)
Maximum Voltage: 13.8 Volts
Maximum Amps: 30A
Horsepower: 1/3
Maximum Working Pressure: 120 PSI
Maximum Restart Pressure: 150 PSI
Maximum Operation Temp: 140°F
Minimum Operating Temp: -67°F
Maximum Continuous Cycle Time: 40 mins. @ 40 PSI @ 75°F[/FONT]

 

Thanks for the information

 

Wow, I have the exact same compressor installed in the left side bed compartment. I mounted a 3 gal. air tank under the bed on the right side.

Ok, tomorrow I will have to take some pics to show you.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I am glad there are people out there who appreciate this stuff as much as I do. my fiancee just rolls her eyes when i try to tell her about it.

I can't wait to see them. i never thought of putting it back there. When I make sliders i want to seal them off and make them into tanks.

 

Here is my setup. Its been 2 years since I installed everything so its very dirty.

I trimmed the top of this compartment and the top of the compressor sticks out, but there is plenty of room above and below this compartment.

The other compartment has the connectors.


Here is the air tank



I installed a in-cab air gauge. I use an air horn, so I must always have some air pressure.


Here are the air horns I mounted between the grill and the radiator. If you want more pics of this install let me know.

 

Wow...That's an AWESOME set up- What are the dimensions of the tank??

 

Wow that is awesome! That puts mine to shame! Nice job. If i ever get enough time and money i want a train horn and then i would add a tank like you have.

Do you just turn the compressor on when you need more air in the tank? or did you somehow hook up a pressure switch to sense when the tank needs more air?

 

Looking good, Nice work

 

At first I added a pressure switch (on at 90 psi and off at 125 psi) but that compressor gets to about 120 and has trouble going over 125. So I just added a manual switch. The compressor goes from 0 to 120 in about 5 mins but from 120 to 125 takes 10 mins... Also, I had to get a check valve, because the valves on that compressor will not hold air. I put the check valve on where the compressor line connects to the tank.

I will have to measure the tank to give you the dimensions.

 

Nice setup. I was looking @ a similar setup this weekend for around 70.00...........(claims to air up a suv/truck tire in 3-4 minutes?) Nice job!

 

Its 15 x 7 1/2 inches

I think its about 3 gal.

 

Can I play!

Here's mine!
Compressor (Same as everyone else) Bolted under the storage compartment.




9 gal tank bolted up to the Tow hitch.






The 9 gal tank gives me more than enough air reserve to run all my air tools. Everything is "bolt on". And cost me less than $100.

 

To the OP where are all the brake lines at? My truck has a huge ABS setup where your compressor is.

 

Looks good. I wanted a larger tank for mine, but did not want to remove the spare tire. Where did you put your tire?

The 2009's have the ABS on the drivers side.

 

WTF, that sucks cause I have been eyeing that spot but my damn abs crap takes up to much space.