On-board air for filling tires

GaryMB

New member
I have 32" tires on my cj7 an am looking for a portable air source for filling them up after 4wheeling. How well/fast do cadillac compressors work? Right now i'm considering cadillac suspension compressors, a compressor for $40 at kragens that does not give its cfm, and bringing small 20 ounce paintball co2 tanks with me. I've never seen a york compressor but have a serpentine belt on my 258 and don't know how easy it would be to hook up or to find the right parts. What air sources are best for filling tires? Also i would want some sort of air tank and don't know where i would mount it on my jeep that would be out of the way. I'm trying to keep the cost down. Any ideas?
 
basically any AC compressor will work... york is the popular choice due to its internal oil sump... you don't have to add oil to them as you do a rotary compressor...

i'm not so up to date on my suspension compressors... i don't see why it wouldn't work... but i would certainly say to have a good reserve tank... i wouldn't think they would provide much output to be airing up on demand
 
It will work, I have a buddy that uses it as his air pump for his air ride in his S10. with out a tank, not too quick though. with a tank and a pressure switch at about 120 psi... alot better.
 

You can get a York at any junk yard and by the bracket and belt from one of the compressor suppliers to save money. http://www.onboardair.com/

http://www.jedi.com/obiwan/jeep/york_id.html

I wish I had ODA. What a waste of time to air up at a gas station, worse if you have about 6 guys airing up.

Also check out CO2 tank systems. Much faster air ups than a compr and lots of air ups from one tank.
 
RE: np435 (new big transmission)

I have two Caddy compressors on my TJ. I paid about $13 a piece for them at the Pick-n-Pull. With both of them running I can air up all 4 of my 33"s in about 30-45mins depending on how low I go. That's without a tank. It's not the fastest, but when I'm camping I usually start airing up when I'm packing to leave and it's no big deal. I mounted mine on the inner passenger side fender where the stock air box used to be. A buddy of mine also mounted his two in an old tool box. He plumbed a hose connection out the one side and a positive and negative terminal on the other that he hooks into his battery with jumper cables. heres some pictures of mine.

http://jumppr.jeepz.com/photo.html
 
If you do decide to go with a York, make sure you shop around. I've heard of guys spending almost 3x what I paid to do mine. I picked up a used one at a wreckers for something like $40 (can't remember exactly) and I've heard of some guys only spending $20 and others spending all the way up to $150. As for the bracket that fits onto the alternator to hold the compressor, I have pictures with all the measurements to make one for yourself....that is if it's the same as a YJ bracket which I doubt. All the rest of the stuff like pressure guages, switches and air manifolds vary a lot in price from different shops.
 

RE: body lift problem

So from what i read at oboardair.com the york will bolt onto the factory idler pulley bracket and require a $110 clutch+pulley kit unless i can acquire one used. Did the CJ's with 258's and serpentine belts come with york a/c compressors?
 
GaryMB said:
So from what i read at oboardair.com the york will bolt onto the factory idler pulley bracket and require a $110 clutch+pulley kit unless i can acquire one used. Did the CJ's with 258's and serpentine belts come with york a/c compressors?
Does your CJ have a serpentine or V-groove belt? If it has a V-groove, you shouldn't need a pulley and clutch as long as they are still in working condition from the wreckers. If it has a serpentine belt and the York you choose has a v-groove pulley on it, I know that some guys will take it into a machining shop and machine down the center of the v-groove flat so they can use a serpentine belt on it.....there are two v-grooves side by side so they machine down the center inbetween them flat. The best way I can describe it is to picture a " W " without the center.
 
DANA 30 TEAR DOWN

Yeah, my cj has the serpentine belt. I'll check the local pick-n-pull this weekend for the compressor and see how much my local machine shop will charge to machine down the v-grooves. Guess grinding it down myself would make the surface a bit too rough. Any one know what vehicles to check for york compressors? Also will i need to worry about freon in the a/c system when i pull the compressor?
 

freon won't hurt anything... even though you are not required to add oil to the york, its probably still a good idea to do so once in a while to keep all of your parts lubed up, just as you would with any air system
 
RE: engine swap

GaryMB said:
Any one know what vehicles to check for york compressors? Also will i need to worry about freon in the a/c system when i pull the compressor?
When I was searching for one, the early 80's Volvo's seemed to be the most common vehicles that had the 10 ci Yorks. There's three different Yorks out there. Make sure you get the 10 ci York, it has the most air output. You'll be able to tell if it still has the factory York tag on it. Here's a picture of what you're looking for...
image-missing.png

The 10 is the 10 ci York and the R means right side discharge.
 
do NOT use 20 oz co2 tanks... if you do, first problem is that you will need an adapter to put to the tires.. second problem, and the worst, is that co2 tanks dont have a decent regulator on them, and the co2 on the inside is being regulated from anywhere around 750-900 fps as it comes out, and pressure fluctuates rapidly depending on fill level, temperature, price of tea in china, and even humidity.. if you were to use prefilled paintball equipment, you should look on ebay for a large(over 90 or 110 ci)(if you can find any of the really REALLY big ones, they are cheaper, who wants to carry those huge monsters on the back of a gun all day) nitrogen paintball tank, preferably with either an adjustable reg, or a low pressure reg (low pressure regs are present and non adjustable, putting out approx 250-300 psi where high pressure presets put out a failry consitent 800-850 depending on the preset) nitrogen(or hpa high pressure air(scuba air)) is much cheaper than co2, as you will pay 6-7 bucks for a fill on a 20oz co2 as compared to a buck per 1000 psi on a hpa tank, which are rated at 3000, 4500, or 5000 psi, and you can get them filled at diving shops as well as most any paintball field... just make sure to put a REALLY GOOD on off valve in line....

oh, and in case you are wondering, i am volunteer ref and airsmith at dothan survival games in dothan alabama.. i specialize in spyders, and if i say so myself, i can do the best trigger job on any electronic spyder or spyder clone in 100 miles.. i'm also learning how to work on cockers and cocker clones (i just build my first fake cocker from parts..)

wally
 

I was really into paintball too back in the day but am sad to say that i had to sell my cocker and scuba+hpa setup to finance my jeep.....buuuuuuut I still have a bulk co2 and some 20oz tanks lying around that I was thinking of using. I was initially interested in using the co2 since it is capable of seating a bead...I bet i could of rigged up some adapter, but i think i'll go with the york compressor since it's been done and has been proven to work well. For seating the bead maybe i'll just carry a can of ether and hope i won't ever need it. As soon as the rain here stops i'll head on over to pick-n-pull to see what i can come up with. Did the caddies with air suspension come with air tanks that might work for oba?
 
What grease to use

I just found a york 210 with electric clutch and v-belt pulley being sold locally for $70. Is that a good price?
 
GaryMB said:
I just found a york 210 with electric clutch and v-belt pulley being sold locally for $70. Is that a good price?
Depends on how old it is. It sounds really expensive for a used one. I paid around $40 Canadian for mine. Try calling a couple of different wreckers to see what they'd charge you. If there isn't a lot of wreckers around your area and money isn't a big problem then I'd grab it.
 

york compressors come on volvo's early model fords early merceds most semi tractors. oba/kilbeys has a pully for $40 that goes on your alternator with both serpentine and v gruve's they also sell a 2.5 gal air tank that i mounted between the drive shaft and the frame behind the transfer case. if you are handy you can take the mount that thevolvo a/c compressor comes with and mod. it fit anywhere. this comp does not have to be mounted vertical, it canbe mounted up to 90 degrees left or right. check out kilbeys site there it more i8nfo there than you need includingthe manual for the york comp. lol jim
 
i paid $25 for mine w/clutch at a junk yard. they can also be gotten from a/c repair people. most of the time the seals go out in them and they won't hold the freon but they will still work for pumping air. i just purchased a sarnen rotory that i am going to use. got it from a a/c place w/clutch for $25.
 
does anyone know what size serpentine and v-belt would be used with the kilby's alternator pulley?
 
Back
Top