| Installing On-Board Air York/Sanden |
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| Sunday, 08 February 2009 22:21 | |||
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Installing On-Board Air
After bumming air off others, especially Mark, I finally made the decision to put on-board air on the Jeep. I decided that I was not interesting in cutting the inner fender well in order to fit one of the popular York compressors on the side of the engine. This left the option of going with a reciprocating compressor with the hopes I wouldn’t need to do any trimming of the fender. The first thing I had to purchase was the standard York bracket and because I was using the reciprocating compressor I needed to get the appropriate bracket to mount it.
I purchased a compressor from pull-a-part wrecking yard for $30 and all the appropriate parts. All with ¼”NPT I started out following the directions from Kilby’s site( www.onboardair.com )which involved removing the alternator and unbolting the stock air conditioner. Once I had these off I put the brackets on that will hold the new air compressor.
The instructions for the York bracket are posted on his site and if you follow them the mounting of the bracket goes very quickly. With the main bracket in place I moved onto the Sanden conversion bracket. This bolts directly to the York bracket, before mounting the Sanden conversion bracket ( KE-RCA1 ), mount the compressor to it. Once the compressor is mounted bolt the Sanden bracket to the York by first inserting the top two bolts that attach to the tongue just below the adjusting nut. Now insert the bolts in each of the four holes in the main part of the Sanden bracket, do NOT tighten these bolts because the belt will need to be tightened. Grab the alternator and remove the stock pulley and replace it with the pulley that came in the kit. This pulley will allow the use of the stock serpentine belt to run the alternator and attach a v-belt that will run from the alternator to the air compressor. After mounting the alternator back in it’s original location I placed the v-belt on the alternator and then on the compressor and here is what I found.
The v-belt not only rubbed on the fender well, but also presented a problem for the air conditioner line. This was a definite problem and I was forced to put on my thinking cap in order to find a way to over come this small problem. My solution was to place a tension pulley, that the back of the v-belt, could ride against. This would re-route the belt to a higher location keeping off the fender and a/c line. Unfortunately my searches at the automotive stores proved to be nothing more than exercise. If they did have a tension pulley it was at least 3” in diameter and my measurements showed me to have a 2” limit in the diameter of the pulley. So off to the Pull-A-Part yard in search of a pulley that I could use for this project. I searched for the better part of an hour and came upon a half assembled engine in a Volvo and there in the front, part of the timing belt pulley’s sat exactly what I was looking for. It took all of 3 minutes to unbolt and clean up, and on my way out I grabbed the mounting bracket from the a/c unit I had picked up a couple of days before. After I got home I found that a few modifications to the pulley need to be done to make it suitable for use in the place where I needed it.
The two tabs needed to be cut off and a custom bracket was made from the original a/c bracket. This pulley bracket was then welded to the Sanden bracket and the pulley was bolted. With the pulley bolted the serpentine belt was threaded through it’s stock locations followed by the v-belt. Around the alternator, a/c compressor and then slide over the top of the tension pulley. With the belt in place the adjustment was tightened up in order to tighten the v-belt up. Once I had the proper tension in the v-belt I proceeded to tighten down the bolts that held the Sanden bracket to the York bracket. The Jeep was then started and I watched to make sure my idea was going to work, and without incident the alternator turned the new air compressor.
With the pulley in place the v-belt was routed up and away from the fender and the a/c line. Now that the unit was mounted it was time to turn my attention to the plumbing of the air lines. I knew, from watching others, that I was interested in having access to air from both the front and back of the Jeep. This just left more options for later as well, with the idea of eventually mounting a tank and ARB lockers. I had kept a considerable length of hose on the original suction and discharge ports. I had read on several websites that it was easier to splice into these than to find the correct fittings. With 2 ½” barb connectors I inserted them into the a/c hose and connect the air filter to the suction side of the compressor. I then turned my attention to the discharge side and using a reducer got the ½” threaded connector to a ¼” which is what I was using throughout the system. I then ran a section of the hose to the other side of the vehicle where I was going to locate the manifold. The manifold is only a place where the pressure switch, pressure gauge, safety valve and connections to the front and rear connectors.  
I then ran my external connections one to right above the bumper in front and just above the bumper in the rear and secured the line with zip ties in strategic places under the Jeep along the frame rail. I did forget one thing, I need to add a check valve because the compressor does allow air to leak out back through the discharge port. With a check valve the air will only be able to flow in one direction and will allow the system to hold a constant pressure. This was one of the most enjoyable and challenging projects I have done and wasn’t as hard as it might sound. If you are thinking of tackle this just think it through and everything will be fine. My final costs was just shy of $325.00 but will prove it’s worth in due time.
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