on board air

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With a 5 gal or so tank you might get limited use of an impact gun.
Enough to do lugnuts on a wheel certainly.
The key to any air compressor is CFM (not PSI), what is the CFM required by the impact gun?
Of course with a 50A current draw it would nee to be wired directly to the battery and you'd want the motor running for extended use.
 
I used to have a on board air compressor and I wasn't happy with it. It took too long to air up tires so I got rid of it. I now use a 10lb co2 tank and I can air up 4 35" tires and 4 33" tires (15psi to 25-30psi) in less than 10 minutes. I can run air tools on it if need be and have pressure up to 200psi if needed. I also aired up tires probably 10 times (2 sets of tires) before it went empty. You can refill the tank for about 15 bucks.
 
that arb model is only 50% duty cycle. 30 mins run time 30 min cool down. i would pass and buy the new ones that are 100% or look into a 12v puma compressor on ebay. i own one and love it. pretty popular with expedition guys when i was researching it

air tanks have their place and it just ends up costing the owner more money when you have to air up a few of your friends tires... they are nice but i dont like having to pay for air. you also never wait till its empty to fill and i like to have a full tank for every trip
 
If you want to "build" an on board air system; use the factory A/C compressor as your air source. Then mount an air tank under truck or where ever. Add in a regulator, in-line oiler (prolongs life of compressor), and plumb it/add necessary air line fittings.

A friend of mine has a 80 series Landcruiser with an on board air system like this. He has 2 A/C compressors. One for A/C and the other for O.B.A. They're mounted one on top of the other; with a separate belt to run the second compressor.

I'm not sure if it'll supply enough CFM to run air tools; but I know it definitely works great for airing up tires.
 
Just my .02:
Having run an electric compressor on one of my previous trail rigs...I did not like it. It wasn't that great at anything, but it was small and out of the way.

If you just want impact gun access, buy an electric.
If you want to air up the tires and what not go with SV_Dude's idea and get a tank. It sucks as it is one more thing to store and turn into a projectile, but it gets the job done.
If you want to go all out, then do a York A/C compressor install. Buddy of mine had this and it was the proverbial bee's knees. Quick google search found this: ToyotaOffRoad.com - York A/C Compressor Install
 
Mine is not "on board," but I run a smittybilt air compressor. It does decent for a small compressor. I have had no complaints so far other than it getting warm when in use.
 
As fourwd1 mentioned, the important spec to look for is VOLUME (cfm), not pressure (psi)--just about any compressor can push high pressure (even those $25 do-everything clunkers you can buy in dollar stores), but what fills up tires fast is volume. Also, like ToyoTech mentioned, look for 100% duty cycle (meaning it can run continuously, without a cool-down period)--this is especially important for air tool use. The higher the work-load tool, the more reserve capacity you'll need (bigger tank). The newer double-size ARB unit has high volume AND 100% duty cycle, and supposedly can run smaller air tools without a separate tank (but a larger impact would require a tank).
 
dirty dangler said:
curious what others are running. Im looking at picking up this guy(for a stupid cheap price) ARB On-Board High Performance 12 Volt Air Compressor (CKMA12)
the primary uses would be airing up tires and inflating blow up dolls and obviously if i got a air locker down the road. Would this be sufficient to run a impact in a pinch if i had a small holding tank? how does this unit compare to other brands like vivair?
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I got that same unit in my rig now, and its broke AGAIN..... its been fixed twice, Im over ARB. Im either going with Viair AND a CO2 as a back up.
 
i have a 12V Puma Air Compressor with a 1.5 gallon tank. i love it. a company sells them but also sells thru ebay as well. i got mine of ebay because it was easier to buy and free shipping. see alot of expo guys run them and love them as well. i plan on expanding the tank and the size of the compressor is HUGE for what it is.
 
04rnr said:
I got that same unit in my rig now, and its broke AGAIN..... its been fixed twice, Im over ARB. Im either going with Viair AND a CO2 as a back up.
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My Viair has lasted about 2 years, and is starting to go, I can hear a bearing squalling in it. I'm going to CO2.
 
Go with a CO2 tank! I popped a bead in Moab. One of the guys had a CO2 tank and we were able to pop my bead right back on because of the volume it provided. An onboard air compressor could have never done that.
 
The only problem with CO2, I got real tired of refilling my 20# tank every other month. The cheapest pleace in Denver was IIRC $18/20# tank they are only open M-F 8-5 so it was hard to find time to refill it
 
04rnr said:
The only problem with CO2, I got real tired of refilling my 20# tank every other month. The cheapest pleace in Denver was IIRC $18/20# tank they are only open M-F 8-5 so it was hard to find time to refill it
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How often were you airing up? I know guys with 10 pound tanks that claim it lasts them all year.
 
Footofgod said:
Go with a CO2 tank! I popped a bead in Moab. One of the guys had a CO2 tank and we were able to pop my bead right back on because of the volume it provided. An onboard air compressor could have never done that.
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because most air compressors people use run those tiny yellow coil hoses that restricts how much volume comes out. with my compressor and tank combo plus a real shop hose. i can run my 1/2 snap on impact gun. was able to change out two lower bj on my dads tundra out in the field where it broke lol

anyway i do tires at work and im pretty sure i wont have any problems setting the bead with my OBA system. if all my tricks fails i still carry cans of brake cleaner and throttle body cleaner with a lighter. reset any bead, just remove valve core (this is key)
 
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I run a York 210 but I've the 3.4 liter motor. Co2 is nice and has the volume but the York is hard mounted under the hood and has an endless supply of air.
 
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