Engine Mounted Air Compresor

Here's a cheap mod you can do to provide your bugout vehicle with a constant air supply for inflating your tires or operating air-driven tools.

I've saw a similar setup on a wrecker once, but soon forgot about it. Here's a web site that explains all the details of installation. I need to pay a visit to my local Pull-a-Part yard, and do some pricing for my own truck. No more air tanks ratting in the bed, or paying .75 cent for a tire fill.

York Air Compressor Install

I saw some guys knock up a really effective air compresser the other day on the telly - you know one of those shows where the have to build from scrap.

They used a small 2 stroke engine (think it was from a strimmer or a lawnmower) and a larger motorcycle engine (250cc?) to power it. They knocked up a one way valve from a piece of tubing and a ball bearing, fixed that where the exhaust went on the smaller engine, the compressed air outlet was where the spark plug was (already conveniently threaded of course) and the motorcycle supplied the drive.

Just thought I'd mention that one... you could even make that human powered, swap the motorcycle engine for some peddles maybe...

[edit on 13/1/2009 by Now_Then]

Interesting read. Thanks for posting this one.

I'll have to do some digging to see what I'd need to put it on a Jeep Liberty or Nissan Armada.

yeah,,, i'm a minitrucker,,,l,we use electrical air compressors for airbag suspensions,,,,,or you can install an engine driven compressor,,,,,the major companies are OASIS and YORK some also use compressed nitrogen bottles as well

not really a new concept except for using for inside the car ventilation

in fact i believe you can go to napa and buy a sanden compressor---basically an A/c compressor and run air thru it instead of liquid



check this vid---this is on compressed air----not hydraulics

reply to post by shortywarn
It's definitely not a new idea, but one I imagine most people are unaware of, or haven given much thought to. Until I bought my 4x4 it never occurred to me how valuable a self-contained air supply could actually be.

In a SHTF scenario, all the service stations will be closed, and should a tire go flat while you're traveling, you'd be SOL unless you had a serviceable spare. This could also be used to operate power tools for vehicle repairs or the dismantling of salvage materials. Just a thought I had..


[edit on 14-1-2009 by LLoyd45]

true,, just took 5 hour trip from jersey to RI,,,good think i checked the spare,,,it had practically no pressure.


and i can imagine how many people get a flat and find the spare is flat or soft too,,,because it hasn't been checked in years

If you can find one that is electric powered get it instead of a belt driven compressor. I used to work in a lube center and we serviced the local Les Schwabs trucks. They had belt driven compressors and they are very hard on the engines. They require a lot of torque to operate.

I used to have a 1966 IH truck that had belonged to a railroad somewhere.It had an old 1970's Chrysler A/C pump converted to pump air .They had a toogle switch hooked up to the clutch so you only had it on when needed.Also had a small air tank under the bed .. loved it




[edit on 17-1-2009 by deadcatsrule]