Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Got the frame drilled to take the tank, and the tank trial fitted. But still have work to do on it.

But first, here's the tank with the angle welded on and painted:

And here's the tank bolted in. One thing to note here is that while the bottom of the tank is basically even with the bottom of the frame, the tubing hangs down 2". However, the bottom of the tubing is even with the bottom of the nearest muffler. And it is 2" higher than the bottom of the front step bar mount, and 1" higher than the bottom of the rear mount which you can see in the pic.

Here's a view from a position that is level with the bottom edge of the bed, which is even with the bottom of the tank, but the tubes hang down a bit more.

Last, I think I'm going to weld a piece of angle between the two tubes at the bottom to protect the drain valve. I remember an article that a Facebook friend wrote about an overlanding trip that she and her husband took a couple of years ago, during which a rock hit the drain valve on their air tank, breaking the valve. But a piece of angle where the framing square is would give a lot of protection, assuming I can still get the valve out with the angle in place.

Oh, and the ends of the tubing that you see in the pics will be plugged. The ID of the tubing is 7/8" so my 1" plugs won't fit. But the smaller set I've ordered has some 7/8" plugs so we'll be good.

Well, the cooler came in today. Boy, is it cute! But man, making the connections 'tween the components gets complex and 'spensive! Here's where I am:

• Compressor to Cooler, which is 3/8" copper compression to 6AN, but with a 90 degree at the cooler: Ebay has a X183 3/8" Tube To Female -6 AN 90° Adapter w/ Brass Ferrule Black Compression which I think is exactly what I need. However, the advert says "tubing" and I don't know if that is plastic or copper or??? So I sent the seller an email. But I think for $12.44 it is it. EDIT: He replied "It will work for either", so I ordered it. Estimated delivery by the 28th.

• Cooler to Tank, which is 6AN to 3/8" hose barb and then 3/8" hose barb to 1/2" NPT with a 90: Amazon has a nice 6AN to 3/8" hose barb, oddly enough from Derale the manufacturer of the cooler, and that is due in by the 30th. And they have a 3/8" Barb to 1/2" NPT Male with a 90, which is due in on the 21st.

• Tank To Manifold, which is 1/4" NPT to 3/8" hose barb with a 90, and then 3/8" hose barb to an as yet unknown NPT on the manifold. Amazon has a 3/8" Hose to 1/4" Male NPT that is to be here on the 29th, and I plan to figure out tomorrow what the NPT size is on the manifold. Edit: It takes another 1/4" NPT to 3/8" hose barb with a 90 to go into the manifold, so I ordered another of them and it'll be in on the 29th with the first one.

• Manifold to Switch, which is unknown at this point. Again, I hope to figure this out tomorrow. Edit: The hose barbs are 1/4" so I ordered a Heavy- Duty Rubber Air Whip Hose Swivel & Rotate Ball Fitting 1/4" and it is to be in on the 24th.

• Hose: I discovered that I have ~50' of 3/8" air hose with a 600 psi rating spare, so will use it to make the connections from the cooler to the tank and from the tank to the manifold as well as to make up the hose to go in the truck.

• Hose Clamps: I'm going with EFI clamps and since the 3/8" hose I have measures .63"/16mm OD I ordered this set of Glarks 50Pcs 7-18mm Stainless Steel Mini Fuel Injection Hose Clamps.

So tomorrow, after church and a Father's Day lunch, I plan to check out what size the unknown fittings are. And I'll start working on how to mount the cooler so that it gets as much of the air coming out of the compressor as is possible.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, the cooler came in today. Boy, is it cute! But man, making the connections 'tween the components gets complex and 'spensive! Here's where I am:

• Compressor to Cooler, which is 3/8" copper compression to 6AN, but with a 90 degree at the cooler: Ebay has a X183 3/8" Tube To Female -6 AN 90° Adapter w/ Brass Ferrule Black Compression which I think is exactly what I need. However, the advert says "tubing" and I don't know if that is plastic or copper or??? So I sent the seller an email. But I think for $12.44 it is it. EDIT: He replied "It will work for either", so I ordered it. Estimated delivery by the 28th.

• Cooler to Tank, which is 6AN to 3/8" hose barb and then 3/8" hose barb to 1/2" NPT with a 90: Amazon has a nice 6AN to 3/8" hose barb, oddly enough from Derale the manufacturer of the cooler, and that is due in by the 30th. And they have a 3/8" Barb to 1/2" NPT Male with a 90, which is due in on the 21st.

• Tank To Manifold, which is 1/4" NPT to 3/8" hose barb with a 90, and then 3/8" hose barb to an as yet unknown NPT on the manifold. Amazon has a 3/8" Hose to 1/4" Male NPT that is to be here on the 29th, and I plan to figure out tomorrow what the NPT size is on the manifold. Edit: It takes another 1/4" NPT to 3/8" hose barb with a 90 to go into the manifold, so I ordered another of them and it'll be in on the 29th with the first one.

• Manifold to Switch, which is unknown at this point. Again, I hope to figure this out tomorrow. Edit: The hose barbs are 1/4" so I ordered a Heavy- Duty Rubber Air Whip Hose Swivel & Rotate Ball Fitting 1/4" and it is to be in on the 24th.

• Hose: I discovered that I have ~50' of 3/8" air hose with a 600 psi rating spare, so will use it to make the connections from the cooler to the tank and from the tank to the manifold as well as to make up the hose to go in the truck.

• Hose Clamps: I'm going with EFI clamps and since the 3/8" hose I have measures .63"/16mm OD I ordered this set of Glarks 50Pcs 7-18mm Stainless Steel Mini Fuel Injection Hose Clamps.

So tomorrow, after church and a Father's Day lunch, I plan to check out what size the unknown fittings are. And I'll start working on how to mount the cooler so that it gets as much of the air coming out of the compressor as is possible.

Ok, with all of the above on order I spent some time with the Derale cooler today to see how to mount it. Looks like using padded clamps on the three loops and rubber isolators screwed into nutserts in the toolbox will do the trick. My measurements say that a 1 1/4" isolator would just about put the cooler in the ideal position, so I found these that are 1.18" long and .79" wide, and they are to be in on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I'll see about drilling the toolbox and installing the nutserts. Then I'll figure out where to drill the holes in the toolbox & bed for the hoses to/from the tank. And after that I can run the power cord from the cab out to the bed. Plenty to do while all the bits and pieces come in.

 

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, with all of the above on order I spent some time with the Derale cooler today to see how to mount it. Looks like using padded clamps on the three loops and rubber isolators screwed into nutserts in the toolbox will do the trick. My measurements say that a 1 1/4" isolator would just about put the cooler in the ideal position, so I found these that are 1.18" long and .79" wide, and they are to be in on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I'll see about drilling the toolbox and installing the nutserts. Then I'll figure out where to drill the holes in the toolbox & bed for the hoses to/from the tank. And after that I can run the power cord from the cab out to the bed. Plenty to do while all the bits and pieces come in.

Got the nutserts installed in the toolbox and the cooler roughly in position. However, it'll come back towards the compressor by ~1/2" from where it is in this pic when the isolators are installed.

Also I'm pleased to find that the original copper tubing that went from the compressor to the tank is long enough to reach the cooler, although I'll obviously have to bend it a bit.

But, that brings up a question: Can I reuse the original ferrule that connects that tubing to the compressor? Or, since I have what looks to be enough tubing, should I cut the tubing right behind the ferrule add a new ferrule? That would mean that I have to re-bend that bottom 180, but unless the heat has hardened the tubing that should be fairly easy. Right?

[Nothing Special]

Got the nutserts installed in the toolbox and the cooler roughly in position. However, it'll come back towards the compressor by ~1/2" from where it is in this pic when the isolators are installed.

Also I'm pleased to find that the original copper tubing that went from the compressor to the tank is long enough to reach the cooler, although I'll obviously have to bend it a bit.

But, that brings up a question: Can I reuse the original ferrule that connects that tubing to the compressor? Or, since I have what looks to be enough tubing, should I cut the tubing right behind the ferrule add a new ferrule? That would mean that I have to re-bend that bottom 180, but unless the heat has hardened the tubing that should be fairly easy. Right?

I don't see any problem with just tightening the compression nut and ferrule that are already on there into the appropriate fitting. I used to do that all the time with fuel lines on go-karts and I still do it on water feed lines to refrigerator ice makers. Those are lower pressure than an air compressor, but I don't see any issue doing it there either.

[Gary Lewis]

I don't see any problem with just tightening the compression nut and ferrule that are already on there into the appropriate fitting. I used to do that all the time with fuel lines on go-karts and I still do it on water feed lines to refrigerator ice makers. Those are lower pressure than an air compressor, but I don't see any issue doing it there either.

Thanks, Bob. That's what I've always done as well, but didn't know if it was "kosher".

I'll try to keep the orientation roughly the same so the line & ferrule are going back where they were, but it obviously won't be perfect.

At this point I think everything I need is on order, so I'm working the issues I can as the parts come in. Thought I could drill the holes in the toolbox and bed and run the hoses to/from the tank, but I don't have the correct grommets. They are on order and won't be here until Wednesday, and I don't know what hole size they fit, so I don't dare drill any holes 'cause I may have to use a hole saw.

Given that, I'm running the AC power to the compressor as I think I have all the needed parts.

[kramttocs]

Thanks, Bob. That's what I've always done as well, but didn't know if it was "kosher".

I'll try to keep the orientation roughly the same so the line & ferrule are going back where they were, but it obviously won't be perfect.

At this point I think everything I need is on order, so I'm working the issues I can as the parts come in. Thought I could drill the holes in the toolbox and bed and run the hoses to/from the tank, but I don't have the correct grommets. They are on order and won't be here until Wednesday, and I don't know what hole size they fit, so I don't dare drill any holes 'cause I may have to use a hole saw.

Given that, I'm running the AC power to the compressor as I think I have all the needed parts.

You've been making good progress

[Nothing Special]

Thanks, Bob. That's what I've always done as well, but didn't know if it was "kosher"....

I'm neither Jewish nor a plumber. So all I can tell you is that if you're doing it wrong I'm right there with you!

[Gary Lewis]

You've been making good progress

Thanks, Scott! I appreciate the encouragement. It helps a lot.

Question for y'all: The tank has two openings - one is 1/2" and one 1/4" NPT. The 1/2 was originally the inlet and the 1/4" the outlet. But I'm thinking of switching them. Both will have NPT to 3/8" hose barb fittings in them, and while I think the difference will be small, I think the 1/2" fitting will flow more than the 1/4" fitting. So why not have as much ability to move the stored air as is possible? Thoughts?

As for what I did this afternoon, I got the AC cable run from the cab into the toolbox. It comes out the right rear corner of the cab and through an existing hole in the bed and then up the inside of the bed's fender. At the top it makes a left and goes through the openings on both sides of the stake pocket and then inside the bed it turns up again, going through the wing of the toolbox and into the interior.

I hope to get the wiring in the toolbox done tomorrow so we have power to the compressor, and will show you a pic of that - assuming that it happens. But here's a pic of the behind-the-fender part of the wiring:

[Gary Lewis]

I'm neither Jewish nor a plumber. So all I can tell you is that if you're doing it wrong I'm right there with you!

Nor am I either, either. But it sure is good to have company.

[kramttocs]

Thanks, Scott! I appreciate the encouragement. It helps a lot.

Question for y'all: The tank has two openings - one is 1/2" and one 1/4" NPT. The 1/2 was originally the inlet and the 1/4" the outlet. But I'm thinking of switching them. Both will have NPT to 3/8" hose barb fittings in them, and while I think the difference will be small, I think the 1/2" fitting will flow more than the 1/4" fitting. So why not have as much ability to move the stored air as is possible? Thoughts?

As for what I did this afternoon, I got the AC cable run from the cab into the toolbox. It comes out the right rear corner of the cab and through an existing hole in the bed and then up the inside of the bed's fender. At the top it makes a left and goes through the openings on both sides of the stake pocket and then inside the bed it turns up again, going through the wing of the toolbox and into the interior.

I hope to get the wiring in the toolbox done tomorrow so we have power to the compressor, and will show you a pic of that - assuming that it happens. But here's a pic of the behind-the-fender part of the wiring:

As the hose is the same size, I agree that any difference would be small enough that I'd go with whichever config lines up better. Just my unscientific thought