Bruno2 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 The 7.3 DI motors had air compressor options. I dont know if they had them in Ford applications or if it was other trucks that used air brakes. The 7.3 is an International motor so it was used by different truck manufacturers in many different applications. I have done some mild research, but havent found where I could get the bracketry and such. Gary, have you ever heard of these guys? Gearhead Automotive Performance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Gary, have you ever heard of these guys? Gearhead Automotive Performance Gary, are you going to check the fuel mileage for this loaded and working trip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I have also heard the off road guys do the same and some times the roll cage.... The thing that bothers me about that is all of the water you get in compressed air. I don't like the idea of rusting my roll cage (or bumper) from the inside out. ....Could also make up a fitting to fit in a spark plug hole, hook a hose to it and the other end to the flat tire. Start the motor and blow the tire up.... I wouldn't do that unless you like putting gasoline in a rubber tire. Neither having an explosive vapor in it or filling it with a solvent that softens rubber appeals to me. There were (are?) products that screwed into a spark plug hole and used the engine compression to pump fresh air into the tire. You could probably figure out how to make that too, but it's more complicated than just fittings and check valves. ....I know the 12v lighter compressors are not great but are better than nothing. When you are messing with other stuff it could be running and filling 1 of the air tanks. Dave ---- I really wouldn't bother with the cigarette lighter compressors. But there are reasonably priced compressors that have clamps to hook directly to the battery which work fast enough that you can't get a hand of cards finished while waiting for it. I think I paid about $50 for the one I have. It takes under 5 minutes to bring one of my 33/10.50x15 tires from 15 to 35 psi after I've been 'wheeling. And it's even capable of getting my truck tires to 80 psi (but that does get boring). Nothing to get excited about, but I sure wouldn't get one of the really cheap ones when something like this is available. And to Gary's later post, there are 12V compressors even much better than mine available too, but they get to be a lot of money ($200 - $500?). A good engine-driven compressor is definitely the high-performance way to go. But not all electrics are as bad as the one you are remembering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I have also heard the off road guys do the same and some times the roll cage.... The thing that bothers me about that is all of the water you get in compressed air. I don't like the idea of rusting my roll cage (or bumper) from the inside out. ....Could also make up a fitting to fit in a spark plug hole, hook a hose to it and the other end to the flat tire. Start the motor and blow the tire up.... I wouldn't do that unless you like putting gasoline in a rubber tire. Neither having an explosive vapor in it or filling it with a solvent that softens rubber appeals to me. There were (are?) products that screwed into a spark plug hole and used the engine compression to pump fresh air into the tire. You could probably figure out how to make that too, but it's more complicated than just fittings and check valves. ....I know the 12v lighter compressors are not great but are better than nothing. When you are messing with other stuff it could be running and filling 1 of the air tanks. Dave ---- I really wouldn't bother with the cigarette lighter compressors. But there are reasonably priced compressors that have clamps to hook directly to the battery which work fast enough that you can't get a hand of cards finished while waiting for it. I think I paid about $50 for the one I have. It takes under 5 minutes to bring one of my 33/10.50x15 tires from 15 to 35 psi after I've been 'wheeling. And it's even capable of getting my truck tires to 80 psi (but that does get boring). Nothing to get excited about, but I sure wouldn't get one of the really cheap ones when something like this is available. And to Gary's later post, there are 12V compressors even much better than mine available too, but they get to be a lot of money ($200 - $500?). A good engine-driven compressor is definitely the high-performance way to go. But not all electrics are as bad as the one you are remembering. Maybe not the roll bar as an air tank but the bumper is not that big a deal for rust. If it ever rust out when you have that truck I would be shocked! I did think of the spark plug deal and fuel in the tires but thinking he is trying to blow up crap tires just to get it to roll and on the trailer, so what will it hurt? On the 12 volt compressor, I had a set of air horns on my 86 K5 Blazer with a diesel. The gas horns use a vacuum pump run off the vacuum of the motor to work the compressor. That would not work on the diesel so it comes with a 12v one. It would build up to 125psi in short order. Even came with a hose you hooked to the air tank to blow up tires with and did a good job. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno2 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I have also heard the off road guys do the same and some times the roll cage.... The thing that bothers me about that is all of the water you get in compressed air. I don't like the idea of rusting my roll cage (or bumper) from the inside out. ....Could also make up a fitting to fit in a spark plug hole, hook a hose to it and the other end to the flat tire. Start the motor and blow the tire up.... I wouldn't do that unless you like putting gasoline in a rubber tire. Neither having an explosive vapor in it or filling it with a solvent that softens rubber appeals to me. There were (are?) products that screwed into a spark plug hole and used the engine compression to pump fresh air into the tire. You could probably figure out how to make that too, but it's more complicated than just fittings and check valves. ....I know the 12v lighter compressors are not great but are better than nothing. When you are messing with other stuff it could be running and filling 1 of the air tanks. Dave ---- I really wouldn't bother with the cigarette lighter compressors. But there are reasonably priced compressors that have clamps to hook directly to the battery which work fast enough that you can't get a hand of cards finished while waiting for it. I think I paid about $50 for the one I have. It takes under 5 minutes to bring one of my 33/10.50x15 tires from 15 to 35 psi after I've been 'wheeling. And it's even capable of getting my truck tires to 80 psi (but that does get boring). Nothing to get excited about, but I sure wouldn't get one of the really cheap ones when something like this is available. And to Gary's later post, there are 12V compressors even much better than mine available too, but they get to be a lot of money ($200 - $500?). A good engine-driven compressor is definitely the high-performance way to go. But not all electrics are as bad as the one you are remembering. Maybe not the roll bar as an air tank but the bumper is not that big a deal for rust. If it ever rust out when you have that truck I would be shocked! I did think of the spark plug deal and fuel in the tires but thinking he is trying to blow up crap tires just to get it to roll and on the trailer, so what will it hurt? On the 12 volt compressor, I had a set of air horns on my 86 K5 Blazer with a diesel. The gas horns use a vacuum pump run off the vacuum of the motor to work the compressor. That would not work on the diesel so it comes with a 12v one. It would build up to 125psi in short order. Even came with a hose you hooked to the air tank to blow up tires with and did a good job. Dave ---- Put a bleed cock in the bottom. Problem solved for $2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno2 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Put a bleed cock in the bottom. Problem solved for $2. I built an air dryer out of an old A.C. coil for my shop air. As long as I am filling air up there I have no worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 I built an air dryer out of an old A.C. coil for my shop air. As long as I am filling air up there I have no worries. Brandon - I've not heard of them. David - Yes, I'm checking gas mileage. On the way over I got 8.3 MPG, but there was lots of idling to run the alternator while winching. But I'll check the return MPG when I fill up tomorrow as it was late when I got back tonight. Anyway, the trip went extremely well. I had all the right tools, Big Blue towed the trailer quite well (although not as well as Blue), and the winch and electrical system worked perfectly. In fact, the only problem we had, and that was minor, was that Big Blue still pings some on 91 octane gas when he's pulling a loaded trailer. However, I was prepared for that possibility and had take a plug for the vacuum advance line - problem solved. I had to drive through some pretty tall grass, weeds, and briars, but Big Blue didn't spin a tire. However, I might not have been very happy if I'd taken my new truck, so I'm really glad I took Big Blue. Here's a pic of the grass I had to drive through: Here we are winching the '60 out of the ground. It didn't have wheels on 3 of the corners, and while there was a wheel on the 4th it had absolutely no rubber. Consequently all 4 corners were sunk well into the ground. So it was a chore even getting a jack under something, and there was no way we could get it high enough to get a tire on, so we had to dig out enough to get the tires on. But, we got the '60 out of the way and then winched the Malibu on the trailer to take to storage: After taking the Malibu to storage in town and getting lunch, we went back to the farm and loaded the '60: I can't imagine doing that job w/o a winch. Several years ago we pulled the '50 Chevy pickup out from behind where the '60 was sitting, and we did it with a hand winch and a come-along, and that took us all day to load one vehicle. Today we loaded two vehicles and unloaded one, all with the electric winch. It just wouldn't have been possible w/o it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno2 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Gary, have you ever heard of these guys? Gearhead Automotive Performance THey have been doing custom tuning with the ecoboost motors. They are putting up some pretty impressive numbers with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 THey have been doing custom tuning with the ecoboost motors. They are putting up some pretty impressive numbers with them. Core Tuning has, or soon will have, a custom tune for the EB. And since I'm going to buy their package it doesn't cost much more to get that tune as well. But I don't really need more power. However, I would like a bit more MPG and the ability to tune the shift points some. I was told that their tune does both of those, but when I am buying I'll research that a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1986F150Six Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Core Tuning has, or soon will have, a custom tune for the EB. And since I'm going to buy their package it doesn't cost much more to get that tune as well. But I don't really need more power. However, I would like a bit more MPG and the ability to tune the shift points some. I was told that their tune does both of those, but when I am buying I'll research that a bit more. Now that you are safely back, Gary, take a quick read of the prayer on the 1st page of the Bullnose Forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts