Air tanks?

[Speedwagon]

Before doing a full on onboard air system, I think I'd like to get some tanks in place. I have a large unused area under the rear of the bed, where the spare tire was from the factory(or on dual tank Rangers, the rear tank was). So I think I can fit a couple tanks back there, and this will give me a way to carry air that I can fill up before heading out. Should be enough to fill all my tires too from what I can tell.

So where can I get some air tanks to fit back there, for fairly cheap? And the plumbing necessary to get it to a convienent location on the truck(probably inside the bedrail or similar)?

[Andrew]

I have a CO2 tank and love it! I would look into that vs. air tanks.

[Haku]

Power Tanks are expensive and you have to pay to get em filled each time, but they do a good job.

Both Brody and Chris have tanks in their rigs, so you should definitely ask them. I believe they hooked theirs up to an AC compressor, and usually turn it on a half hour before they want to air up. I think you'd have to get a decent sized tank that can take some PSI to get enough air to fill all 4 tires without running out. I know Viair makes ones specific for offroading use, and they aren't too expensive. They make everything from less then a gallon up to 5 gallons. I know 4wheelparts sells em, and they are usually willing to haggle a bit too. I'm sure you could adapt any air compressor tank to do it too. I've heard of people using Soda carbonation tanks, scuba tanks, and others too.

JH

[Andrew]

I got my whole CO2 setup for like $130. It's not as good as a power tank (restaurant CO2 tank and regulator/hose/filler), but still faster than air tank/compressor.

I can upgrade the regulator and make it fill faster though too. And I can run air tools on the CO2 without needing a compressor capable of keeping a tank at 90 PSI while in use.

It costs me $22 for a 20lb tank to be filled. It lasted a long time. There is a cheaper place in Denver to get them filled for I think $15.

I got my tank around March I think, and it ran out on July 4th. That's after wheeling at least 2 times a month, a week long trip to Moab, and running air tools to do some stuff here or there.

[Brody]

Pretty much what Josh said, but the only tanks you can adapt to use for CO2 are ones rated to handle the high pressure. Regular air compressor tanks simply won't do it.

General Air Service and Supply or any of the welding shops will sell a filled CO2 tank for roughly $80. The money part is going to come in buying the right valves.

I believe that I listed a number of sources in the tech section in the OBA articles as well as a bunch of different ways to build your own OBA. This has added to by other people, so there is a considerable amount of info there. Chis posted all of the part numbers of the stuff he used on the Toyota AC to air compressor changeover. With a York style compressor, you won't need the inline mister, BTW.

If you go the AC compressor route, Chris has a double tank like what you see on Rigid, Huskey, or other compressors that he isn't using. I also posted a local vendor (vendors section) that has a bunch of used air tanks of various sizes and styles that he is willing to get rid of for around $10 or so.

Bottom line, you have a lot of options and you kinda need to figure out how much money you are willing to spend for the set up and go from that. I just recently sold a filled CO2 tank that I got from Chris in exchange for some work, complete with valves for $125 to Swath. Used set ups are out there for a good price, too.

[Funrover]

What I am going to do is use the air tank for the Range Rover air suspension. It is a great size and pre-plummed for everything. Honestly I took mine out of a scrap bin, people just toss them one the get rid of the Air ride suspension

[Speedwagon]

I already know how much tank gets me to where I want. I have an 11 gallon portable air tank right now, and at 110psi it will fill the fronts from 10 to 25, and rears from 10 to 22psi, with around 40psi left in the tank. I'll have to check out that guy that is selling them used for $10. I'm almost tempted to just mount this 11 gallon under the bed, but it is has a bit large of a diameter to do that safely. In the bed it's fine, but I have so much unused space under the bed.