I am looking for the best location to place the compressor for the air locker that I will be adding. I have seen the pic in the prior thread which looks ideal, but things need to be moved around under the hood in order for me to place it there. Would, or did, this pose any problems? I have also seen them mounted in the rear of the truck in the cargo area, but would like to avoid that if possible. An installer in the area told me he hid one inside the bumper. But that would make it hard to use for anything but the locker. Any advice???

Well, I haven't mounted one, but I would like to think that I'm pretty inventive, so here goes...

Mount it behind that huuuuuge front bumper, and then run a small air line to a fitting mounted on the bumper. With a switch located in either someplace under the hood, or just behind the grill (out of site, but you can reach it without popping the hood) in reach of a probing finger.

I always liked the look of an air fitting on a bumper. It says 'I'm ready for anything...' or something.

Just remember to put a cap or something protective over the connector on the bumper, so it doesn't get packed with road grime, bugs, sand, etc.

That is a pretty sweet idea, not that im going to do it.

I'll be getting an ARB compressor in the next week or so. I have plenty of room in my engine bay for it but I would think it would get too hot. I'm thinking of doing something similiar to what Cyclemut recommended but it's hard to decide right now when I don't have the actual product here yet. I'll be keeping an eye on this topic to see what other ideas come through here.

I put mine here, but I don't have cruise control.

Stone4x4...that is exactly where I was going to put mine, but the cruise box is there...so it would have to be relocated...I like the bumper idea with an air fitting mounted...Thanks!

My view on onboard air

I've debated long and hard on how to get an onboard air/air locker setup on the Xterra and after literally years of trying to figure out what to do I've decided the best bet is CO2.

Onboard air compressors just suck as far as output goes. And a cheap $300 air compressor setup is a lot more expensive way to fire a air locker than a $100 (at most) CO2 setup.

One of these days I'm going to get a picture of Hustler's CO2 ARB Air locker setup on the net for all 4-wheelers to see how much cleaner and cheaper a CO2 setup is.

Look in any 4x4 magazine, and you can see a CO2 setup, with the ARB lines hooked up to it.

With a compressor setup, you should run it to a tank, and then run the lines out from there. That way, you don't have to have the compressor running to engage the locker every time. The tank doesn't need to be big, as the locker doesn't take that much air to actuate.

Heres mine, not an ARB, but same concept. i moved my security horn and made a bracket out of aluminum that i got from home depot.

Here it is mounted.

Heres, the bracket. it was easy to make, i use only a vice, a hammer, drill, and a riveter. i just bought the metel and made a platform. i use only existing holes for the mounting points. then i painted it black. simple, took about 3 hours but it worth it.

Josh

Heat has not caused my ARB any problems in the 2+ years I have it installed in the engine compartment.

Toy Man

I live in the desert. Not a problem.. I know a guy with a Frontier that has his comp in the same place, two years, works fine.

I got a Viair 200P and am going to hardmount it. The sucker pumps out about 50% more air than the ARB.

I prefer the compressor setup because you are virtually unlimited (given the compressor doesn't die) in the quantity of air you can put out.

I've suffered multiple annoying tire leak issues in Baja and I was glad I could keep airing up every 20 minutes or so along the 90 mile trail. If I had CO2 and ran out, I'd be in a wee bit of trouble.

I'm a fan of simple, robust solutions and CO2 seems simpler to install, more reliable and more versatile. I have aired up 6 trucks on one tank from 15 to 35 psi running a mix of 31" and 32" tires and still had CO2 left for an impact wrench. CO2 does put out sufficient CFMs to run air tools where most vehicle mounted compressors do not without very large air tanks. I've also used my tank to tap kegs.

Running a CO2 tank compared to a compressor you have no moving parts to break, no electrics to short and very few connections to leak. I have an air hose that reaches all 4 tires on my truck without taking the tank out of the back and will reach most of the tires on a truck parked to either side of me or behind me.

The only down side is filling the tank. I have to drive 30 miles to the closest filling point, but usually do that on the way to the trail if I need it. And then it's only a couple times a year if I am selfish with my gas. It's around $1/lb of C02. So if you do go the $100 DIY C02 setup it will be many years before you spent enough on CO2 to match what a comparable compressor/air tank setup will cost you.

You're right, it's defintely simpler.

It boils down to what you need it for. If you're always within range of help, a tank might work for you.

On my last 4 week Baja trip, I probably aired up and down 30 times. A tank might be marginal if I had a bunch of tire failures, something that is very very possible.

To backup the compressor, I brought along a bike pump. Thank goodness I didn't have to use the pump!

I think your trips to Baja are a special case. If I were planning on airing up 30 times over a trip it definitely makes using CO2 less attractive. Most of the usage I've seen and with my friends it's always been to go out air down for a weekend air up once before coming home. Even in Moab I left my truck aired down all week and didn't air up until I was ready to come home.

What tires are you using one what terrain that you are having frequent tire failures? I know it's always a possibility, but tire punctures are something I don't run into very often even driving my truck like I stole it. I pop beads more often and the CO2 moves enough air that I can reseat the tire if that happens.

The roads were basically along the Baja 1000 route. Lots of washboard, lots of ruts, lots of washout areas.

The problem is that the vibrations cause other vehicles to loose their fasteners, screws, etc.

My tires picked those up multiple times. Puncture flat everytime. I got one near the sidewall and that sucker caused me grief till I swapped out my tires. The tire plugs don't seal sidewall punctures very well and tire shops won't touch it. No sidewall is immune to nails.

I never had a "tire failure", just a lot of punctures in the tread. I used Bridgestone Dueler ATs. I highly recommend them.

On my trips, I saw a guy with 35 inch BFG Mud Terrains on the side of the road. He shredded his tires. A few days later I saw a guy with 33" BFG All Terrains, shredded the tires. That's why I don't think BFGs are that great.

What people don't know is that the "third ply" on the BFG is about as thick as a balloon. I know this, because I checked out his tires...or whatever chunk of it I had in my hand.

I am curious about this. at the time that i purchased my BFG ATs the duellers were my second choice, what sold me was that the BFGs sidewalls were 3 ply. If the 3rd ply is really that thin and doesn't do a whole lot then I may consider the Dueller since a relative that works for bidgestone can get them at a really good price. My other question is are they rated as a snow tire like the BFGs.

I recently got the Dueler Revos. I can't speak for the Revos in snow, but the AT's worked very well in Tahoe snow. I drove through snow that reached the top of the front hood (light dry powder) and was fully in control.

check out tirerack.com, they have user reviews on the various tires.

The third ply is a sham.