Land Cruiser Build ARB Compressor
ARB On Board Compressor Install
The next stage of the Land Cruiser build was installing our ARB compressor. After using a Kings compressor for years and having to connect to the battery every time, we were really looking forward to having an onboard compressor.
I purchased an ARB compressor, the twin on board model that costs $650 for the compressor on it’s own – check it out here on ARB’s website. There is a bunch of other stuff you are going to need to purchase as well. I bought the ARB pump up kit as I really like their orange hose and the fittings that come with this kit – it cost around $70. The kit includes the compressor coupling that works really well (you will see this in the pics below). A bunch of other parts are also needed for the install but this will depend on where you are installing yours and exactly how you are setting this up.
I decided that the best place to fit the compressor would be under the right side wing of the Drifta drawers as this will keep the compressor nicely hidden away but in order to do this I needed to move one of the side wing side supports and the turn buckle anchor on the drawers to get this to fit. See my post about our Drifta drawer install and what was involved in mounting the compressor.
I used 8 stainless M6 counter sunk bolts to mount the compressor the side of the drawers – you are provided with 4 M6 bolts and washers but these were not going to work for my setup. Counter sunk in order to allow the bottom drawer to move freely without catching. The instructions only require you to use 4 of the mounting points on the rear of the compressor but I choose to use all 8 as a bit of over kill. I didn’t need to do this and it created a few more headaches trying to line all these up correctly, far easier to just use the 4 mounting points. The compressor is bloody heavy though and I just felt more comfortable doing it this way. As an FYI, do not use the mounting template provided as it is not too scale. The dimensions shown are correct but the template is out by about 15 mm, so measure everything up yourself. Getting all the holes drilled and spaced correctly took a while as I didn’t want to mess this one up – I can see why people buy the mounting bracket from ARB as this would be a lot easier, however $150 seems like a waste of money to me. Once mounted and in the back of the cruiser it looks good and fits perfect under the drawer side wings. Will be nicely hidden away and we will still be able to store gear on top of it.
The next job was to make the compressor coupling fit the drivers side side drawer infill for easy access. Decided to use the supplied ARB coupling as it has a really nice mechanism when plugging in the hose and pops out nicely when releasing it. In order to get this to fit I need to make a bracket, so using some flat aluminium that I had left over from another project, I drilled a couple of holes to mount to the infill and then a larger hole to secure the coupling. Then using a hole saw, drilled a hole in the infill big enough to fit the whole coupling through, as I want to mount the bracket behind the infill so you don’t see it, as well as leaving enough space for the rear door to close. This is all easy enough to do, painted everything black and fits a treat. Pretty happy with the end result.
Really happy with how the compressor fitted and the DIY job on the coupling mount. Looks awesome and works a treat. Will get the hose and have plumbed in next week, as well as connect the electrics and install an isolator switch. It is going to be an awesome setup once all working.
I visited my local Enzed supplier down the road in the industrial area to pick up a few compressor fittings. Worked out how I am going to plumb it all in before hand in order to get the right gear first time. I will use the supplied female fitting that goes into the compressor that has two outputs. I will get a blank to shut off the one output (might use this for another compressor coupling later on somewhere near the front of the cruiser) and then plan to run the hose down in front of the compressor, then under at a 90 degree angle and then back across beside the drawers to the rear of the car and then finally come up to the back of the coupling.
This is what I purchased:
- 500mm of 9.5mm diameter heavy duty hose rated to 300 PSI and 120 degrees Celsius.
- 3 x brass elbows with 3/8 inch barbs on each end.
- 2 x brass 1/4 inch male threaded elbows with 3/8 inch barbs on the end.
- 1 x brass 1/4 inch female to female adaptor fitting.
- 1 x brass 1/4 inch male threaded blank.
- 8 x hose clamps.
You will need thread tape for all the threaded fittings, I already had lots in my shed.
The rest of the job is fairly easy, just time consuming measuring everything up. You can alternatively purchase one hose with the fittings attached from ARB, but I wanted this to fit nice and snug and out of the way, so if needed I can use the space beside the compressor for extra storage. So thread tape went on all the threaded fittings, brass threaded elbow into the ARB fitting and then the blank off on the end. I then fitted this component to the compressor and tightened with a spanner, making sure I didn’t tighten too much and left the elbow at the correct angle for the hose (see below).
Then I measured and cut all the pieces of hose and connected using the brass elbows and clamps. This took a few efforts to get everything to line up and fit well.
Once the hose was all fitted together, I connected this to the barb already fitted on the compressor earlier, and used a clamp to make sure this was fitted good and strong.
I then fitted the coupling to the bracket and the final brass elbow and barb to the drawer infill. Installed the infill and then connected the final piece of hose to this section and secured the last clamp. Hose all connected from compressor to coupling. Now to connect the electrics and isolator switch and test.
Dual battery setup semi completed but made sure I got the fridge and compressor connected for this weekends trip. Compressor works fine using the isolator switch however got an air leak which is not good. Tested the fittings and they have come a bit loose over night. Disconnected the hose, a lot more thread tape and tightened the fittings a lot more than last time. Was a bit nervous the first time and didn’t want to over tighten and brake something (I have done this before). As I used fairly large barbs to make sure the hose fit is extremely tight, it was a nightmare trying to disconnect the hose from the compressor with no room to move. I actually had to cut the hose to remove the fittings and fix it up from there. Once all connected back up, tested again and no air leaks. Using large barbs for a super tight fit is recommended.
Works an absolute treat, a bit of work involved but really happy with how the Land Cruiser build went with the ARB compressor.
If you have any questions about the Land Cruiser build and, or the ARB compressor install, send us a message on Instagram or comment below.
More to come…
The thoughts of Peter.