ARB Twin Air Compressor

[Bravesfan1995]

I purchased an ARB twin air compressor for my old Jeep JK, but never installed it. Traded the Jeep in for a 23’ Tremor a couple months ago. Was wondering if anyone has mounted one of these in their Ranger? Does someone manufacture a mounting plate for this that might fit in the Ranger? I’ve looked around and haven’t been able to find one yet. Thank you for your help.

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[Dr3wDrop]

I saw a thread before where someone purchased one of those swing out cases for the bed and mounted it in there with a switch. Then connect it to a power supply on the side of the bed. The swing case provided a place to stash the hoses and gauges. Lemme see if I can find it.

 

[Dr3wDrop]

I finally did mock up and install of the ARB twin air compressor inside one of the tool box.
I used marine grade metric screws and rubber pads for the mounting points. I also drilled several
vent holes and 2 large holes for the Air hose and ARB wiring harness.
( it has built in fan to avoid overheating)
Anyway, the only thing left is to find a good mounting point (12volt power) from the battery to the truck bed.
So far, the only feasible way I found is to follow the factory harness that runs underneath the driver side frame rail, then run the wiring to the bed.

 

[puda]

I had a single compressor installed in a Decked ammo can, and I really liked the air compressor setup for that. When I took the drawers out I bought an 813 Fabrication "Jeep Gladiator Bed Side Enclosure - Medium for ARB Twin/Single Compressor". I mounted the compressor to a Builtright Industries bedside molle panel and mounted the cover to that. Biggest downside is I lose the tie-down point where the air chuck comes out.

The only vehicle specific mounting I have seen is for the single compressor behind the rear seat on the drivers side.

 

[Bravesfan1995]

I had a single compressor installed in a Decked ammo can, and I really liked the air compressor setup for that. When I took the drawers out I bought an 813 Fabrication "Jeep Gladiator Bed Side Enclosure - Medium for ARB Twin/Single Compressor". I mounted the compressor to a Builtright Industries bedside molle panel and mounted the cover to that. Biggest downside is I lose the tie-down point where the air chuck comes out.

The only vehicle specific mounting I have seen is for the single compressor behind the rear seat on the drivers side.

Big fan of the bedside enclosure to protect the compressor while utilizing the bed for hauling random items… that chuck blocking the tie down is a bummer. Wonder if the enclosure could be moved a little to prevent it from blocking the tie down?

 

[Bravesfan1995]

Big fan of the bedside enclosure to protect the compressor while utilizing the bed for hauling random items… that chuck blocking the tie down is a bummer. Wonder if the enclosure could be moved a little to prevent it from blocking the tie down?

I had a single compressor installed in a Decked ammo can, and I really liked the air compressor setup for that. When I took the drawers out I bought an 813 Fabrication "Jeep Gladiator Bed Side Enclosure - Medium for ARB Twin/Single Compressor". I mounted the compressor to a Builtright Industries bedside molle panel and mounted the cover to that. Biggest downside is I lose the tie-down point where the air chuck comes out.

The only vehicle specific mounting I have seen is for the single compressor behind the rear seat on the drivers side.

Also, would it be possible to mount the cover without the bedside Molle panel? I’m thinking about purchasing the cover and just using rivnuts to mount that to the bedside.

 

[puda]

I'll have to take a look tomorrow. I can give you the dimensions of the mounting plate for the panel. It comes with two pieces, the mounting plate and then the cover. I'm not actually using the mounting plate since I went straight to the molle. Maybe 813 would sell you just a cover to save a few bucks, seemed like a pretty cool cat.

And if you move the plate back you'll end up blocking the other tie down. I think you could get some more plumbing and run the air chuck out the bottom on a 90 degree and retain some use of the tie down. I always end up doing these projects 12 hours before a big trip so my motto has become "temporarily permanent".

 

[puda]

This is what the mounting plate looks like. It is 14 inches tall by 12 inches wide. The cover is held to the mounting plate with rivnuts, so more holes would be required if you needed to maintain the functionality of the mounting plate remaining mounted and removing the cover, which I would highly recommend. When I peeked around mine to see what the bed side looks like you may be able to find enough flat surfaces. Personally, I wouldn't put that many holes into the aluminum. But, I'm pretty timid with drilling aluminum to begin with. The compressor is pretty heavy and vibrates like a fool when it's running!

 

[Bravesfan1995]

This is what the mounting plate looks like. It is 14 inches tall by 12 inches wide. The cover is held to the mounting plate with rivnuts, so more holes would be required if you needed to maintain the functionality of the mounting plate remaining mounted and removing the cover, which I would highly recommend. When I peeked around mine to see what the bed side looks like you may be able to find enough flat surfaces. Personally, I wouldn't put that many holes into the aluminum. But, I'm pretty timid with drilling aluminum to begin with. The compressor is pretty heavy and vibrates like a fool when it's running!

This is helpful information. Much appreciated. I actually went ahead and ordered the builtright bedside molle panel. I'm debating ordering the 813 box, or maybe just using the standard ARB universal mount... My only concern with the universal mount is lack of protecting for mounting inside the bed. I don't want things to be sliding around and hitting my air compressor.

 

[puda]

This is helpful information. Much appreciated. I actually went ahead and ordered the builtright bedside molle panel. I'm debating ordering the 813 box, or maybe just using the standard ARB universal mount... My only concern with the universal mount is lack of protecting for mounting inside the bed. I don't want things to be sliding around and hitting my air compressor.

I was able to use the molle nuts from Builtright without any other brackets. You can kind of see it tucked under the bottom left bolt.

This was my temporarily permanent solution except the power from the battery wasn't terminated on the distribution block. I removed all of the locker wiring and shortened everything I could on the wire harness.

 

[Bravesfan1995]

I was able to use the molle nuts from Builtright without any other brackets. You can kind of see it tucked under the bottom left bolt.

This was my temporarily permanent solution except the power from the battery wasn't terminated on the distribution block. I removed all of the locker wiring and shortened everything I could on the wire harness.

Sweet, so I could always mount my compressor and come back with the cover. This is also really helpful as I can now do it in pieces. Do you mind describing how you ran your power and ground through the bed (I see it looks like you made holes) and back up to the battery?

 

[puda]

I made a bracket for a fuse and a breaker up in front of the battery. You only need to protect the wire with a fuse, but I wanted the breaker to act as a disconnect. This way I can keep things powered down in back when things are getting rowdy or I am working on the circuit. There are some nice threaded studs up there with nothing attached to them.

After that I dropped down to the drivers side frame rail and found some spare clamps that look like they were for a hose or something at some point on this truck.

It got a little tricky back by the fuel tank but I zipped it to the frame or whatever cables I could and then came up into the tail-light housing from the bottom. There was plenty of space there already to get it through.

After that I drilled the holes for the cable glands you see the wires coming through to the bed. I believe it was a 25-30 foot run to get all the way back there. There were a few other paths that may have been shorter, but I'm an "electrical guy" so I went the route with the most points to secure it along the way.

 

[Bravesfan1995]

I made a bracket for a fuse and a breaker up in front of the battery. You only need to protect the wire with a fuse, but I wanted the breaker to act as a disconnect. This way I can keep things powered down in back when things are getting rowdy or I am working on the circuit. There are some nice threaded studs up there with nothing attached to them.

After that I dropped down to the drivers side frame rail and found some spare clamps that look like they were for a hose or something at some point on this truck.

It got a little tricky back by the fuel tank but I zipped it to the frame or whatever cables I could and then came up into the tail-light housing from the bottom. There was plenty of space there already to get it through.

After that I drilled the holes for the cable glands you see the wires coming through to the bed. I believe it was a 25-30 foot run to get all the way back there. There were a few other paths that may have been shorter, but I'm an "electrical guy" so I went the route with the most points to secure it along the way.

That's a really clean set up. I appreciate it because I myself tend to go the extra mile when completing a wiring job on my vehicles. It ends up taking me 3 times as long, but worth it in the end.

 

[puda]

Do it right or do it twice! I wish I would start remembering that the first time I do something...

 

[Frenchy]

A while back when I still had the Ranger I put the single lung compressor on the driver's side of the bed. At the same time I also had a tonneau cover installed so weather would not bother it and other individuals would not see it. After the truck was totaled I removed it and put it back in the portable case. To say the least I love the little compressor as it does an excellent job with airing up tires. I can only imagine how quick the twin is.

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