On-board Air help!

[Lucky j]

I loke the OBA I have in the jeep, with air tank, but even If I could use some air tool and my compressor was big and fast enough, I still prefer hand tools in the trail. Dang, even at home, and I'm doing all my wrenching.

Would not even carry battery impact out on the trail. Prefer a good braker bar. Smaller to carry. But a good battery drill is always on the relflexion lost accprding to where and how long I plan to be out.

But the OBA is essential for my Front ARB and tires, enough reserve to reseat a tire of any size and is great for air nuzzle and anything else compresses air can do.

 

[Crom]

I fix cars for a living and I can tell you that having air tools in your 4x4 is nothing more then a novelty items. If you are planning on wrenching a full work day, every day and repair a large number of vehicles, no need to have air tools. Seriously, how many lug nuts or other fasteners are you expecting to remove/install every time you go out 4x4? I prefer hand tool for trails - they do not take up a lot of room ( you can bring more useful tools in place of one impact gun). I have been off roading my Jeep hard for over 5 years and the amount of times when I told my self "If only I had air tools to fix this problem" was zero. I would recommend not to waste you money on thing you don't need but instead spend it on taking your 4x4 out to the trails as often as possible. :smiley_drive:

Quoted for awesomeness.

 

[MOguy]

There are battery operated impact wrenches that would be up to the task of breaking off lug nuts and other similar needs but they are expensive. From what I have seen in order to get the air you need belt driven compressors (run off the motor) will perform better than 12 volt ones.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

You need to run the compressor to a small tank with a pressure switch that will shut off the compressor when it reaches a certain pressure. You could have just started with a Puma and saved a lot of headache, or an Oasis that is the brute of 12 volt compressors but are quite pricey. Ever since ARB moved most of their manufacturing to China I have been very reluctant to buy much of anything from them.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

And ever since I bought a DeWalt 20 volt high output impact a few years ago I rarely even use the compressor at home anymore, it will remove all 32 lug nuts off our Chevy diesel without a hiccup or having to wait for an air compressor to keep up, still use the tried and true MV50 compressor for airing up on the trail though. Next year I hope Ryobi releases their updated 40 volt impact that would be freaking awesome!

 

[jeepovich]

I have a 12v Puma with a tank and it is great for airing up tires. However the amount of air and constant 90 psi that is needed for an impact gun to be effective is just not there. If you must have power tools, battery operated ones are the way to go :ylsmoke:

 

[eviioiive]

Another vote for Dewalt 20v

The impact gun is nice and the sawzall has more than paid for itself.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Another vote for Dewalt 20v

The impact gun is nice and the sawzall has more than paid for itself.

I bought the 5 tool pack and use the sawzall more for camping than we ever have for home projects, the 2 battery packs are more than plenty to power the saw and the flashlight for a 4 day weekend with a nice pile of firewood.

 

[MOguy]

I bought the 5 tool pack and use the sawzall more for camping than we ever have for home projects, the 2 battery packs are more than plenty to power the saw and the flashlight for a 4 day weekend with a nice pile of firewood.

The newer more powerful battery tools are a very good option, even for the garage.

 

[Joegreen]

Haven't read through all the replies so I'm sure you've already got this information but, the air tools require a lot of volume. You would do well to add either a ten gallon tank or two five gallons tanks for the compressor to fill. Your compressor will then have to run for longer when filling, but much less often provided there are no air leaks.

Sent from my HUAWEI Y536A1 using Tapatalk

 

[Joegreen]

Ten gallon tanks can be had really cheap at used heavy truck parts stores

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[zelatore]

I'll just pile on with everything that's been said before - complete waste of time to bring air tools on the trail.

But don't feel bad about spending the money on that ARB compressor. It's way overkill for just running lockers but every time you air up your tires at the end of the trail you'll be glad you have it.

I'll further agree you're far better off bringing more hand tools in the same space as power, at least as far as mechanic's tools are concerned.

If you want to get into powertools, I always recommend going Red. I carry a van full of Milwaukee 18v stuff for work and use them every day. Their 18v impact is virtually unstoppable. (I'd still leave it at home though) The beauty of the big brands is the huge variety of tools you can run of one battery. For automotive work, things like Impacts, Drills, Grinders, Sawsalls, Etc are all great. I have all of those and more and have never had a problem or regret with any of them.

Again, for trail work I don't carry any power tools but in my van I have a charger running off a small inverter powered by an aux battery. I have several tool batteries of different sizes that I can swap out so I'm never waiting on batteries.

Take a look at some of the tool maker websites like Milwaukee or Makita, then go over to the CPO tools website - they sell new and factory refurb on most of the name brands. Although I'm a fan of Red, you won't likely go wrong with any of the major brands (Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee....blue, yellow, or red) and they are commonly available at the big box stores like HD with some great sales during Christmas so you're coming up on the perfect time to build a system. That's really the key - pick a brand and battery size that offers everything you need. Buy one of the kits that includes a few tools, a couple batteries, and a charger, then from there on you only need to buy bare tools - much cheaper than buying a tool and battery combo.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

?..Ever since ARB moved most of their manufacturing to China I have been very reluctant to buy much of anything from them.

And ever since I bought a DeWalt 20 volt high output impact a few years ago I rarely even use the compressor at home anymore... Next year I hope Ryobi releases their updated 40 volt impact that would be freaking awesome!

Made in China ok for some not others eh?

And a small fraction of ARB components are made in China... Just to keep you on the up and up

 

[tgreening]

I have a 12v Puma with a tank and it is great for airing up tires. However the amount of air and constant 90 psi that is needed for an impact gun to be effective is just not there. If you must have power tools, battery operated ones are the way to go :ylsmoke:

It's all been said, but I couldn't resist anyway. I've been wheeling in one form or another for 35 years and have done a fair amount of trail repairs in that time. Not once has an air operated impact tool ever been a necessity. My CJ has a high volume York feeding a 5 gallon tank and its best use is filling tires, and running a blow gun to blast away dirt somewhere. It's about the best you can get for psi/volume in a fairly practical system, and for running air tools it is essentially useless. Co2 based systems are marginal as well. Air tools love volume. Mechanical systems have a hard time keeping up, and co2 systems end up freezing themselves into uselessness. The only time I've even made use of a battery tool was for spinning stabilizers up and down on a camper because it was way faster than doing it by hand. Impatience won out there.

For the trail, stick with hand tools as others have said. Less space, less weight, dependable, and they don't run out of power unless you do.

 

[Comanche Scott]

What you have in the twin ARB is an awesome tire filler, with 100% duty cycle. So you can fill your buddies tires too. :beer:
Run a 3/8" hose off the QD to maximize filling times.
If you want to fill the first tire even faster, install a tank. Once you hitting running line pressure, the tank is just a fat spot in the line. Good for dropping out moisture.