Air tank to replace spare tire?

[Containerized]

Curious why no manufacturer seems to build this.

Seems like a no-brainer since many have empty space there and would rather have a tank than a larger or heavy duty cycle compressor.

But I figure there must be a reason this isn't on the market... or maybe I just don't know about it.

Wouldn't be that hard to manufacture, you could make it pretty lightweight (aluminum) or at least the same weight as the factory spare, and it would hold more than a tank not made to fit the space.

 

[Ray Hyland]

Do you mean having a pressurized air tank to fit the space where the factory spare used to be, after you have fitted larger tires that no longer fit into that space?

 

[1911]

As long as you can repair the tire wherever you are, I guess it would work. What happens when you cut a huge gash in one on a sharp rock, and don't have enough rubber plugs to fill it?

 

[TacoDell]

read thru this guys build thread... http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148011

I believe he installed a air tank where the oem spare tire was mounted.

 

[SWITAWI]

As long as you can repair the tire wherever you are, I guess it would work. What happens when you cut a huge gash in one on a sharp rock, and don't have enough rubber plugs to fill it?

It's a nice idea, but my luck isn't good enough for me to entertain such ideas. I agree with Lee's quote here. Once that sidewall goes, the tread face peels apart, or the tire blows outright no amount of compressed air and fix it doo-dads is gonna take the place of an actual spare tire... preferably a full-sized one. Anything else is just a Band-Aid limiting the performance and/or range of your vehicle. I'd rather have the compressor, tire plugs, etc. as the backup to a full-size spare.

That being said a much smaller, lighter city-oriented car might be less likely to experience such catastrophic tire failure at lower in-town speeds and could make do with a more temporary solution, especially with easier access to repairs than someone in the middle of nowhere.

 

[AFSOC]

If you change your spare tire's location by adding a tire swing or rack mount etc, some vehicles are left with a void where the stock tire once resided. It is fairly easy to find a round, low profile air reservoir from a small "pancake" style air compressor. These compressors can be found at box stores for less than $200. Many times you can find discarded ones that have shelled out compressors. The reservoirs have 1/4NPT fittings and can be adapted to be pressurized by any Viair/ARB/MV-50/Extremeair 12VDC compressor you chose to mount. These tanks can be mounted in the depression vacated by the spare tire. These reservoirs are smaller diameter than the tire so it leaves some space around the tank to coil up hose etc.

 

[Clutch]

Yep AFSOC

 

[Revco]

I have several oil refinery control valve actuator housings in various sizes, some up to 30" in diameter. These things hold hundreds of psi and are bolted together with a rubber gasket between the two halves. I have nothing but the top parts, so they seal up and have two threaded ports. They are steel so brackets can easily be welded on for mounting. Dunno if you're anywhere near large oil & gas refineries, but most valve shops have these laying around as scrap when they have any sort of rust inside from a bad diaphram. I got these specifically to use as air tanks and to use one as a clutch scattershield for a vintage dragster project with an oddball engine. Anyway, food for thought.



In the picture, the parts I'm talking about is the top round piece that looks like a hat....

 

[Wrek]

This is designed for the interior of a vehicle to fit in the spare tire well. I'm sure it could be adapted though, and it is steel.

http://bagriders.com/modlab/products/STEEL-4-GALLON-TANK--PANCAKE.html

 

[lysol]

Omlet over on the Jeep forum did this with a 3 gallon tank:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f67/omelets-build-thread-aka-bison-1309254/index4.html

 

[soonenough]

read thru this guys build thread... http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=148011

I believe he installed a air tank where the oem spare tire was mounted.

Here's his build thread here on ExPo, only because he fixed the links to the pics on his thread here (a lot of the pics on his TTORA thread don't work anymore).
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/36571-RSB-s-Radiant-Red-Tacoma-build

That's really slick, but I think it would be a huge PITA to have to disconnect and remove portions of the OBA system just to drop the spare.

 

[ksj]

Well, I have a 2 gallon Viair tank where the spare was, filled by an ARB CKMTA12 Twin On-Board compressor. I could probably fit the spare but one end would be much lower, losing the clearance I have. At the end of the day I take a spare in the bed if I'm out somewhere I expect that I might get a sidewall failure, keep an ARB repair kit in the truck, and have matched tires on my trailer that fit the truck in a pinch (read sidewall failure). I also carry a needle and nylon thread in case of a big cut on the sidewall and a tube to fit the tire. So far I haven't really needed anything but the compressor and tank for airing up/down though.

BTW - I got the compressor for future air locker install as well as being able to run air tools/plasma cutter.

(it's an '09 Tacoma with a shell, and a 3" Icon lift with Total Chaos UCA's.)

 

[lysol]

He actually said it isn't bad. In fact, the way he has it supported is pretty slick. In the rare event you need to drop the spare, it only adds about 5 minutes to the drop time.

 

[theksmith]

you might fit 2 hotdog tanks under there easier than finding a really large diameter yet short pancake tank.

i was able to get a 5 gallon tank in my Grand Cherokee interior spare tire well. if i hadn't done the batteries, i could have probably fit 2 tanks. i believe the my factory spare was 29" and it was a fulls size rim/tire, so probably 9.5" wide i'm guessing.

 

[Containerized]

To clarify, this is simply for on-board air, not instead of a spare.

I always carry a 36" spare (to match the other tires), but it isn't in the stock location, so that location is empty/available.