ARB air line question...

[jeepdreamer]

I hear that the air lines tend to be the weak link in running an ARB. Good routing and careful placement are understood. And I got that there is a pretty cheap repair kit available.
I have a question a little off all that. Since the line is not much more than some plastic tubing what if I ran something a little heavier-duty? I found some pretty high strength airline that has a...covering on it? Its 1/4" and rated at like 3k psi...its for big truck use but I had a section offered to me free. Would it work? It has male fittiings on each end (not sure on the thread/pitch) but am just a little curious...
Anyone?

 

[Root Moose]

Rubicon Express makes stainless braided lines for ARBs. That's what I have.

One advantage to the plastic lines is that they are easily field repairable. They'll break before pulling off a fitting at the differential or compressor. With a braided line all kinds of unrepairable stuff can happen if not prepared.

Calculated risk.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

No reason you can't build or buy heavy duty air line kits. The hardest part with a home brew solution will be matching the BSPT fittings used.

Edit: ARB offers their own heavy duty air line kit (HDAL), though it differs from most in that it is only designed to go from the frame to the axle. From the compressor to the frame junction is still the blue line. All the 'fuse' safety of the blue with the HD factor in the places it is likely damaged.

 

[C Red]

I also have the rubicon express made braided lines both front and rear. To me it was an easy choice to upgrade to the heavy duty lines. The cost is not to bad and they are an easy install.
I kept my old plastic ones and fittings as a back-up and the airline repair kit in case I do have a problem down the road.:smiley_drive:

 

[toy_tek]

You could also just route the regular ARB line through some fuel or transmission hose for an exterior housing. Then you still have the field repair-ability as well as extra protection. And it isn't expensive.

 

[Root Moose]

You could also just route the regular ARB line through some fuel or transmission hose for an exterior housing. Then you still have the field repair-ability as well as extra protection. And it isn't expensive.

Oh, I like that idea.

 

[mudbutt]

You could also just route the regular ARB line through some fuel or transmission hose for an exterior housing. Then you still have the field repair-ability as well as extra protection. And it isn't expensive.

I second this.

The three big killers of the air line are snags, cycle stress, and exhaust pipes.

If the line is routed correctly none should be a problem.

Make sure you put a service loop in the tubing at the differential end, make sure it's no where near the exhaust and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[roberto]

what is a service loop? and why?

Rob

 

[justinhw]

what is a service loop? and why?

it's a loop of tube positioned vertically so if fluid is ever pulled into the lines it's a bit more unlikely to travel all the way up to the solenoid/air compressor

 

[mudbutt]

what is a service loop? and why?

Rob

Just a coil of air line near the differential. Like a coil in a spring. It reduces the cycle stress on the fitting end of the air line.

 

[teotwaki]

here is how I routed my plastic line in my 2005 4Runner

After scouting out routes I decided to run the air line through the frame rail to get past the gas tank.

I used a long CB antenna as a "snake" coming from an outside hole in the frame behind the rear tire, going to a hole on the inside of the frame ahead of the gas tank.

I triple tie-wrapped the air line to it like this in order to pull it through


and pulled it though here


initially back to here


then I fed it back in to come out on the other side


To protect the blue tube from chafing on the frame I covered the tube with about two feet of 1/4" rubber fuel line

in the back


and up front


I removed the small heat shield that covered the fuel lines and routed the air hose up to the compressor



and plugged it into the solenoid's sir fitting (orange cap)


I leak tested all of the fittings and the compressor held air pressure over 22 minutes without cycling.

I routed the final length of blue plastic air line along my extended breather line. I really needed to keep it away from the exhaust, protect it from snagging on any bushes I might ACCIDENTALLY run over as well as prevent any vertical pull when the axle is fully extended from the body.

 

[05LR3AZ]

I ran my air lines through the rubber fuel line shown in the previous post except I did this for the entire line. No problems with it.

 

[jesusgatos]

I've plumbed ARB's all three ways. Fuel line over standard blue line is simple/cheap/effective. ARB's HD line is high-quality, but like someone else mentioned, is only a short length of HD line (from axle to frame). Haven't used RE lines, but did make custom air lines using Earls stainless braided hoses and AN fittings. Worked great. One thing to think about is that if your lines become stronger than your fittings, that might lead to other problems. I know people that have ripped-out HD lines that they couldn't repair, while a regular blue line can be spliced without any trouble. Proper routing and a little fuel line at wear-points goes a long way. The other thing I like to do is replace the electric switches with air-switches (like the ones that Powertank sells). Just one less thing to go wrong.

 

[jesusgatos]

it's a loop of tube positioned vertically so if fluid is ever pulled into the lines it's a bit more unlikely to travel all the way up to the solenoid/air compressor

Can't see why this would be necessary. If you route the air lines with the brake lines, that bundle is going to be stronger and less likely to snag on things.

Oh, and a service loop is more to provide for a range of motion than to contain fluids.