For those that may be curious, I'll do a bit of showing off of the onboard air system I designed and installed.
It's all in a 2017 RRS Supercharged Dynamic without the 3/4 zone climate control. There is no rear HVAC unit behind the left side rear cargo trim panel, but lots of empty space to hide components.
I fabricated a back panel that mounts using the (unused) threaded studs reserved for the rear HVAC unit. To this panel I have mounted the air compressor, 1/2 gallon storage tank, necessary fuses and relays, an ARB Compressor Connect system, and an A/C inverter. The panel is currently a fiber pressboard for ease of design, but a more rigid aluminum plate is forthcoming.
The pressure switch controls the pressure in the tank and keeps the compressor from running all the time. The white airline is routed to the right side "cubby" and terminates in a standard quick connect fitting where a hose can be connected.
For me the fun part is the integration of the ARB Compressor Connect. Basically it's an app based automatic tire deflation/inflation system. I save the time usually wasted micromanaging the deflation and inflation of all 4 tires before hitting the trails and returning to the highway. I chose to take it one step further and design a system to do all 4 tires at once without the snake of hoses running to the cargo(or under hood/bonnet) area the premade systems have.
I ran a 6mm hose from under the cargo trim where the compressor is to under the rear seat. From there it runs to a tee and out to each side of the rear seat.
I fabricated two brackets from 1/8" x 1" aluminum strip to hold a standard airline quick disconnect. One for each side. These are mounted using the rear seatbelt anchor studs and nuts. I plan to fabricate covers that should make them all but invisible to the casual observer. They seem completely out of the way of any passenger interference.
The hoses coming from the tee under the seat terminate at these disconnects using adapter fittings. Because the spec for front and rear tires are for different pressures. I fabricated a two piece hose assembly that runs a separate hose to each tire. Each hose has a locking tire chuck. The hoses to the rear tire are plugged directly into the quick connect, while the front tires are on a "sub" disconnect and can be removed while leaving the rear ones in place. This allows me to connect all 4 tires and set the system to the front tire pressure, disconnect the fronts and reset the system to the rear tire pressure to do a "top off" on just the rears. It sounds more complicated than it is when actually doing it.
The app connects to the control box through bluetooth and automatically both deflates and inflates to the set pressure as required. It saves a few presets for convenience. Initial testing, on my street tires, it took about 5 mins to go from 42psi to 20psi and about 8 for the reverse. It takes less than a minute to connect the 4 tires before and the same to disconnect after. The last time I used the old "cigarette lighter" air pump and did all 4 tires, one at a time, it was at least a 15 minute endeavor switching between the pump and the tire pressure gauge when inflating that kept me busy the whole time. Now the bulk of the time is free to pack, socialize, scream at the kids...whatever.
It's all in a 2017 RRS Supercharged Dynamic without the 3/4 zone climate control. There is no rear HVAC unit behind the left side rear cargo trim panel, but lots of empty space to hide components.
I fabricated a back panel that mounts using the (unused) threaded studs reserved for the rear HVAC unit. To this panel I have mounted the air compressor, 1/2 gallon storage tank, necessary fuses and relays, an ARB Compressor Connect system, and an A/C inverter. The panel is currently a fiber pressboard for ease of design, but a more rigid aluminum plate is forthcoming.
The pressure switch controls the pressure in the tank and keeps the compressor from running all the time. The white airline is routed to the right side "cubby" and terminates in a standard quick connect fitting where a hose can be connected.
For me the fun part is the integration of the ARB Compressor Connect. Basically it's an app based automatic tire deflation/inflation system. I save the time usually wasted micromanaging the deflation and inflation of all 4 tires before hitting the trails and returning to the highway. I chose to take it one step further and design a system to do all 4 tires at once without the snake of hoses running to the cargo(or under hood/bonnet) area the premade systems have.
I ran a 6mm hose from under the cargo trim where the compressor is to under the rear seat. From there it runs to a tee and out to each side of the rear seat.
I fabricated two brackets from 1/8" x 1" aluminum strip to hold a standard airline quick disconnect. One for each side. These are mounted using the rear seatbelt anchor studs and nuts. I plan to fabricate covers that should make them all but invisible to the casual observer. They seem completely out of the way of any passenger interference.
The hoses coming from the tee under the seat terminate at these disconnects using adapter fittings. Because the spec for front and rear tires are for different pressures. I fabricated a two piece hose assembly that runs a separate hose to each tire. Each hose has a locking tire chuck. The hoses to the rear tire are plugged directly into the quick connect, while the front tires are on a "sub" disconnect and can be removed while leaving the rear ones in place. This allows me to connect all 4 tires and set the system to the front tire pressure, disconnect the fronts and reset the system to the rear tire pressure to do a "top off" on just the rears. It sounds more complicated than it is when actually doing it.
The app connects to the control box through bluetooth and automatically both deflates and inflates to the set pressure as required. It saves a few presets for convenience. Initial testing, on my street tires, it took about 5 mins to go from 42psi to 20psi and about 8 for the reverse. It takes less than a minute to connect the 4 tires before and the same to disconnect after. The last time I used the old "cigarette lighter" air pump and did all 4 tires, one at a time, it was at least a 15 minute endeavor switching between the pump and the tire pressure gauge when inflating that kept me busy the whole time. Now the bulk of the time is free to pack, socialize, scream at the kids...whatever.
