Air compressor for HD trucks

[mesquito_creek]

Twin ARB portable makes quick work of my 6 trailer tires that require 80psi on a 14,000lbs load... 2 paddleboards in about 15 minutes or less... 35 inch tires on my jeep/trucks are an afterthought compared to the 2 fore-mentioned examples. Buy once, buy for life, I can't see anything in the future that would need anything more beside fix mounted single ARBs for space and convenience. For my use, 100% duty cycle is more important than speed, but with the arb twin you get both. I am so spoiled by it I have it on a cart at home with a 12v battery and don't use my other garage compressor anymore...

 

[Augster]

Twin ARB portable makes quick work of my 6 trailer tires that require 80psi on a 14,000lbs load... 2 paddleboards in about 15 minutes or less... 35 inch tires on my jeep/trucks are an afterthought compared to the 2 fore-mentioned examples. Buy once, buy for life, I can't see anything in the future that would need anything more beside fix mounted single ARBs for space and convenience. For my use, 100% duty cycle is more important than speed, but with the arb twin you get both. I am so spoiled by it I have it on a cart at home with a 12v battery and don't use my other garage compressor anymore...

In our travelling group, there is one vehicle that has an onboard ARB Twin with four-wheel hookups, while another has a portable Viair 400 series along with a Indeflate so he could do two tires at once. The Viair is now just used as a backup since the ARB Twin is so fast, we use this vehicle to air up all the other vehicles in the column using the Indeflate to do two tires at a time. And we all air up to our target pressures since we typically travel a hundred miles or more on the freeways to get back home so no need to find a gas station with a working air setup. FYI, everyone has 33's Wildpeaks, while I have 35x12.5's Ridge Grapplers.

The aforementioned ExtremeAire Magnum looks like an outstanding compressor; is it waterproofed to be able to be submerged during water crossings? Does it have remote air intakes available?

The Viair Dual 485c's are another option if speed is a priority, offering similar CFM to the ARB Twin, and can be submerged when using the optional remote air intake kit.

Since I have first hand experience with the ARB Twin, this is the compressor that I will likely select for my on-board air install project that I'm currently building.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

The Extreme Outback Magnum does have a totally sealed motor and compressor. In the rear of the unit is a cooling fan for the motor. Naturally this area is open but shielded. I would imagine that occasionally you would need to remove the fan cover to clean any gathered muck. The fan cover is self draining so no concern about water crossing. While it might run while submerged it wouldn't be recommended.
The compressor air inlet filer is removable so it can be plumbed to a higher dry location.

 

[Eric Edwards]

ARB Twin Compressor in Driver-side Rambox, 2020 1500.

 

[Eric Edwards]

ARB Twin Compressor in Driver-side Rambox, 2020 1500.View attachment 603738

Note, you will need a custom backplate as the compressor is HEAVY, and will tear through your plastic walls in Rambox without some type of support. Marcus @ Dethloff made me mine and I'm sure he can easily spin some more up.

 

[CrazyDrei]

I ended up going with the Puma. Going to put a Maxi fuse right off the battery with an SB50 under the hood with 6 gauge welding wire. Just going with a long enough run to set the compressor on the ground in front of the truck so 6 gauge should be plenty. I’ll post an update when I get it all together. I’ll have about $350 into it all said done, lot better than $900 for the ARB portable.

jonathon,

When money is no object and you pay someone else to put a compressor into your truck and teach you how to use it ARB Twin is a clear winner, you can even run two of them for even more power. For most of us here, we have a budget but more importantly we like to tinker with toys and upgrades ourselves. Puma is a clear winner, you can even spend more on an ExtremeAir Magnum (Puma but with different stickers).

Running a Puma with an SB50 is perfect for a portable setup.

This is exactly how I ran it. 6ga wire to an SB50. Used that same SB50 with jumper cables to jump start other cars, super convenient. Dust cap did keep on blowing off thought.

I got tired of lugging it in and out of the truck on every trip so I ended up divorcing it from the tank, mounting it upside-down inside my Suburban and running a larger 2.5gal tank, which is enough to run my air impact to take lug nuts off.

I also ran the controls into my breadbox in the rear as well as to the outside of the truck.

Instead of a maxifuse i used a 40amp circuit breaker, wasn't enough, went up to 50amp, still not enough, 60amp, still kept on popping after a few minutes of continuous use, so I scrapped the circuit breaker all together, have not had any issues since. Have run it for over an hour playing with air tools and never had any issues.

If I had to do it all over again, I would divorce the Puma from the tank, put it in a pelican case or ammo can, run 6ga wire to SB50 and have an on/off switch. This would be cheap, quick, easy and portable. Bu then again having it permanently mounted in the truck is pretty darn handy.

Hope this helps make the water muddy and look forward to seeing your setup.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Great choice my oldest and used monthly Puma was purchased in 2007. The ARB is slightly faster but agree not enough to justify the additional cost.

Puma portable

View attachment 600476

LandCruiserPhil,

Tried and true. I hard mounted mine in the truck but if I had to do it all over again your setup is how I would do it.

I would add an on/off switch and run SB50 connector direct from my truck and have an option to use the SB50 wired into my truck or jumpers for other trucks.

 

[jonathon]

jonathon,

When money is no object and you pay someone else to put a compressor into your truck and teach you how to use it ARB Twin is a clear winner, you can even run two of them for even more power. For most of us here, we have a budget but more importantly we like to tinker with toys and upgrades ourselves. Puma is a clear winner, you can even spend more on an ExtremeAir Magnum (Puma but with different stickers).

Running a Puma with an SB50 is perfect for a portable setup.

This is exactly how I ran it. 6ga wire to an SB50. Used that same SB50 with jumper cables to jump start other cars, super convenient. Dust cap did keep on blowing off thought.

I got tired of lugging it in and out of the truck on every trip so I ended up divorcing it from the tank, mounting it upside-down inside my Suburban and running a larger 2.5gal tank, which is enough to run my air impact to take lug nuts off.

I also ran the controls into my breadbox in the rear as well as to the outside of the truck.

Instead of a maxifuse i used a 40amp circuit breaker, wasn't enough, went up to 50amp, still not enough, 60amp, still kept on popping after a few minutes of continuous use, so I scrapped the circuit breaker all together, have not had any issues since. Have run it for over an hour playing with air tools and never had any issues.

If I had to do it all over again, I would divorce the Puma from the tank, put it in a pelican case or ammo can, run 6ga wire to SB50 and have an on/off switch. This would be cheap, quick, easy and portable. Bu then again having it permanently mounted in the truck is pretty darn handy.

Hope this helps make the water muddy and look forward to seeing your setup.

Pretty sure I saw one of your videos on YouTube demonstrating the Puma inflating two 37s at once. Impressive!

I do need to come up with a good place to stow it. The thing is a monster, even if it were divorced from the tank.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Pretty sure I saw one of your videos on YouTube demonstrating the Puma inflating two 37s at once. Impressive!

I do need to come up with a good place to stow it. The thing is a monster, even if it were divorced from the tank.

jonathon,

Thanx, yeah I made that video. I was inspired by some guy that was using the Puma to inflate his 35s which it did at 10psi per minute.

I did try running a long hose to fill all 4 tires up at the same time but really did not like the complexity of that setup so I went back to one tire at at time.

It is huge but if you find a pelican case for it like LandCruiserPhil did it would be much easier to handle and store.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

if the air tank is full prior to filling first tire, it helps. Once the tank is equalized with the tire, it will slow the air up process as you're now filling the tire and the tank.

Correct, and its baffling how few people grasp this! _