On board air with a MV-50.

[slomatt]

A while ago I hard mounted a SuperFlow MV-50 compressor behind the trim panel on the driver's side of the trunk. Today I finally got around to doing a write up if anybody is interested.

http://wwww.blankwhitepage.com/autom...r/on-board-air



- Matt

[4x4mike]

Did you keep the factory relay that is in the nose of the compressor? Or did you by pass it for your dash control? Also, what pressure switch did you use. Before I went with my York I was messing around with mine and a viair switch (I think I gave it to Ken). They are the small ones and I went that route because of the size and pressure ratings. Are you concerned about heat? When I used the MV50 it would get crazy hot. I would be concerned about it in that location and lack of air flow not to mention it's proximity to other electrical components. On the topic of heat. What gague wire did you run back to the compressor? The stock little jumper cables get nice and soft from the heat just airing up some 32's to street pressure.

[troyboy162]

oh man this is a sweet mod. im interested in the heat issues as well. also a litte off topic but our red pumps are good to 75ish psi does anyone know if arb lockers can operate that low? i know thats out of there recommended range but these pumps would take a year to get into the 100 psi range for any substantial size tank.

[slomatt]

Mike,

Coincidentally I bought a York compressor several years ago but never got around to doing anything with it, it's still sitting in my garage.

I left the factory relay in place on the MV-50. The wiring is as follows.
- 30A fuse in my underhood fuse block
- 8g positive lead back to the compressor. As you mentioned the stock 14g wires get hot quickly, especially since they are so long.
- 8g lead transitions to a short section the stock 14g wires. This piece is about 6" long and short enough that there isn't enough resistance to heat up significantly. It goes through a grommet and into the compressor.
- 8g ground wire from the compressor to the chassis.
- I left the stock relay in place since it is controlled by the thermal switch in the compressor motor. I removed the power switch and wired the pressure switch and the new on/off switch in series with it.

The pressure switch has an adjustable cut-in point and a bypass valve which I'm not currently using, it was purchased at surpluscenter.com. Ideally I'd be using the bypass valve, but because of packaging and cost reasons I didn't purchase a check/relieve valve to put into the system. The pressure switch is set to engage at 70psi and disengage at 100psi.

Heat shouldn't be much of an issue because the compressor is directly in line with the cabin vent so air is continuously flowing past it anytime the fan is on or a window is open. If the compressor gets really hot I guess it could possibly melt the trim panel, but it's spaced out about 2" away so I'm not really worried about it. I considered putting the compressor under the hood, but in that location it would get really hot due to heat radiated from the engine.

troyboy162,

I think ARB lockers require about 90psi to operate. My MV-50 has no problem bringing a small tank up to 100psi, and a friend of mine has been using one to power his ARBs for a year or two with no issues. He's using a small tank made out of about 8" of 3" diameter pipe.

- Matt

[Good Times]

I like the install but fear the heat generated by the compressor. I know those get pretty darn hot so I'm wondering if it'll impact any of the factory wiring in there.

[troyboy162]

bad ass! i really want to do this now. thanks for the post!

[4x4mike]

My MV50 will pump to 100 psi. It gets hot but would power an ARB. These little compressors aren't much different than a Viair or similar. Sure they aren't sealed or 100% duty cycle like some of the other models but for locker use they get the job done. Heck one of the air ride Cadillac compressors from the old cars work.

Matt, I'm really glad I was able to stick a York in the 4runner. I had one with a 9 gallon tank on my old truck and that was one of the things I knew I was going to miss when I went with a vehicle with a smaller engine compartment and with an engine that no one made a mount for. I got my mount for a company in Oregon, it's all a tight fit but was expected.

[CJM]

The thing gets so intensely hot I wouldnt ever dare of mounting it near anything flammable tbh. Just using it to pump up my tires from 10 to 35 psi was insane the last time I used it.

[slomatt]

It seems that a few people are really concerned about heat generation. I've been using this exact compressor for years to air up the 33x12.5x15 tires I had on my ZJ and while it definitely gets hot I wouldn't say it ever got dangerously hot. The part of the compressor that gets the hottest is the cylinder head and it is spaced away from all surroundings by about 1/4" to 1/2" on each side. I appreciate the input and will keep an eye on things and report back if there are any issues.

- Matt

[4x4mike]

Sweet. I'm sure it'll work fine and the install is very clean and thought out. Kudos.

I've been wanting to use that space in my 4runner since I got it. Bruce has a large inverter in that location (my concern was the heat as well and he said it's fine. We're just worried keyboard jockeys). I was thinking about getting a door from older models and installing it there. The cargo door would look stock and it would give me a little more storage without taking up interior room.