Project 2011 Runner: Viair 450 Air Compressor and 1 Gallon Tank
Project Runner: Viair 450 Air Compressor and 1 Gallon Tank
Airing down tires is a fact of life when off-roading, and having the ability to air back up when miles away from the nearest town is critical. I have had my Viair 450 compressor for several years having had it mounted in my 2000 Jeep Cherokee. Before selling that truck, I took it out and stored it. I had plans to mount it into my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee and my 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, but those projects never really progressed.
Having seen a nice clean installation of a Viair compressor and air tank of the www.toyota-4runner.orgforums while looking through 7Harper’s build thread, I decided that I would try to replicate that.
I started by looking though my garage and seeing what brackets and metal I had around from past projects. The few things I came across were several Warn winch solenoid brackets and a metal plate that I cannot honestly remember where it came from. After playing around a little bit, I found that the solenoid brackets could mount to some factory bolts on the fender, and the metal plate fit the compressor perfectly. With that, mounting the compressor was done.
The air tank that I had left over from my 2000 Jeep Cherokee was a 2.5 gallon tank, which was way too big to fit under the hood. I thought about not using a tank as I don’t plan on running air tools, but found a 1 gallon tank on Amazon.com for less than $40.00, so I bought that.
I tried to fabricate a bracket to mount the tank to, but didn’t really have anything that would work. With that, I decided to go a similar route to the bracket that I made to mount my Blue Sea fuse block to. With that, it was back to Home Depot to get another 6″x18″ 26-guage sheet metal panel.
I started the same way with creating a template out of cardboard to get the sizing right. After that, it was back to the cut-off wheel and drill to make the necessary cuts and holes. Due to the weight of the tank, I have to make a “foot” to support the tank from the bottom. Once all was said and done, a coat of flat black paint and some spray on bed liner finished it off.
Follow along with the pictures as I highlight some of the steps:
Step 1: Bracket built and set up with Viair 450.
Step 2: Viair compressor mounted to bracket in engine compartment.
Step 3: Test fitting in engine compartment.
Step 4: Starting fabrication of air tank bracket.
Step 5: Bracket completed, test fitting air tank.
Step 6: Air tank and compressor mounted.
Step 7: Air quick connect.
Step 8: Air compressor switch mounted in cabin.
Step 9: Compressor mounted and plumbed.