Thread: ARB CMK Compressor/ Traxide setup

Looks good David .... couple of questions:

- did you make up a bracket/plate for under the compressor?
- what air hose did you go with in the end?

Originally Posted by l00kin4

I took the ground from the stud at the rear of the battery box - very painful to access-

Why not use one of the earth studs in front of the battery box, one of which is used for the aux battery?

Cheers,
Scott

Originally Posted by LRD414

Looks good David .... couple of questions:

- did you make up a bracket/plate for under the compressor?
- what air hose did you go with in the end?

Why not use one of the earth studs in front of the battery box, one of which is used for the aux battery?

Cheers,
Scott

Hi Scott,

I made up a base plate from aluminium to mount the compressor on and fixed it to the battery box with one of the original nutserts plus another I installed and a well nut (M6 Rubber Well NUT 16mm Stainless Bolt 20mm Windscreen Fairing Motorcycle | eBay) at the front.

You can just see the edges of the plate under the compressor in the first photo in the orignal post.



This is the air hose I used: 12mm pu air hose | eBay with these push in fittings:
Kelm Plastic Push IN Fittings 12mm X 1 4" NPT Female Bulkhead 5 02565 | eBay
and
Kelm Plastic Push IN Fittings 12mm X 1 4" NPT Male Stud 5 02439 | eBay

The 1/4" NPT fittings that ARB use are an American Standard that is harder to source than the more usual BSP fittings but I'm sure with a little effort these can be found locally. I was a bit lazy and just shopped on ebay mostly. I did go to Pirtek but they don't carry much of the NPT stuff - they will order it in on request. Industrial Fitting Sales carry quite a few fittings - that's where I got the brass right angle I used for the hose connection off the compressor.

The earth stud I used for the relay and the heavy cable to the compressor was on the driver's side inside the battery box. Of the three closest ones it seemed the easiest to access, even though it was obstructed by the ABS controller and lines. A bit of perseverance with an open ended spanner got me there in the end - took a while though. The other two down lower in front of the battery box looked like I'd have to start removing things to get access to them.

I used the same earth stud as the aux battery on the passenger side for the ground connections for the switch (illumination).

Happy to provide more details on the steps or parts if helpful...

David

Thanks. I initially misunderstood which battery box you meant when describing the earth.

I've never heard of a well nut. Looks very handy.

Scott

Here is mine mounted in front of the battery box.

Originally Posted by LRD414

Thanks. I initially misunderstood which battery box you meant when describing the earth.

I've never heard of a well nut. Looks very handy.

Scott

No worries Scott, I could have been clearer. I really did start to consider using the stud on the passenger side after I started jamming my hand in that uncomfortable nook to access that nearby stud, as the passenger side stud is SO much easier to get to. If I hadn't already cut the cable I might have just run the ground across the engine bay too.
I'm happy to have the nice short cable run though.

I ended up using the well nut because I struggled to set the nutsert in that hole - because of my inexperience with the setting tool and the lack of depth underneath it - and then because the nutsert was rotating in the hole I had enlarged the hole to the point where I couldn't get a nutsert to set snugly. I probably would have been better using an open style nutsert -which is easier to set- like this: QTY 10 M6 6mm Zinc Plated Steel Blind Jack Nuts Threaded Insert Nutserts Jacknut | eBay
The well nut solved the problem for me nicely.

David

Originally Posted by l00kin4

Hi Scott,

I made up a base plate from aluminium to mount the compressor on and fixed it to the battery box with one of the original nutserts plus another I installed and a well nut (M6 Rubber Well NUT 16mm Stainless Bolt 20mm Windscreen Fairing Motorcycle | eBay) at the front.

You can just see the edges of the plate under the compressor in the first photo in the orignal post.



This is the air hose I used: 12mm pu air hose | eBay with these push in fittings:
Kelm Plastic Push IN Fittings 12mm X 1 4" NPT Female Bulkhead 5 02565 | eBay
and
Kelm Plastic Push IN Fittings 12mm X 1 4" NPT Male Stud 5 02439 | eBay

The 1/4" NPT fittings that ARB use are an American Standard that is harder to source than the more usual BSP fittings but I'm sure with a little effort these can be found locally. I was a bit lazy and just shopped on ebay mostly. I did go to Pirtek but they don't carry much of the NPT stuff - they will order it in on request. Industrial Fitting Sales carry quite a few fittings - that's where I got the brass right angle I used for the hose connection off the compressor.

The earth stud I used for the relay and the heavy cable to the compressor was on the driver's side inside the battery box. Of the three closest ones it seemed the easiest to access, even though it was obstructed by the ABS controller and lines. A bit of perseverance with an open ended spanner got me there in the end - took a while though. The other two down lower in front of the battery box looked like I'd have to start removing things to get access to them.

I used the same earth stud as the aux battery on the passenger side for the ground connections for the switch (illumination).

Happy to provide more details on the steps or parts if helpful...

David

Hi David,
I'm about to start an install and like the way you have done this. Can you provide some more info on how you fixed the base plate? Looks like it has 3 fixing points. Did you have spacers setting the aluminium plate off the base level of the battery box. I'm assuming there is some clearance underneath to allow for the fixing bolts of the actual compressor and that you fixed to compressor to the base plate first, then fixed the base plate to the car? How do the nutserts work? Did you just drill into the plastic base of the battery box?
Cheers,
Bill

Originally Posted by D4206

Hi David,
I'm about to start an install and like the way you have done this. Can you provide some more info on how you fixed the base plate? Looks like it has 3 fixing points. Did you have spacers setting the aluminium plate off the base level of the battery box. I'm assuming there is some clearance underneath to allow for the fixing bolts of the actual compressor and that you fixed to compressor to the base plate first, then fixed the base plate to the car? How do the nutserts work? Did you just drill into the plastic base of the battery box?
Cheers,
Bill

Thanks Bill, for sure.
Yes, base plate is spaced off bottom of battery box. I used some rubber grommets about 6mm from memory. I'll see what more photos I might have if you like.
Yes, fixed compressor to plate (with socket head machine screws and nyloc nuts) and then plate to car.
You do need to pick spots where there is enough clearance underneath for the nutserts.
For fixing the plate I used the existing nutsert for the battery mount bolt at the rear of the box, 1 new nutsert and a well nut (where I messed up the hole for my nutsert)
For fixing the nutserts I used this tool: M6 Rivnut Nutsert Rivet NUT Blind Rivet "Minisert Manual Insertion Tool" | eBay

Worked well once I got the hang of it. I used stainless nutserts too which are reputedly a bit more of a pain to work with. I thought the tool was good in this application too because you mainly only need space above it to use it. I am certainly no expert and nutsert tools are a topic of some debate. There's a fairly long thread in tools section: Rivnut Tool(Nutsert,etc)

I do actually wonder if well nuts ( M6 Rubber Well Nut 16mm & Stainless Bolt 20mm Windscreen Fairing Motorcycle) might be easier and work well but I'm sure the brains trust here will give an opinion on this.

Hope that helps

David

Oh, and I am going to make a new bracket for the switch and air outlet. I have the material so I once I get cracking on it I'll post up some photos and dimensions.

David