The Best Air Compressor For Expeditionary Travel - Maxingout

maxingout

Adventurer
The best compressor for expeditionary travel is the one that works best for you. There are many compressors from which to choose, and your needs are unique to your vehicle and your style of travel.

If you are going to drive around the world, it is a good idea to get a compressor that has parts and service worldwide. It's also helpful to have a design that you can rebuild yourself when you order the parts and have them shipped in by DHL to some remote corner of planet earth.

The compressor should fit the duty cycle required by your trip. You need to decide whether you are going to use air tools, reseat broken beads, or simply reinflate your tires during and after an offroad adventure.

When we lived in Arabia, we used ARB compressors because that was the best of what was available at the time. We drove in the sand dunes at least 30 weekends a year, and that means we pumped four tires from 16 PSI to 35-45 PSI on almost all trips. On our Land Rover Defender Michelin XS tires, we spent five to six minutes per tire to reach road pressures at the end of our weekend in the dunes. With that type of duty cycle, we found that an ARB compressor lasted 2 years before it needed to be rebuilt. After two years, it took longer and longer to pump the tires unless we rebuilt the compressor.

It was rare to lose a bead in the dunes, but when it happened, our ARB compressors were not up to the task of restoring the bead on the large Shaheen sand tires that were on some trucks. We always carried two spare tires in the desert, and on one week long trip in the Empty Quarter, one of our friends was down to no spares after he broke the bead on his Shaheens. In the northern Empty Quarter, we met a water truck with a compressor large enough to reset the bead.

Compressors are also great ways to clean a vehicle from desert dust. Whenever we left the desert, we always took our car to a service station to have the desert dust and sand blown out of the truck with a compressor. We took all our gear out of the truck, and an hour later, the truck was dust free and ready for another adventure.

That's the background of experiences that have shaped my perspective on what I want a compressor to be able to do for me.

1. I want to pump four tires up to road pressures in ten to fifteen minutes.
2. I want to be able to reseat the bead on my tires with my compressor.
3. I want to be able to blow the dirt/dust out of my truck when I am traveling in expeditionary mode.

The other primary consideration is that the compressor must fit the space that you have available. You want to have good ventilation so the compressor does not overheat. You want it to not take up valuable space that could be used for other expeditionary gear. You don't want to have to build your truck around the compressor. That means you look at the space you have available, and you pick a compressor that fits into that space. You also have to decide whether the compressor is going to be inside the truck, under the hood, outside the truck in a portable box or even mounted to the frame at a convenient location. And you have to decide whether you want an air tank to run air tools and to run lockers. There are lots of decisions that need to be made.

In my case, I wanted a compressor hard mounted in a well-ventilated unused space that offered good access. I also wanted to mount the compressor switch in a convenient location that could easily be turned on without having to worry about it coming on by something accidently coming up against the switch.

I also wanted a compressor with a good duty cycle. A 100 percent duty cycle is optimal and there are several compressors out there that meet this demand with the help of a fan that cools them sufficiently for a 100 percent duty cycle.

Finally, I wanted a compressor that has redundancy. A single compressor has no redundancy, but a compressor with two motors means that if one motor/compressor goes down, you still have the second one to do the job.

When I looked at all the compressors on the market and at the space I had on the inside of my truck, I decided on the ARB CKMTA12 Twin On-Board Air Compressor. This unusual compressor is actually two air compressors hooked together to function as one high output unit through one air chuck. A fan mounted on the unit cools both of the compressors when you turn on the switch. The fan runs as long as the compressors are on. Even when the compressors shut off because they reach cut off pressure, the fan continues to run to cool the units. The fans are critical to the 100 percent duty cycle so that you don't burn up the compressors.

Compressor-8.jpg

I mounted my compressor upside down under the platform that also supports the ARB fridge/freezer above. This location puts the compressor out of the way, affords good ventilation, and is close to the batteries.

The dual compressors have good redundancy. Each compressor has its own 40 amp fuse which means that even if one compressor goes down, the other is available to get the job done. It will be half as efficient, but it will keep pumping air.

The ARB compressor also has a complete wiring harness that contains all the connections necessary for the installation of front and rear lockers. It is a plug and play solution. A single wiring harness does it all. When you install the compressor, the locker wiring harness is present and ready for action. If you ever decide to install lockers, you plug one part of the harness into the locker switches and the other end into the locker solenoids.

The ARB CKMTA12 compressor is expensive, and it is not for everyone. I installed it because it is a good fit to my vehicle, and it is an excellent fit to the way I use air in my overland vehicles. The compressor has a worldwide warranty and spare parts around the world.

The best compressor for overland travel is the one that works best for you.
 
Last edited:

maxingout

Adventurer
Compressor 1.JPG

I installed the switch in a box that had enough room for additional switches just in case I decided to install front and rear lockers.

Compressor 5.jpg

This is the location where I installed the compressors under the fridge/freezer. I countersunk four bolts to mount the compressor upside down to maximize space and give the best ventilation for cooling the compressor when running.

Compressor 2.JPG

This is the wiring loom and fan on the backside of the compressor.

Compressor 7.JPG

This is the side of the compressor where air intake occurs toward the outside of the vehicle.

Compressor 6.jpg

Another view of the ARB compressors mounted upside down.

There is easy access to the air chuck when connecting and disconnecting the air hose. The compressor switch is recessed in a manner that it cannot be turned on accidently by shifting gear inside the truck. The wiring harness has been placed in a manner that there is easy access to the 40 amp fuses in case they need to be replaced.

Time will tell whether the ARB dual compressor lives up to expectations. When I lived in Arabia, my ARB compressor received a work out on nearly every weekend from our expeditions into the sand dunes. It was reliable and durable, and I am hoping that I have the same experience with this new design.

Thanks to Sierra Expeditions for their advice when I was deciding where to install this compressor.
 
Last edited:

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
I like that ARB twin unit, I have read up on it before.
Even though I have used a Powertank since 2001 (on my second one now) I would like to do a compressor install in the future.
I should stop in at ARB Headquarters after work someday and see if there is room in my rig for one.

Nice installation you have.
 

Scott Brady

Founder
Nice job Dave. We have the ARB unit as a portable model and use it for all of the test vehicles. For the permanent installation, we have traditionally installed the Extreme Outback ExtremeAire, also a high-quality, 100% duty cycle unit.
 

Nonimouse

Cynical old bastard
T-max 'Double Pumper every time, great VFM, reliable as hell as long as you replace the connector, 100%DC... I fit them in every vehicle we do, reccomend to every client and post them out to replace other stuff....
 
We have an "el cheapo" Chinese MV50 unit and if there is one thing I wish I could change in our current set up it would be upgrading to an Extreme Outback unit... We got help filling our tires by someone who carried one, he filled 3 tires in the time we did 1 :( A reliable, fast, 100% duty cycle, compressor may be the most important yet ignored item on overland travelers lists, hopefully this is changing... I guess airing down was not high on my list when we started our travels (newbie mistake).

Good job Maxingout, I'd love to try that ARB unit.
 

JeremyT101

Adventurer
I was planning on grabbing one of those 'el cheapo' MV50 units, as I figured as long as it works, even if it takes 20 minutes, the tires will get full. Plus, you can get them for like 80$ on Amazon. What does a 'good' compressor run these days? Maybe not as awesome as that ARB, but a step up from the MV50.
 

toddz69

Explorer
Thanks for the report, Dave - excellent writeup. I got mine a few months ago and have it on my "install list" for later this year. I too wanted something to blow dust out of the truck during/after trips without worrying about depleting my Powertank reserves.

Todd Z.
 

BigSwede

The Credible Hulk
I was planning on grabbing one of those 'el cheapo' MV50 units, as I figured as long as it works, even if it takes 20 minutes, the tires will get full. Plus, you can get them for like 80$ on Amazon. What does a 'good' compressor run these days? Maybe not as awesome as that ARB, but a step up from the MV50.

I have used an MV50 for years, gets the job done. But I recently bought a "Q Industries MF1089 MasterFlow Twin Air Compressor". Supposed to be at least twice as fast as the MV50.

Realize that anything that is faster than the MV50 is also going to be bigger as well as more expensive.
 

Corey

OverCamping Specialist
Dave, what gauge wire did you install this with?
I have a BlueSea aux box wired to my battery with 6 gauge wire.
I called up ARB a bit ago, and they said 6 was not enough, and they used thick stereo amp cable for the installation in the 5th gen 4Runner they built last year.

I am going to have to stop down there and test fit this, and see what all is involved with installing it.
I also have left over a 100 amp switch from my old 4Runner stereo install, I bet I could utilize it up by the battery for the hot cable.
That is 4 gauge wire in the photo I believe that powered a Rockford 500a2 and 200a4 amps.
 

maxingout

Adventurer
I went this route for OBA on my 110 in OZ , another option afetr coming to same conclusion as you re electric air !
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-tutorials/100094-onboard-air.html

That twin arb is a new product I take it , what sort of current draw ?

According to the promotional literature it draws 28 Amps no load, and 51 Amps under load.

http://www.arb.com.au/media/products/compressors/ARB-Air-Compressor-Specifications.pdf

Thanks for the link to the great article on the air conditioning compressors for use as a source of air off-road. One of our colleagues in Arabia used an air conditioning compressor, and the performance was impressive.
 

maxingout

Adventurer
Nice job Dave. We have the ARB unit as a portable model and use it for all of the test vehicles. For the permanent installation, we have traditionally installed the Extreme Outback ExtremeAire, also a high-quality, 100% duty cycle unit.

I always used the portable ARB units before, and it's nice to be able to move the compressor from vehicle to vehicle. I didn't like the space taken up by the compressor box from ARB. It was a large box housing the compressor, and storage among the expeditionary gear was at a premium.

I was either going to install the Extreme Outback ExtremeAire or the ARB unit on my truck. When I looked at the space that I had, the ARB unit was a better fit. If the ExtremeAire had been a better fit, then I would have installed it.
 

maxingout

Adventurer
We have an "el cheapo" Chinese MV50 unit and if there is one thing I wish I could change in our current set up it would be upgrading to an Extreme Outback unit... We got help filling our tires by someone who carried one, he filled 3 tires in the time we did 1 :( A reliable, fast, 100% duty cycle, compressor may be the most important yet ignored item on overland travelers lists, hopefully this is changing... I guess airing down was not high on my list when we started our travels (newbie mistake).

Good job Maxingout, I'd love to try that ARB unit.

If you use a compressor a great deal, then having a powerful compressor with a 100% duty cycle is not a luxury. If it is used occasionally, then it may not be worth the expense. Since we did sand nearly every week end in Arabia, we needed a compressor that was up to the task.

Even in a place like America, it is hard to find service stations that don't have wimpy compressors to fill up the tires to full road pressures. I have driven all over creation looking for a place to pump a low tire when traveling without a compressor on board.

When you are doing long distance travel like you are, sometimes you need to repair a tire in a remote location, and a compressor that can reseat a bead comes in handy. Another option is to carry a tube that you can slip in place if you are unable to reset the bead in an inconvenient location. We ran tubes in our Michelin XS sand tires in Arabia, and we didn't have to worry about a compressor that could reseat a bead as long as we used tubes.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,534
Messages
2,875,615
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top