Mounting our 12V Compressor in the 4WD; a huge improvement
For 10 years, we’ve had a Bushranger Compressor floating around in the back of our 4WD, and its done a seriously good job. However, we’ve just done a tiny modification that has made life so much easier, and that’s mounting it permanently in the canopy.
We’re at the stage with our Isuzu Dmax and Reconn R2 that we’re just tidying things up, and knocking anything off the list that is still a bit of a bug bear, and the portable compressor certainly met that criteria.
I’ve been seriously happy with our Bushranger Compressor. You can’t actually buy them anymore, but its pumped up more tyres than I care to think about. However, after each use, I always struggled to put it back somewhere that wasn’t a problem, and I hated the fact that it never really had a home to live in.
Compressors get seriously hot, and I remember moving items around in our canopy to make a space for the compressor to sit when we’d finished with it, so we didn’t end up with a fire. Sure, I reckon the chances of this happening are slim to none, but it gets well and truly hot enough that you can’t touch it in certain points, and that’s not a good thing to be up against some newspaper, or plastic, or anything else that might decide to self combust.
The solution took me about an hour to do, and the difference it has made to me, on the road full time is nothing short of astounding. It’s still on Anderson plugs, but I literally removed the existing compressor base plate, and made a new one out of 100 x 6mm aluminium flat bar, with some Linatex rubber in between to isolate some of the vibrations. I then bolted the flat bar to the canopy right at the front, using the usual unistrut nuts that fit our Bull Motor Bodies Canopy.
It doesn’t interfere with anything, is out of the way, with the weight as far forward as it can go, and I can let it get red hot without worrying that its going to burn something. It’s also not bouncing around our canopy, and I feel much better for it.
Now, pumping tyres up is substantially faster; there’s no mucking around to find the compressor, then find the hose, unwrap it all and plug it in, and then start pumping the tyres up. I simply open the canopy door, flick the switch and plug the hose into the nearest tyre. It comfortably reaches all 4 car tyres, and our Reconn R2 tyres too, which is very helpful.
Overall, I wish I’d done this years ago; it makes inflating so much easier.
Make sure your compressor orientation is suitable
One thing I will quickly point out, before you run out and start bolting these on is that you should confirm with the manufacturer that it can be mounted vertically, or upside down, or however you want to do it before you bolt them on. It is possible that some compressors are designed to run in one orientation only, and if you change that you could do some nasty damage pretty quickly.
