Onboard Air

[Joey1313]

After the great answers in my switch panel thread, I wanted to get opinions for onboard air.
I have done some research but again the opinions of those who have and use the parts is also invaluable information to me.

ARB or other brands? Everyone says theirs is best.

In fender, under hood, in cab? How much noise do they make while airing up? Don't want it in cab if it runs the whole time airing up?

Single or Dual? Is dual overkill? Lots say single is fine but others say you need dual for airing all 4 at once. I have watched the Wayalife single install video.

Brush or brushless? I see the output of brushless is much higher but the price of brush has come way down recently.

 

[wayoflife]

Air compressors are stupid loud and I honestly don't know how anyone can stand to have theirs inside the cab, especially if they have air lockers.

I personally run ARB but mainly because their single is so compact and works well. Their new brushless is pretty damn fast too. For me personally, the dual is totally unnecessary, even with the 42" tires I run on my big Gladiator but I have nothing against them.

To be fair, I also have an old Smittybilt portable unit that I bought in a pinch and surprisingly, it not only still works after all these years, it works well. I have run Viair in the past as well and it worked well too. Essentially, it's an air compressor and you can't really go wrong with most anything you can buy. Speed and size are the biggest differences between them all and you just need to decide for yourself what's most important to you.

 

[Joey1313]

Air compressors are stupid loud and I honestly don't know how anyone can stand to have theirs inside the cab, especially if they have air lockers.

I personally run ARB but mainly because their single is so compact and works well. Their new brushless is pretty damn fast too. For me personally, the dual is totally unnecessary, even with the 42" tires I run on my big Gladiator but I have nothing against them.

To be fair, I also have an old Smittybilt portable unit that I bought in a pinch and surprisingly, it not only still works after all these years, it works well. I have run Viair in the past as well and it worked well too. Essentially, it's an air compressor and you can't really go wrong with most anything you can buy. Speed and size are the biggest differences between them all and you just need to decide for yourself what's most important to you.

Thanks for that reply. The sound in most videos is just a second when they power it up so was hard to tell. That rules out in cab!!

It looks like the brushless single puts out almost as much as the brushed dual. I am only running 37s for now so if a single is fine for your 42s I should be good through upgrades.

 

[jeeeep]

They are all loud and get hot, without an air tank they run full time when airing up.

I've got a dual under the hood, seriously considering a single to move it to the firewall under the fender because having to remove it each time something needs inspecting is a PIA, it's a fairly easy removal but still a PIA.

From inside, the noise level from under the hood isn't bad (hood always open when using the compressor to let it cool).

I don't notice the dual as any faster than the single in real use, all those online speed tests are worthless, look for 100% duty cycle

I used a Viair before getting the ARB dual, went with the ARB for its 100% duty cycle, the Viair model I have gets stupid hot and shuts down.

With battery tools, no need for air tools so that selling point for me is moot.

 

[Mike Pierson]

Thanks for that reply. The sound in most videos is just a second when they power it up so was hard to tell. That rules out in cab!!

It looks like the brushless single puts out almost as much as the brushed dual. I am only running 37s for now so if a single is fine for your 42s I should be good through upgrades.

I’ve had both the single brushed and now the single brushless. The brushed worked great but if you run with folks that run the dual then prepare to be given shit because they’ll be finished well before you especially when dinner and beer is the next stop. Bought the brushless when it came out and it is much faster than the brushed single but the brushed duals will still finish faster which I still don’t care about. The wayalife ACM bracket for the firewall is also a great option for mounting.

 

[Joey1313]

Thanks for the replies. These are the answers I am looking for. Cutting through marketing BS or the fanboi answers makes this a great forum. I am enjoying my time here and learning a lot.

 

[Sharkey]

I have the older brushed dual and had the older brushed single on my JKUR. The dual is not worth the money IMHO, except maybe from a redundancy perspective.

 

[bobfriesenhahn]

I used a Viair before getting the ARB dual, went with the ARB for its 100% duty cycle, the Viair model I have gets stupid hot and shuts down.

I am pretty sure that the Viair I bought promises a 100% duty cycle. They accomplish that by pumping slower. They have models which pump faster, but need to turn off sometimes.

Regardless, Viair is not the fastest. I also own a Slime brand pump which likely produces more CFM.

 

[thrash66]

I use an ARB brushed single on an ACM with a remote line to my front bumper. It works great for me. Nice and simple.

 

[GP NOIR]

Dual ARB under the hood of my 2012 Rubicon. I got it with a kit that included an air tank but haven’t found a place to mount the tank. I like it better than running a single, especially when airing up friends who haven’t gotten their own compressor yet. For me, it was worth the money. To be fair, I got it on sale for a price that was too good to pass up.

We also have an early Thor’s Lightning compressor that we keep in the wife’s Grand Cherokee. It’s big, heavy, loud, runs hot and airs up tires faster than the ARB. The hose, gauge and bag that came with it were cheap. The gauge never worked and the bag lasted all of two weeks. The compressor and hose had some oddball air fitting that I changed out to match my other air hoses.

That said, the compressor has been a real workhorse and has aired up a lot of tires and seated a few beads over the years. It’s well worth the $250 we paid for it.

 

[TonyT]

There's plenty of decent products out there, but I can't say enough about ARB customer service. No matter where you're at in the world, they take care of their customers and that's what has kept me coming back.

The dual is overkill for just airing up tires once in a while, but I've had four different air compressors in the Jeep since 2009. It wasn't until I bought the ARB dual in 2019 that I felt content I had a do-it-all solution that will last.