air bag with AC compressor

i have seen it and heard of it but i have no idea how it is achieved... does anybody have any scematics

 

Eh...

What are the question? A small amount of explosives "pumps up" the Airbag. Where do the A/C come in this story?

 

A lot of people will modify a York A/C compressor to use with air ride. Do a search for York compressors and you will find a lot of info.

 

A google search for "on board air" will bring up a bunch of 4x4 truck forums, they kind of pioneer'd the re-engineering of A/C pumps into air compressors.

York compressors are the most popular, although I've heard Sanden compressors gained some popularity since they're smaller. Basically, you have to find a way to oil the compressor to keep it from burning out (drilling and tapping in a grease zerk usually), then the rest is just rigging up a pressure switch to the clutch and some plumbing.

If you find any good step-by-step instructions, post them up, I'm curious as well.

 

anyone figure this out??

 

I've used an A/C pump as a vacume pump , so the theory holds water ...

 

an old Mopar AC Compressor is great!
"FYI for Dodge V-Twin a/c conversion
"Basically extremely low airflow for what was supposed to be a pretty good compressor. For anybody that is interested in converting this compressor you must remove the fitting on the intake side and pull out the little filter looking thing you see inside. Just grab it with pliers and give it a pull, I have removed 2 so far. One came right out the other took about 5 minutes to get out. After removing this peice the compressor performs perfectly. I finally found this at the bottom of an ancient forum archieve about running air tools off of your vehicle on a 4x4 site."

 

Sure, its an easy one... York 209 and 210 compressors are popular for this. The have an oil sump to lube the bottom end. The top end gets somewhat lubed (and cooled) by the oil that gets past the piston rings. They do not have an oil control ring, so they pass oil easily. The down side is that oil makes its way to the tank, valves, and airbags. A moisture trap is used to catch the oil. But it doesnt get it all. So it forms in the tank. Another down side is they only hold about 8 oz of oil, so they need to be filled often. The upside to them is that they are a lot faster than the electric compressors. You can go to airlift's website www.airliftcompany.com and look at the pictures of their kit to get an idea of whats involved. Then go piece together your own for about 1/3 the cost.
Personally, I think it is a poorly thought out design. The main reason is that the compressors were designed to use the freon, and the oil it carried, to lube and cool the top end. With that removed, it now relies on whatever oil leaks past the rings. And it is not enough.