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View Full Version : Rockslider Air Tanks?



AndyZJ
06-05-2008, 10:19 PM
I think I read this some where. Does anyone have a picture of some they did themselves or think its a good idea at all?

ATL ZJ
06-05-2008, 10:43 PM
A good friend of mine tapped his ZJ's boxed rockers and said he can air four 38" tires back up to street pressure off them alone, no compressor running... He said it ended up being around 10 gallons of capacity.

nate
06-05-2008, 11:06 PM
If you had a 2x4 slider that was 48" long, you would end up with about a 3 gallon tank between teh 2 of them.... that is if it'd not dented in :D

DJJordache
06-06-2008, 09:06 AM
If you had a 2x4 slider that was 48" long, you would end up with about a 3 gallon tank between teh 2 of them.... that is if it'd not dented in :D

HMMMMM..... I wonder if my KOR sliders are air tight:D
drill, tap, thread in air chuck, cheap air tank,

ATL ZJ
06-06-2008, 09:25 AM
I think his are 6" x 3" box tube.

dangerousdave
06-06-2008, 11:32 AM
sounds slightly dangerous.... what if something would happen? it would be just like a scuba tank going off. It wouldnt go as far or fast but it could be bad.

AndyZJ
06-06-2008, 12:39 PM
I don't know, has anyone actually ripped open their rocksliders? Mine are 3/16-1/4" plate I think, so it would take a hell of a hit to whack a hole in those.

dangerousdave
06-06-2008, 12:59 PM
its not so much a rip that would scar me.... I would be more afraid of the air chuck taking a impact and being a wild bullet. I dunno i think its a cool idea it could potentially be a deadly one.

ajmorell
06-06-2008, 01:33 PM
its not so much a rip that would scar me.... I would be more afraid of the air chuck taking a impact and being a wild bullet. I dunno i think its a cool idea it could potentially be a deadly one.

I think depending on where you located it that wouldn't be an issue. There are spots you could put it where there is essentially no chance of it being hit by anything.

ATL ZJ
06-06-2008, 02:07 PM
Who would have expected "DangerousDave" to be our OSHA representative? Air compressed to 90 lbs is far safer than the CO2 bottles at 700psi that many people have bouncing around in their rigs. Also you don't have to put the chuck in the slider itself- just run 1/4" air line to each, join them with a T fitting, and run that line back to a manifold that is connected to your compressor, pressure switch, pop off valve, etc. Air chucks can go anywhere.

My rocker protection is just .120 wall tube, which has been beaten, snagged, and dented extensively but never torn.

Ted_Z
06-06-2008, 02:25 PM
I would not be worried about the 100psi.

I would be worried about the moisture you're putting into the sliders and now having them rusting from the inside.

Cue-Ball
06-06-2008, 02:53 PM
There are alot of guys that actually tunr their roll cages into an air tank. Not a bad idea if you need storage for air.

ArloGuthroJeep
06-06-2008, 03:38 PM
Ugh...If you're going to use it to run an air locker, then go for it. If you want to use it to fill up a tire, keep dreaming.

Here is some quick math.


Say you have a 2"x4"x5' piece used at a slider.

That is .2777 cu ft.

Of course, that isn't accurate at all since that has a thickness to it. We'll say 3/16" for this example, but you may have 1/4" walled.

So it is really 1.625" x 3.625" x 60" converted to ft we get .135' x .302' x 5' = .204 cu ft.

Using this formula (http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/cubic-feet-to-us-liquid-gallons.htm) we get Answer: .204 ft³ = 1.52602 gallons

So that is 3 gallons for both sides. Hardly enough air to fill up tires.

Skyline
06-06-2008, 03:52 PM
sounds slightly dangerous.... what if something would happen? it would be just like a scuba tank going off. It wouldnt go as far or fast but it could be bad.

Scuba tanks hold several thousand pounds of air. Big difference.

Jsk8r1
06-06-2008, 04:05 PM
I've seen it done before, a guy with a CJ built a front bumper and boxed it and it was his air tank.

dangerousdave
06-06-2008, 04:34 PM
Scuba tanks hold several thousand pounds of air. Big difference.

theres always a chance of disaster... its just not something I would try. but if it could work i would be all for it.

Cam thats true co2 tanks are at higher risk. good point.

nate
06-06-2008, 06:17 PM
Why do you figure that?? Your going to have to fill tires from the pump.

My shop compressor which is 35 gallons can barely fill 1 of my tires without kicking on, so I'd need a 120gal tank or so to fill 4 tires... yeah... not going to happen.

The tank I have for my OBA is only 2 or 3 gallons and it works just fine. I can run my ARBs all day without the pump kicking on and that's really why I have a tank.



Ugh...If you're going to use it to run an air locker, then go for it. If you want to use it to fill up a tire, keep dreaming.

Here is some quick math.


Say you have a 2"x4"x5' piece used at a slider.

That is .2777 cu ft.

Of course, that isn't accurate at all since that has a thickness to it. We'll say 3/16" for this example, but you may have 1/4" walled.

So it is really 1.625" x 3.625" x 60" converted to ft we get .135' x .302' x 5' = .204 cu ft.

Using this formula (http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/cubic-feet-to-us-liquid-gallons.htm) we get Answer: .204 ft³ = 1.52602 gallons

So that is 3 gallons for both sides. Hardly enough air to fill up tires.

jsteves
06-11-2008, 02:09 AM
I have seen this with bumpers more often. A CO fellow did this on an XJ buggy. It had rockers similar to the Dentist's buggy and he used them as air tanks.

jborushko
07-06-2010, 02:39 AM
so this is me bringing back an old thread...

what is the size of the tap and drill bit i would need to tap my sliders for airtanks?

your normal 1/4" air coupler would be good

thanks

zjeepin
07-06-2010, 08:11 AM
you'll want to get a weld-in npt port or take a pipe coupling and weld it to whatever your wanting to turn into an air tank..

because pipe threads are tapered you'll never get enough threads to seal in 1/4 material plus if you go with a pipe coupling its much cheaper and easier than drilling and tapping threads properly...

i never saw this thread before but i'm pretty sure i'm the one that cam was talking about with sliders being used for air tanks..

i never really calculated the capacity but they work really well for airing up tires, i could honestly air up my 38's from 10 psi to 25 without running the compressor.

as for the moisture building up that someone mentioned, its not a problem. last winter i had to shorten my rockers by a few inches when i went to 42's so i cut the ends off and recapped them. there was really no more rust inside the box tubing than when i made them, i really expected there to be some oil residue or water but there really wasn't any and the sliders have been air tanks for at least 4 years. fwiw

jborushko
07-06-2010, 03:22 PM
so yeah... weld on bung ( weld-in npt port) that would be great if anybody in washington knew what they are!!

so did you just use a galvanized pipe fitting? cus there is no plain steel to be found

ATL ZJ
07-06-2010, 03:38 PM
so did you just use a galvanized pipe fitting? cus there is no plain steel to be found

just grind off the coating and drink a glass of milk ;)

jborushko
07-06-2010, 03:50 PM
dude.... i've done enough galvanized welding, to really really hate that feeling. fume fever sucks!

but i guess ive i HAVE TOO, but id rather not

ATL ZJ
07-06-2010, 04:20 PM
dude.... i've done enough galvanized welding, to really really hate that feeling. fume fever sucks!

but i guess ive i HAVE TOO, but id rather not

I've done a lot of it too... I just run a short bead, hold my breath, walk away, repeat. Between that and the milk I've never had any problems...

5.9 ANDY
07-07-2010, 01:21 AM
ok, can some one please explan to me the milk part real quick... and yeas, im allready aware that welding on gal. releses some sort of gass.

jborushko
07-07-2010, 01:43 AM
welding on galvanized releases zink gas... which is bad for you. [supposedly] something in the milk fights "fume fever" or zink gas over dose.

if you wanna know the science behind it, im not your guy but it seems to work.

something in the milk is good for zink OD.

i heard it works for fume fever from welding on stainless steel too.

fume fever makes you feel like you have -ultra flu- as far as the body aches go,


-but milk does SEEM to help

zjeepin
07-07-2010, 08:09 AM
milk is the antidote for the poisonous gasses released when the zinc burns. i can't remember what the gas is called but it makes you nauseous..

5.9 ANDY
07-07-2010, 11:29 AM
Ugh...If you're going to use it to run an air locker, then go for it. If you want to use it to fill up a tire, keep dreaming.

Here is some quick math.


Say you have a 2"x4"x5' piece used at a slider.

That is .2777 cu ft.

Of course, that isn't accurate at all since that has a thickness to it. We'll say 3/16" for this example, but you may have 1/4" walled.

So it is really 1.625" x 3.625" x 60" converted to ft we get .135' x .302' x 5' = .204 cu ft.

Using this formula (http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/cubic-feet-to-us-liquid-gallons.htm) we get Answer: .204 ft³ = 1.52602 gallons

So that is 3 gallons for both sides. Hardly enough air to fill up tires.


i agree with this, partly... yes, the volume is low, but the pressure in these 3 gallons compard to the lower pressure in the tires.

in theory, if you have enough pressure, the amount of volume wont make a difference.

albersondh
07-09-2010, 10:16 AM
dude.... i've done enough galvanized welding, to really really hate that feeling. fume fever sucks!

but i guess ive i HAVE TOO, but id rather not


Pee on a rag then wrap it around your head so it covers your nose. It will counter the effects of the poisonis gas. And it will be funny because you will be wearing a pee rag.

You can mail order any fitting you need in any material you want, your not stuck with galvanized.

ajmorell
07-09-2010, 11:18 AM
i agree with this, partly... yes, the volume is low, but the pressure in these 3 gallons compard to the lower pressure in the tires.

in theory, if you have enough pressure, the amount of volume wont make a difference.

Pressure and volume are inversely related though. Just how much air pressure were you planning on putting in your sliders? I doubt enough to fill 4 non-stock sized tires.

albersondh
07-09-2010, 01:26 PM
Pressure and volume are inversely related though. Just how much air pressure were you planning on putting in your sliders? I doubt enough to fill 4 non-stock sized tires.


Whats the requierment to air up X size tires (x 4) in terms of container volume and psi? My sliders are about 9 gallons of internal volume.


I have a switch that is on at 110psi and off at 125psi. Most 12v pumps that are of decent flow volume arent designed to put out more than 120'ish psi. So Im not sure there many options in terms of OBA at high, say over 200psi, pressure. All the 12v pumps that do high pressure are tiny and wouldnt keep up with the demand imposed by running a tool or whatever. The containers are there as a buffer to help keep the duty cycle on the pumps lower, they are not intended to be the only air source.

jborushko
07-09-2010, 01:58 PM
i know some a/c compressors turned OBA can run upto 250-300 psi.

people limit them to the 100-125 range because a) that is what they know and are used to and b) most/all of their tools, fittings, and other air devises run at "standard tool" 90-125psi range

personally i want the sliders to be tanks just cus i like the bling factor! - currently i have a baby 12v compressor that can fill tires - it takes a while but whatever. its more to save the duty cycle for the compressors than anything else.... and bling

ajmorell
07-09-2010, 02:22 PM
Whats the requierment to air up X size tires (x 4) in terms of container volume and psi? My sliders are about 9 gallons of internal volume.


I have a switch that is on at 110psi and off at 125psi. Most 12v pumps that are of decent flow volume arent designed to put out more than 120'ish psi. So Im not sure there many options in terms of OBA at high, say over 200psi, pressure. All the 12v pumps that do high pressure are tiny and wouldnt keep up with the demand imposed by running a tool or whatever. The containers are there as a buffer to help keep the duty cycle on the pumps lower, they are not intended to be the only air source.

I'm not sure. 9 gal may be sufficient if you have enough pressure on there. I was commenting on what 5.9Andy said in response to Ryan's comment which was based on a volume of just ~1.5 gals

albersondh
07-09-2010, 02:31 PM
i know some a/c compressors turned OBA can run upto 250-300 psi.

people limit them to the 100-125 range because a) that is what they know and are used to and b) most/all of their tools, fittings, and other air devises run at "standard tool" 90-125psi range



If you dont mind loosing AC this is not a problem. I do mind so Im stuck with 12v pumps, theres no room for a york or whatever on the 5.2 without removing stuff I need/want.

If your using the AC compressor, you could just regulate the clutch to come on/off at a predetermined psi via a pressure switch. Then plumb in a regulator to controll your output air to tools.

My sliders are 3/16 and I wouldnt hesitate to run 200 psi in them. I think the weak point on mine would be the cap welds. My caps are 3/16 as well but my 110v MIG barley makes enough heat to penetrate the 3/16 in a single pass. If I were to do it again I would use my stick or TIG, but like I said Im not planning on running much more than 125psi so I think Ill be fine.

albersondh
07-09-2010, 02:34 PM
I'm not sure. 9 gal may be sufficient if you have enough pressure on there. I was commenting on what 5.9Andy said in response to Ryan's comment which was based on a volume of just ~1.5 gals


I wouldnt even waste my time using 1.5gal or 3gal as a reservoir.... 4x4x3/16 x 7' sliders are 4.75439gal, so Im at 9.50gal. Build big sliders and no worries. This calculator factors wall thickness as well: http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxcalcs.asp#rec one cu/ft = .13368gal.

ELLLLLIOTTTTT
07-09-2010, 03:24 PM
i agree with this, partly... yes, the volume is low, but the pressure in these 3 gallons compard to the lower pressure in the tires.

in theory, if you have enough pressure, the amount of volume wont make a difference.

PV=nRT

Just sayin'.

ajmorell
07-09-2010, 03:34 PM
PV=nRT

Just sayin'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrm-rPSCIBw :D