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| North American Grand Cherokee Association | ||
| Your one stop source for Jeep Grand Cherokee Information | ||
Quick Air 2
Installation in a ZJ
By Michael Cracco
The first decision was where to mount the Quick Air 2 by
Sun Performance. The QA2 comes with
a 10 foot 8AWG power lead with the assumption you are mounting it in the engine
compartment. I would much rather work from the back of the rig as I normally do.
My spare is on the roof so I eyed the area above the left rear wheel as a likely
spot. The big plus here is there is a bumper for the spare tire that can be
removed leaving a pretty beefy anchor point for the QA2. I spoke with Oasis when
I ordered the unit and they suggested upping the wire to 6AWG so as not to lose
voltage over the longer distance.
To make this even more interesting I decided to take advantage of the high current source in the rear of the vehicle and install a Painless Wiring Part #97015 4 circuit fuse block assembly with relay. Also I was installing the trailer wiring.
I spent about a week gathering materials for this project. Home Depot had 6AWG THHN stranded red, Ace Hardware had T-nuts & metric bolts, race shop convoluted tubing, and all over the place for 6AWG crimp terminals.
So, I came out of the positive side terminal on my Optima Red using a connector from an electrical distributor. Over to the passenger side fender where I mounted a 40A circuit breaker (this breaker came mounted on the QA2). From the other side of the circuit breaker I went in front of the radiator to the other side, through the driver side firewall, then down the door sills. At the same time a ran a small gauge wire from under the dash to the fuse block in the back which will eventually connect to a dash switch to control the relay for the rear facing roof lights. Once in the back the 6AWG buss was split into 2 smaller gauge wires one 10AWG to the fuse block and another to the QA2 switch.
I labored over where to mount the switch and decided to put it behind the access panel (near the tail lights) where the fuse block was. This would make wiring easier and protect the switch but is a bit more difficult to get to.
The mount for the QA2 involved drilling a hole in the center of the bracket for the M6 bolt. This carries most of the weight. To prevent the compressor from rotating I drilled the plastic panel and mounted 4 T-nuts. Then used 8-32 screws through the grommets on the QA2 into the T-nuts.
Do note that an enormous amount of energy is available through a 6AWG wire
from an Optima battery. I was very conscious of the wire routing and staying
away from sharp edges and screws. All of the wire was protected in 1/4" tubing
which in places had a piece of 3/8" tubing over it. The 40A circuit breaker
should prevent any major catastrophes but I would rather not put it to the test.
The last thing I did was modify the output plumbing of the tank which is
supplied with a male quick disconnect fitting. I removed the QD and replaced it
with a 1/4" Tee. The original male QD was relocated to the bottom and a 2"
0-100psi gauge threaded into the top. Now with an air hose connected from the
compressor to a tire (with an air chuck that has the retainer lever), all I need
do is flip power off, wait a second for pressure to equalize, and I can
accurately read tire pressure on the gauge. Much better than continually
removing the air chuck and using a separate gauge.
As far as inflation times, the Oasis web site claims the QuickAir2 can inflate a
33" tire from 15psi to 30psi in 2.5minutes. I have only tested with a 31" tire
going from 12psi to 32psi which took almost 3 minutes so I think the Oasis
numbers are a bit optimistic. Regardless, I would expect airing 4-31's up should
take 10-12 minutes. These days I am running 33x12.50's on the trail and I would
guess they would take close to 20 minutes. This is more than acceptable as I
spend about that much time before at the end of the run cleaning up, stowing
gear, small talking, etc.
Completed Project
Wiring Harness
For more information on this installation you can contact the author at mcracco@snet.net
North American Grand Cherokee Association
www.nagca.com
Copyright © 2006 by NAGCA All rights reserved.