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Air Compressor in the Engine bay, bad idea or not?

The_Paper_Cut

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I’ve been looking at getting an air compressor so I can air down when going off roading. The problem is I’m not sure whether I should consider mounting it under the hood or just having it not mounted at all.

it seems like mounting it under the hood you run into the problem of dirt, water, heat, and airflow problems. I assume the heat could damage the electronics of the compressor considering the engine easily gets to 200 but probably higher when off-roading in the desert such as Death Valley. But by mounting it it becomes extremely convenient to use.

I was looking at the smittybilt 2781 vs the ARB single barrel compressor.

anyone have any input towards mounting under the hood or not? Any experiences? I’m leaning against it, but if there’s no problems with it then I’ll probably do it for the convenience
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Goin2drt

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I mounted my twin air ARB in the engine bay and had it there for a couple of years because no one had a bracket yet to mount under the passenger seat. Very early 18 and used a bracket that was made from a guy in this forum.

It worked fine and did not over heat and The wiring was fine. However once I moved to the snowy area of the US and not they made a under seat mount for it, I moved it. I like it under the passenger seat very much. Completely hidden and out of the way.
 

RFR JLR 2.0

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I recently purchased an ARB twin compressor and Grimm Off-road mount for the engine bay but haven’t installed it yet. Prior to the purchase I emailed ARB asking if this was a suitable area for their unit due to heat and dirt. They confirmed that it was and the unit is designed for high temps. Northridge 4x4 also did a test of the compressor by running it for something like 8 hours with the engine running. They stated in only resulted in a minor increase in temp. They apparently worked with Grimm to develop the mount so take that for what’s it worth. The mount comes with a heat shield and draws air from two inlets well above the compressor. Hope to install it soon and see how it performs.
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