Kraken Air system, ARB Twin with Pressure Control under passenger seat

[Abend]

Can you please tell us your experience with the ARB Pressure Control system and the four tire inflation deflation system. Does it take longer? How long does it take to deflate? Are you happy with the system; would you do it again? I’m thinking about an AAL mount under my rear flap with the pressure control system. I also want to use a an air locker solenoid to tap into my airlift airbags to keep them properly inflated as well.

I'd definitely do it again, but it's not really fast enough to use for deflation because the outlet port for the air being released is absolutely tiny. That was a bit of a disappointment, but the valve that's part of the Air Up/Air Down tool from Innovative AT (https://innovativeatproducts.com/shop/ijkp-18-air-down-air-up-tool-with-gauge/) works fast enough that it's not that big of a loss. For inflation, I can air up all 4 37" tires from 10psi to 37psi in about 8 minutes. I didn't benchmark it against the dual compressor without the pressure control module in the path, but it seems plenty fast to me, especially since I don't have to babysit it.

I ended up dumping pretty much the rest of the kit though, mostly because I could never get those push-to-connect fittings to stop leaking. I ended up re-plumbing everything inside the jeep with 3/8 air hose and replaced the external air hose connections with ARB quick connect chucks. I made my own hoses for each side out of 1/4" Flexzilla hose and fittings, and I'm a lot happier with it.

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[Abend]

Did you pull the harness though the drainage port or through the firewall? I saw an install video where the harness was pulled through the passenger firewall making it a cleaner install. I think I’m going to go via this route when I install mine.

I didn't do either - when I peeled the carpet back, I found a plastic plug filling a hole in the body tub. Not sure why that hole is there, but the plastic plug was glued in before the body was painted. It pried right up with a screwdriver, so I lined the hole with a rubber grommet and passed the cable through right there. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it, but if you look at the photo I posted above, it's basically exactly where you see the power cable come out of the carpet. I just slit the carpet there to pass the power cable through. I ran the cable from there over to the passenger side frame rail and then up along the outside of the firewall into the engine bay. It was pretty easy, didn't require any new holes, and I still have a functional drain plug.

Edit - I found the plug. It was glued in with some sort of blue adhesive. The round top part is roughly half-dollar sized. Here’s what it looks like:

 

[Chile1]

I didn't do either - when I peeled the carpet back, I found a plastic plug filling a hole in the body tub. Not sure why that hole is there, but the plastic plug was glued in before the body was painted. It pried right up with a screwdriver, so I lined the hole with a rubber grommet and passed the cable through right there. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it, but if you look at the photo I posted above, it's basically exactly where you see the power cable come out of the carpet. I just slit the carpet there to pass the power cable through. I ran the cable from there over to the passenger side frame rail and then up along the outside of the firewall into the engine bay. It was pretty easy, didn't require any new holes, and I still have a functional drain plug.

Edit - I found the plug. It was glued in with some sort of blue adhesive. The round top part is roughly half-dollar sized. Here’s what it looks like:

was that on the passenger side or drivers side? I have a manual transmission JLUR and i was going to come in through the passenger side of the firewall for this set up.

 

[Abend]

was that on the passenger side or drivers side? I have a manual transmission JLUR and i was going to come in through the passenger side of the firewall for this set up.

Passenger side, right under the passenger seat. I was kind of mystified why the instructions didn't tell you to use this hole, because it's perfectly located for the power cable.

 

[Chile1]

not sure how Kraken Air Systems compares to this:

https://overlandvehiclesystems.com/...ep-wrangler-jl-jlu-engine-bay-passenger-side/

 

[bobholthaus]

If I use American Adventure Labs mount for the rear, under the flap (but it does relocated the fresh air filters up on the left side of the inside of the back end), do you think I’ll need to worry about the compressor overheating when I’m airing my 37s? If yours took under 8 min, let’s say it would run continuously for 8-10 minutes. Do I need to be concerned about that? Usually my back end is loaded with stuff, so it won’t be ideal to have to open that rear flap to cool it down while airing up. I’d love your opinions on the heat the unit generates.

THIS mounting kit with THIS relocate kit (I may do this WITH a kraken-like setup)

 

[PirateXpansion]

Can you please tell us your experience with the ARB Pressure Control system and the four tire inflation deflation system. Does it take longer? How long does it take to deflate? Are you happy with the system; would you do it again? I’m thinking about an AAL mount under my rear flap with the pressure control system. I also want to use a an air locker solenoid to tap into my airlift airbags to keep them properly inflated as well.

I made up my own system using the innovative AT mounting plate (under the driver seat, since my comms are under the passenger seat), the pressure control system (I drilled some additional holes in the mounting plate to attach) and some aluminum plates with ARB chucks attached to the seat mount on both sides.

My experience out with my usual group, most using a portable compressor and going from tire to tire, one using an ARB twin under the hood, but also doing one tire at a time, is that I am done about 5 minutes faster than the other ARB twin. The portable compressor guys are ten or more minutes behind, I can also walk around and chat with people while mine does its thing, while they have to babysit.

I agree that the delate option is useless for any large changes, the port is just too small. It is ok for small adjustments, and both up and down does a good job of hitting the number its set for.

 

[Abend]

If I use American Adventure Labs mount for the rear, under the flap (but it does relocated the fresh air filters up on the left side of the inside of the back end), so you think I’ll need to worry about the compressor overheating when I’m airing my 37s? If you’re took under 8 min, let’s say it would run continuously for 8-10 minutes. Do I need to be concerned about that? Usually my back end is loaded with stuff, so it won’t be ideal to have to open that rear flap to cool it down while airing up. I’d love your opinions on the heat the unit generates.

THIS mounting kit with THIS relocate kit (I may do this WITH a kraken-like setup)

I think you'd be fine, I know lots of people are running compressors in the rear cubby and I haven't heard of any overheating issues. The compressor definitely does get hot, but it's built to handle it. ARB rates the twin compressor for a 100% duty cycle, so it's pretty hard to make it overheat.

 

[bobholthaus]

I'd definitely do it again, but it's not really fast enough to use for deflation because the outlet port for the air being released is absolutely tiny. That was a bit of a disappointment, but the valve that's part of the Air Up/Air Down tool from Innovative AT (https://innovativeatproducts.com/shop/ijkp-18-air-down-air-up-tool-with-gauge/) works fast enough that it's not that big of a loss. For inflation, I can air up all 4 37" tires from 10psi to 37psi in about 8 minutes. I didn't benchmark it against the dual compressor without the pressure control module in the path, but it seems plenty fast to me, especially since I don't have to babysit it.

I ended up dumping pretty much the rest of the kit though, mostly because I could never get those push-to-connect fittings to stop leaking. I ended up re-plumbing everything inside the jeep with 3/8 air hose and replaced the external air hose connections with ARB quick connect chucks. I made my own hoses for each side out of 1/4" Flexzilla hose and fittings, and I'm a lot happier with it.

So can you air down all four tires at once with that valve, and does it take less time than going tire to tire with a dedicated air-down tool like the one from ARB, that removes the core?

 

[bobholthaus]

I made up my own system using the innovative AT mounting plate (under the driver seat, since my comms are under the passenger seat), the pressure control system (I drilled some additional holes in the mounting plate to attach) and some aluminum plates with ARB chucks attached to the seat mount on both sides.

My experience out with my usual group, most using a portable compressor and going from tire to tire, one using an ARB twin under the hood, but also doing one tire at a time, is that I am done about 5 minutes faster than the other ARB twin. The portable compressor guys are ten or more minutes behind, I can also walk around and chat with people while mine does its thing, while they have to babysit.

I agree that the delate option is useless for any large changes, the port is just too small. It is ok for small adjustments, and both up and down does a good job of hitting the number its set for.

This is great feedback, thank you!

 

[Abend]

So can you air down all four tires at once with that valve, and does it take less time than going tire to tire with a dedicated air-down tool like the one from ARB, that removes the core?

Probably not, if you account for the minute or so that it takes to throw the hoses down, and stow them when done. Any option that removes the core is going to be faster, but it's also a lot more bending over/squatting down. The advantage to using the single valve is that I can get all 4 to the same pressure and I can stand around and BS with people while I keep an eye on the gauge that's plainly visible if I'm standing near the driver door. When I go wheeling in a group, I'm never the first or last to finish airing down, usually right in the middle. Airing up, I'm usually the first to be done, and I'd say I'm still ahead of most if I take the time to air up a second jeep when I'm done with mine.

 

[Chile1]

Passenger side, right under the passenger seat. I was kind of mystified why the instructions didn't tell you to use this hole, because it's perfectly located for the power cable.

i was thinking of doing it this way because i don't like the idea of having cables under the car exposed to getting ripped off by rocks or branches. This is from the Mopar Aux Switch instructions and it shows penetrating the rubber grommet with the main harness in the passenger footwell.

 

[Abend]

i was thinking of doing it this way because i don't like the idea of having cables under the car exposed to getting ripped off by rocks or branches. This is from the Mopar Aux Switch instructions and it shows penetrating the rubber grommet with the main harness in the passenger footwell.

It's not exposed at all - the hole is above the gas tank where it starts, and then you just follow the factory routing for the wiring on the passenger side on the inside of the frame rail. Even without any additional skid plates, there's absolutely no way a rock or tree branch is going to rip something. Here’s a pic of the cable following the factory harness along the frame (it’s attached to the factory harness with zip ties). The top of the pic is the front of the jeep.

 

[Chile1]

It's not exposed at all - the hole is above the gas tank where it starts, and then you just follow the factory routing for the wiring on the passenger side on the inside of the frame rail. Even without any additional skid plates, there's absolutely no way a rock or tree branch is going to rip something. Here’s a pic of the cable following the factory harness along the frame (it’s attached to the factory harness with zip ties). The top of the pic is the front of the jeep.

i see what you mean and i like the idea. I have a manual transmission so hopefully that same plastic plug you found is also on mine. You are correct, that would be a heck of a lot easier than going though the firewall via the cable grommet on the passenger side. thanks for sharing this picture.

 

[bobholthaus]

Next question: as mentioned above, I may try to plumb in a separate ARB air locker solenoid that would divert air from the main system to my airlift airbags. Those airbags are required to be kept at a minimum of five psi. Do you think this system is leak proof enough to leave my air compressor turned on all the time, the ARB solenoid activated, and does the air pressure system stay live at a preset psi even if I have the app closed? My thought would be to leave the system set at five psi all of the time, and when I needed to air up my tires, I would close the air locker solenoid which would close the airlift airbags system and then I could use the tire system independently. I know this is getting awfully complex, but I’d rather have a system for the airbags where I don’t have to remember to constantly check that 5 pound number to keep them inflated properly. Thanks.

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