Would this work?

Road_Warrior85

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Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Location
Jacksonville, NC
So I had an idea, that I think I may want to pursue further. If it would work.....

Build a custom rear bumber... similar to the Warn style bumbers..... but instead of cutting out a W, leave it solid, and put a backing on the bumber, you know, wall it in. Then drill a whole in it, throw in a fitting, and have a bumper/ air tank.

What ya think? Is that an indea worth pursuing, or have I just been up too late?
 
whats a bumber?

in all seriousness, this thing would most likely be pretty dangerous, being that an air tank needs to hold up to some immense pressure.
 
Have seen a few rear bumpers as air tanks without any problems just put the fittings out of rocks reach. if you are handy with tube, you can build a cage with some fittings to serve as a tank. Hell if you have a york run it without a tank.

Fred
 
Will work just fine. A few things that haven't been said though...it depends on what you're putting it on and how big the bumper is, but typically there isn't much volume. The other big thing is if you're that new to fabrication...there is no way you're going to get a plate bumper sealed by welding.
 
Yes, it can and has been done. Like braxton said, that isn't much volume though. Maybe a front and rear bumper could get you a couple gallons? What are your bumper dimensions going to be? The less welding the better (less chance for leaks).
 
I have a buddy that has a 4x4 air tank rear bumper and a a/c Compressor that was converted to fill it. He then ran an air hose to fill the tank. It's good for filling tires after airing down
 
food for thought...

if the bumper is square tube/plate, theoretically the air pressure will have a tendency to try and make the bumper a round tube. i.e., the flat surfaces on the bumper could "bulge" if the correct thickness of material isn't used or excessive pressure is exerted.

there's a reason MOST EVERYTHING containing any type of pressure is ROUND.

Of course, it can be done and has been done in the past with proper build techniques
 
Yes it will work if it is sealed good enough(welded)I used a piece of 4" square tube as a tank and has worked fine. Not enough PSI to bulge it. I drilled holes and welded pipe fittings to it and then threaded in the air fittings.
I don't recommend using the York without a tank unless you use an oil separator, or do the mod keeping it from pumping oil out the front of the shaft. And then only if you plan on using it only to fill tires. You won't have enough volume to run air tools.
 
Yeah,I guess this should have gone in the tech section huh??
Well, we already saw that my brain was shot for the night at the time anyway, my bad.

so yeah,
I certainly wasnt planning on building it myself. I can draw up and design things fairly well, but I dont have much work in the actual building side of things. Still need practice.

I was just wondering about the idea, and wanted to get some input, before I talk to a fabricator about the possibilites.

it would have been on the back of a wrangler, with the fitting on the backside under the body where it couldnt get hit.

the compressor would been underneath as well, but I had not thought that far because I havent shopped, priced, or researched compressors any.

I had not thought much about volume, because most of the onboard air tanks I have seen really weren't that big either, and I figured that with the bumper stretching almost entirely across the vehicle, that it could surely equal that volume.

plus, my only concern was really just to inflate tires after wheeling.

I guess that round tubing for an air tank does make a little more sense, but Im not expert on tanks and airpressure either. I figured the bumber would be pretty heavy duty if I was having it built to my specs, and that it wouldnt have much trouble with that, of course I have never seen this done to know better.

I wasnt really planning on it being a perfect square, but did picture it being very similar to the warn style bumpers, but I guess a larger scale. Which would be a whole hell of a lot of welding, but...
that is why I was asking for input. I wanted to see if it was a dumb of an idea as I normally have late at night when I am tired, or if maybe it was a decent idea that might be worth following up on.
 
If you have any problems with pinhole leaks after welding there is a product that is commonly used on motorcycle tanks to fix leaks from rust. It is a hard drying epoxy called Kreem. Gas, oli, water, brake fluid, power steering fluid or almost any other liquid you can think of will not hurt it. All you have to do it pour it in the tank and rotate the tank around at all angles to coat it evenly inside. I have used it hundreds of times on various applictions including air tanks and it has worked flawlessly every time.
 
If you build it out of heavy enough plate/rectangle tubing, it won't matter if its round or square as the strength of the material should be able to withstand the psi, even over a period of time.
 
It seems like 3 or 4 years ago this was all the rage. In the time when fancy aftermarket bumpers went from $500ish a set to $1000+ a set, they started offering all kinds of options, and an air tank option was a very common one. Most of them made it with 3/16" steel or thicker.
 
I've done a few. Some round tube, some square, some rectangle. If the wall is thick enough it won't bulge or deform or do anything crazy. I recommend not leaving air pressure in them all the time, because then its like a bomb waiting for someone to rear end you to set it off. We just use them as a storage tank on the trail when volume is needed.

So who you thinking of to build this thing?
 
sha_ba_do_bang said:
I've done a few. Some round tube, some square, some rectangle. If the wall is thick enough it won't bulge or deform or do anything crazy. I recommend not leaving air pressure in them all the time, because then its like a bomb waiting for someone to rear end you to set it off. We just use them as a storage tank on the trail when volume is needed.
So who you thinking of to build this thing?
Click to expand...

I was waiting for your sales pitch...... Who do you think I would have build it??????

oh, and I would make it a tire carrier bumper too
 
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