AC components

[laserjock]

Well, I thought while the front clip was off, I'd start putting in some of the bits on Big Red while the gettin was good. That has turned into a disaster. So I bought an R134a conversion kit from Uhaul. If you bought one, the only decent part is probably the one hose in it. It was a Parker hose. The dryer was all aluminum. Even the threaded fittings. I was hopeful because it was still under vacuum when I pulled it out of the box.

I went to stick the dryer in to check fit and the damn fittingly the evap core pressure welded itself together. I was putting it together by hand. I ended up destroying the dryer trying to get it apart. Fail. Core had to come out.

So in short that was a waste of money. I'm trying to not waste more. I have a spare used core that I'm not sure of the condition. AC was not working on that truck when I got it but I seem to remember that it might have had pressure when I cracked it open. With everything disabled I think I remember being surprised by that. Anyway, I have a core that is probably good. I need a dryer because I've read you are supposed to change them when you convert. I would like to change the condenser because of the 2 I have, 1 has rust issues at the connections and the other one that is clean has both lower mounts broke off. [emoji35]

I was planning fresh hoses. The kit had an orifice tube in it so I have that.

I can probably get it all from rock auto. Any better recommendations?

Thanks.

 

[tbrumm]

Laserjock, I sent you a PM. @chris142 is somebody who knows about AC on these trucks as he does AC work in his radiator shop. I know he has helped me out with some of my questions.

 

[Dailydriver]

I would go with new stuff even if I means trusting an aftermarket part or no name brand. If your positive the parts are crap then don't use them. I know there's a price tag issue too we always have a budget. Can you repair the broken mounts and save some money? If your positive the part will work effectively for 5 years - use it regardless of it being new or used. If your not sure replace it now.

 

[laserjock]

For reference this is the kit I bought. If you run across this dryer, run away screaming.

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[Crankybait]

Buy a good dryer from a parts house. You will get some kind of warranty. These truck convert pretty easy to 134A. I converted my sig truck and it's working well. I suggest getting NAPA's a/c flush and flushing all the pieces. Let dry and then use plenty of compressed air to remove all the flush. I converted my '90 Ranger several years ago, it worked very well until the comp chucked this spring. I purchased a new comp, another dryer and orifice tube from AZ and got lifetime warranty on those parts. Since the o tube had most of the comp guts in it I opted to replace the condenser since the crap went thru it b4 it hit the o tube, they are very hard to flush. The a/c in the Ranger will freeze you out of it now.

 

[yARIC008]

Having just gone through this all, twice... all I gotta say is, make sure when you flush you actually get everything out, even new components, except the condenser as you can't get the flush back out. Best way I figured is to get a super clean bucket and run the flush into there. You will be able to see any crud that is coming out. Keep doing it until no more crud comes out which in my case was like weeks. Filtering through a funnel and *** of paper towels lets you reuse the flush for a long while.

I've got a full assortment of AC stuff, nice manifold gauges, vacuum pump, micron gauge if you need to borrow anything.

 

[chris142]

Nothing wrong with that dryer if you use Antisieze on the threads. Also going with a smaller Orange orifice tube makes them cool better with R134a.