Crew cab rear AC

[RLDSL]

I got tired of watching the offspring sweat in the rear seat of the crew cab while there was nice cold air blowing out the ducts up front, so I finally did something about it and now my truck has rear air.

I scavanged an auxiliary AC evaporator wall unit from a conversion van at the boneyard and rigged it behind the rear seat , and made up some custom hoses, 19 crimps in all ( Not counting a few old crimps, reused part of one hose ), 8 thread on oring fittings I put filters on the pressure and suction side since I have a special parallel flow condenser and it's pretty much impossible to flush that thing after the last compressor folded.

Currently there are only the two permenant vents at the sides and two running out under the seat at the floor. There will be more going to a console on the headliner when I get around to building the thing, then there will be air blowing out down the middle from up top., but as it stands, it already makes a huge difference. I still haven't attached the heater lines for the thing. I need to get a remote valve setup and I think I'm going to redo all the heater lines in Aeroquip, so I'm trying to figure out a good way to knock off a bank

 

[Russ]

Hey that pretty COOL !!!

 

[Sycostang67]

Thats awesome! Bet the kids appreciate it.

 

[reklund]

That turned out great- does it drain through the same holes the hoses go through on the floor, or did you have to plumb a custom evaporator drain too?

 

[RLDSL]

That turned out great- does it drain through the same holes the hoses go through on the floor, or did you have to plumb a custom evaporator drain too?

Yes, you can't see it , but there is a clear vinyl 5/8" drain hose that attaches to the bottom of the unit and it is poking down out of the same hole

 

[Alex S]

thats sweet, so its just Ts into the existing system hu? if you dont mind how much did the new lines cost?

 

[JPR]

You made up the hoses yourself? Are you running 134 or R12?

 

[RLDSL]

thats sweet, so its just Ts into the existing system hu? if you dont mind how much did the new lines cost?

I made all the hoses up myself . I had the #12 and #8 laying around , but I had to buy some more #6 and #10 . I got that from www.nostalgicairparts.com , actually, from his side site http://www.coldhose.com/ and it's only about $60 for a 25 ft roll of #6 and $70 for a roll of #10. I'll have to go find the packing slip to see what the fittings worked out to but if you look on that coldhose site you can get an idea. His prices cannot be beat.I've been getting all my AC goodies from him for a number of years now. Great guy.

 

[RLDSL]

You made up the hoses yourself? Are you running 134 or R12?

Yes, I made the hoses myself. I'm running R134a in it. I'm certified for r12, but I just don't see justifying the expense when I can get it just as cold with R134a. My system has a variable orifice valve and an oversize parallel flow condenser and an electric pusher fan, and an extra inch of insulation in the floor that I just put in when I was fooling with the trannys a while back that helps a bunch.

 

[Alex S]

Wow thats cool man, AC is something i want to get going soon! Is their a cheap tool to do the crimping or do you need that large hydraulic unit $$$$$$$


Also a side question is it a simple job to swap the ac HVAC box and controls into a non ac truck?

thx

 

[RLDSL]

Wow thats cool man, AC is something i want to get going soon! Is their a cheap tool to do the crimping or do you need that large hydraulic unit $$$$$$$


Also a side question is it a simple job to swap the ac HVAC box and controls into a non ac truck?




thx

I have the Mastercool crimp tool set like this A dang sight cheaper than those fancy hydro units. They may be expensive, but first time you repair a factory hose assembly on one of these things, it pays for itself Most of the time you can re-use old ends if you have a steady hand and an air cutoff wheel to slice off the old crimp collars.

Never switched a unit into a non ac truck before, but i don't see it being all that bad iff you grab everything from the doner. another option is a kit. one place offers a complete kit for trucks that never came with ac, I think it's arizona air. Nostalgic air parts may have a kit to for a 90 but you'd have to ask, he doesn't show any past 86. Personally I would probably grab a new factory compressor and mount and condenser and then get a aftermarket evaporator unit similar to this and mount it under the dash .

I don't know if there were any differences from the factory between the AC and non AC models that make just swapping parts over a non starter for some reason, but I have a feeling that there were the way that the kits I have seen are designed.

 

[Alex S]

Ah ok man, i'll look into that. Thanks for the info

 

[david85]

Only knock I have against what you did here is the size of the hole in the floor and more importantly, where precisely you put it.

You just put a hole in the rear back bone of the cab structure. Ford boxed that area off for a reason. Its what ties the rear cab mounts down to the rockers on either sides of the floor.

I think its a great idea to put the evaporator in the cab because it increases the efficiency and may even work as a refrigeration unit with some imagination, but I would never put a hole where you did. Especially on a long crew cab that is stressed a lot more than the extra and regular cabs due to extra weight and flexing.

Maybe you will get away with it, but you are taking a risk.

 

[RLDSL]

Only knock I have against what you did here is the size of the hole in the floor and more importantly, where precisely you put it.

You just put a hole in the rear back bone of the cab structure. Ford boxed that area off for a reason. Its what ties the rear cab mounts down to the rockers on either sides of the floor.

I think its a great idea to put the evaporator in the cab because it increases the efficiency and may even work as a refrigeration unit with some imagination, but I would never put a hole where you did. Especially on a long crew cab that is stressed a lot more than the extra and regular cabs due to extra weight and flexing.

Maybe you will get away with it, but you are taking a risk.

It's going to get a little re-structure around the hole in the botttom side with some angle and ye olde mig welder after i get rested up a bit.It'll be stronger than the original piece. Truck isn't going anywhere at the moment because I had to send my rear shocks in for warranty replacement.

 

[discbrks]

Also a side question is it a simple job to swap the ac HVAC box and controls into a non ac truck?

thx

FWIW, buddy of mine has a '96 F150, 6 cly, 5 speed. Started out w/ no a/c. He went to the junkyard *** pulled everything off a truck with a/c and he says it was a simple bolt-on deal.