AGS Off Road Air Gate Kit Installed in Bronco Raptor

[Link1016]

I was on the pre-order for the mount and installed it along with the ARB twin as soon as I received it. I keep the spare tire covered if I'm not using the compressor so I guess that keeps some of the dirt and dust from accumulating around the unit and the design of the spare tire mount already protects the top from rain. I've been on a lot of desert trails and quite a few drive through car washes since install and not had any problems or noticed any dirt on the compressor.

The install was pretty straight forward, I pawned it off to a buddy that owns a car stereo shop. He ran power directly from the battery - through the firewall and cabin to the cargo area and tapped the relay to the existing upfitter switch line. From there he ran the harness along the existing wiring harness through the tailgate up the 3rd brake light and camera wiring. made sure all connections were waterproof and wrapped everything in OEM looking cloth electric tape. About 15 minutes to air up all 4 of my stock 35's.

Sponsored

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

For those going this route that need a longer power harness... we offer our CrystaLux 25' ARB Extension Harness here now: https://www.4x4truckleds.com/crystalux-25-power-extension-harness-for-arb-twin-compressors/

The harness utilizes 10 gauge power wires. We leave off one of the connectors to allow you to route the harness through your firewall and to the compressor. We also include a grommet if you need it. It's protected by a nice cable sheathing also.

 

[cr117]

For those going this route that need a longer power harness... we offer our CrystaLux 25' ARB Extension Harness here now: https://www.4x4truckleds.com/crystalux-25-power-extension-harness-for-arb-twin-compressors/

The harness utilizes 10 gauge power wires. We leave off one of the connectors to allow you to route the harness through your firewall and to the compressor. We also include a grommet if you need it. It's protected by a nice cable sheathing also.

Is 10 gauge wire enough for this application? ARB's max load current draw spec is 68.6 amps. I thought a 4 or 6 gauge wire would be needed.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Is 10 gauge wire enough for this application? ARB's max load current draw spec is 68.6 amps. I thought a 4 or 6 gauge wire would be needed.

Yes it is, we calculated it at 100% efficiency.

We're using 4x 10gauge wires btw, not just 1 single wire. It's 2x 10 gauge positive and 2x 10 guage negative (plus the 5th smaller gauge negative as well).

Since it's an extension harness we kept all 5 wires in there, rather then make just a harness with 2 wires (which would be almost as thick but would require harder to crimp connectors)

 

[cr117]

Yes it is, we calculated it at 100% efficiency.

We're using 4x 10gauge wires btw, not just 1 single wire. It's 2x 10 gauge positive and 2x 10 guage negative (plus the 5th smaller gauge negative as well).

Since it's an extension harness we kept all 5 wires in there, rather then make just a harness with 2 wires (which would be almost as thick but would require harder to crimp connectors)

Ah, gotcha. Didn't realize the current was distributed. Neat!

 

[SierraBronco]

Ah, gotcha. Didn't realize the current was distributed. Neat!

Randomly found this thread and felt compelled to chime in.

“Distributing the current” isn’t as simple as one might think. With a direct current system, think of your wires as a hose and the electricity as water. If you’re trying to push the same volume/time (amps) out of two different sized hoses, your friction values will be significantly higher from the smaller hose. For simplicity’s sake, if you double the size of the hose, you quadruple your cross-sectional area, quartering your friction assuming it’s a linear loss. Also, the longer the hose, the more you’ll be affected by that pressure loss at the output.

We can look at electricity the same way. Running two 10g wires does not equal one 5g wire as the area, or amount of wire available, is dramatically different. 5g wire has a diameter of 4.621mm which gives us a surface area of 16.77mm^2. 10g wire has a diameter of 2.588mm (slightly bigger than half the diameter of 5g) resulting in a surface area of 5.26mm^2 per side. (10.52mm^2 total if you were to combine them. Drastically less wire than a single 5G. And there are only two wires as the ground wires are not carrying current from the battery.) 8g is 3.264mm and gives us 8.36mm^2, a 59% increase over 10g.
For comparison:
4g-5.189mm = 21.14mm^2 of wire
8g-3.264mm = 8.36mm^2 of wire

Do your own research to confirm, but I’ll include an amp vs distance chart that seems pretty consistent within the internet search. The chart suggests that for 40 amps at 25’ you’ll want 4g wire! Keep in mind that ARB supplies 40amp fuses for each side, with the intention on running 8g wires for the distance of that harness. With this aftermarket extension, now you’re running an even smaller diameter wire a greater distance on a unit with 100% duty cycle. We’d like to assume this wire is 100% copper, but nowhere in the description is that specifically mentioned. (Copper Clad Aluminum is becoming prevalent due to the high prices of copper, and is not going to provide the same performance as copper.) It’s also now a common practice to increase the insulation thickness to make the wire appear to be the correct gauge but they’re just boosting profits. (To be clear I’m not suggesting this extension has CCA or thicker insulation, I’m just ranting now as one needs to be careful when ordering wires) The fuses won’t trip if you push the compressor to max output, and the 10g wires could heat up enough to melt the insulation. That’s a combination that could result in fire.

Ultimately, there’s a reason I went with 2/4g wire from the battery back to the rear panel and into a distribution block. I was able to then cut two feet off the factory 8g wiring and use their fuses from there.

 

[cr117]

Randomly found this thread and felt compelled to chime in.

“Distributing the current” isn’t as simple as one might think. With a direct current system, think of your wires as a hose and the electricity as water. If you’re trying to push the same volume/time (amps) out of two different sized hoses, your friction values will be significantly higher from the smaller hose. For simplicity’s sake, if you double the size of the hose, you quadruple your cross-sectional area, quartering your friction assuming it’s a linear loss. Also, the longer the hose, the more you’ll be affected by that pressure loss at the output.

We can look at electricity the same way. Running two 10g wires does not equal one 5g wire as the area, or amount of wire available, is dramatically different. 5g wire has a diameter of 4.621mm which gives us a surface area of 16.77mm^2. 10g wire has a diameter of 2.588mm (slightly bigger than half the diameter of 5g) resulting in a surface area of 5.26mm^2 per side. (10.52mm^2 total if you were to combine them. Drastically less wire than a single 5G. And there are only two wires as the ground wires are not carrying current from the battery.) 8g is 3.264mm and gives us 8.36mm^2, a 59% increase over 10g.
For comparison:
4g-5.189mm = 21.14mm^2 of wire
8g-3.264mm = 8.36mm^2 of wire

Do your own research to confirm, but I’ll include an amp vs distance chart that seems pretty consistent within the internet search. The chart suggests that for 40 amps at 25’ you’ll want 4g wire! Keep in mind that ARB supplies 40amp fuses for each side, with the intention on running 8g wires for the distance of that harness. With this aftermarket extension, now you’re running an even smaller diameter wire a greater distance on a unit with 100% duty cycle. We’d like to assume this wire is 100% copper, but nowhere in the description is that specifically mentioned. (Copper Clad Aluminum is becoming prevalent due to the high prices of copper, and is not going to provide the same performance as copper.) It’s also now a common practice to increase the insulation thickness to make the wire appear to be the correct gauge but they’re just boosting profits. (To be clear I’m not suggesting this extension has CCA or thicker insulation, I’m just ranting now as one needs to be careful when ordering wires) The fuses won’t trip if you push the compressor to max output, and the 10g wires could heat up enough to melt the insulation. That’s a combination that could result in fire.

Ultimately, there’s a reason I went with 2/4g wire from the battery back to the rear panel and into a distribution block. I was able to then cut two feet off the factory 8g wiring and use their fuses from there.

I don't disagree with anything you stated. If it were me, I still wouldn't trust that dual 10 AWG extension line for that heavy of a load. I'd want a single 2 AWG at minimum.

 

[SierraBronco]

I don't disagree with anything you stated. If it were me, I still wouldn't trust that dual 10 AWG extension line for that heavy of a load. I'd want a single 2 AWG at minimum.

Absofrickinlutely man

Sponsored