Redneck Air Conditioning?

[Gumcrew2]

1983 Ranger
Single/Regular cab.

NO AC/Power steering/power brakes from factory

I want AC! Today it was 85* out and the temp gauge inside the truck said 102*!

SOOOOO. What are my options?

Option 1: Junkyard hunt for another 2.3L Ranger with A/C, take the compressor, condensor, lines, bracket etc. Rig it up/ probably take some trial and error, figure out how to route lines to heater core, etc.
Sounds expensive, and time consuming and Effective

Option 2: Invest in a sliding rear window, roll down both windows, and deal with it.
CHEAP, But not effective

Option 3: Now hear me out on this: Cannabalize either an old RV's rooftop AC unit (12V, easy), OR a tiny window airconditioner (120V, I have big inverter). Mount the unit in the bed *(7ft bed, already have a 15" longX 30" wide transfer tank in bed, so I have a nice corner it could fit in about 15"X18")*, and route a piece of cheap ducting into the cab from behind (there's already a small hole from someone elses stupid ideas so I'm not concerned about cutting a hole in my cab)
Sounds cheap ( I have window AC unit, and power inverter), effective, and very powerful to cool my truck down in a heart beat.


And yes I'm absolutely serious about option 3, seriously in a month it'll be 100* out and my truck is toooooasty now.

Taking Votes!!!!

Saul

[RWD HERO]

My truck is a regular cab, with a sliding rear window and it keeps me fairly cool. I also have air-conditioning but i don't ever use it.

[DHEM]

go with option 1, but dont open any ac lines with the refrigerant in them, its a couple thousand dollar fine.....

[pooleo]

[Christianguy]

Haha ...that PIC above is Hilarious !
Ive seen old skool Mercs and VWs use
Dry ice in a window hung " Cool box"
It works ! It's not that expensive,
And it won't look like the car above!

[westtntrucker]

Your going to laugh, but, back in the day when I drove semis with no a/c in central California, I would get a block of ice and a 12v fan blowing across it toward me. It worked decent.

[Christianguy]

Those spray mist bottles with the fan on it work too

[westtntrucker]

I forgot to add, the ice was in a styrofoam cooler.

[Gumcrew2]

Yea I've seen the pic above. Not quite THAT redneck, but close lol.

I REALLY don't want to deal with the headache of swapping an A/C compressor/lines/condensor from another Ranger as it will definitely mean down time which I can't afford.

Sliding rear window is a definite, just easier on the freeway/quieter and much better airflow.

Maybe rig up a small cooler with ice/fan, Ive seen cheap little inserts for coolers on ebay with a 12V fan built in for like $35

What's this about a "cool box" with dry ice?

[Botta Ranger]

Don't think any roof top RV units are 12 v. Just looked up a 12,000 btu that draws 15.2 amps at 115 v. That's equivalent to 145 amps at 12 v plus inverter losses.

[fratermus]

Originally Posted by Gumcrew2

Option 2: Invest in a sliding rear window, roll down both windows, and deal with it.
CHEAP, But not effective

When I had an un-airconditioned 1971 VW beetle in the Texas heat I found a spray bottle to mist myself was very helpful.

Probably not a longterm solution for you, but a $2 spraybottle might help increase your comfort until you reach a better solution.

[Gumcrew2]

I'm going urban-engineering::

I'm building a miniature swamp cooler out of a regular cooler.

Parts List:
1996 Chevy Tahoe Fan/Blower Motor
1995 Volvo 750 Windshield Washer Sprayer Solenoid
Coleman cooler
2" thick styrafoam (to make a new top)
Spare/Leftover Swamp cooler pad (the blue stuff)

If I take the styrafoam and mount the blower motor to it, with some 3" vent tubing I have to suck air in/blow it through.
Put swamp cooler pad on all 4 sides of coller inside
Mount washer fluid solenoid to cooler side, with pickup at bottom, and 4-way spray nozzle at top to spray all 4 sides.

I figure I can run the fan and the solenoid on the same little circuit/switch and make a cigarette lighter plug for it. I'm not too worried about burning up the solenoid, using it always-on, for short times, as I got 10 at the junkyard.

I can't think of a better better/cheap way to make a portable AC unit

[Gumcrew2]

Ok: it's ghetto but it actually works



In that cooler there is a small 12V fan sucking in with the washer sprayer and 2 nozzles spraying water onto the fan blades showering droplets onto all 4 sides
I turn the HEAT on high, and DAMN does it blow alot of volume out. Right now it's 84* out and the room-temp water in the cooler send 70* air out. 14 degree drop isn't much but it's not bad.

I'm going to add the blue-filter-swamp cooler mesh to it and hopefully that'll help bring it down a bit.

[Christianguy]

This might give you some ideas:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Port...eap-and-easy!/

[Gumcrew2]

Inside:;