What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Rear A/C in a K5 ?

F

Fla_K5

Newbie
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Posts
1
Reaction score
0
Location
North Central Florida
We all know that K-5's can be "greenhouses on wheels" in hot climates, especially for the rear passengers. I'm thinking on doing a Mark III (conversion van) style upgrade, where a compact rear a/c evaporator/blower unit is tucked in mostly behind the side panel opposite the spare tire.

I know those applications use the big A-6 a/c compressor instead of the R-4, and I'm wondering if quite a bit of the refrigerant hard line utilized from a Suburban with factory rear a/c could be used down the frame channels, along with other parts.

I'm looking to do a tight & well-engineered (factory-looking) installation. Has anybody been down this road before, and would share their project notes with me? Mine's an '88 K5.
Thanks
-- J
 
i have rear air , sub type mounted to the roof. also have sub rear heat. 81-91 version.
 
jonrpick said:
Can you post up some pics or a writeup? I'm curious.
Click to expand...
sometime this week will post so pic's, have had it mounted on two tops. once on my 85 top and now on a 90 top. cover is off the unit and the head liner is not in place at this time. been working on engine conversion and rewire. all compomemts are from a sub with the exception on two new hoses from front to rear. works very well temps around here can reach 117 in the summer.
 
frankin5 said:
sometime this week will post so pic's, have had it mounted on two tops. once on my 85 top and now on a 90 top. cover is off the unit and the head liner is not in place at this time. been working on engine conversion and rewire. all compomemts are from a sub with the exception on two new hoses from front to rear. works very well temps around here can reach 117 in the summer.
Click to expand...

So, I guess I'm not too familiar with the way the Sub rear air setup looks or works.

Is it a unit mounted on top of the roof? Or is it mounted internally with the vents in the upper rear of the top?
 
jonrpick said:
So, I guess I'm not too familiar with the way the Sub rear air setup looks or works.

Is it a unit mounted on top of the roof? Or is it mounted internally with the vents in the upper rear of the top?
Click to expand...

it mounts on the inside of roof at the rear door or lift gate and direct the air to the front of the sub. it is a seperate evaperater and blower motor with a switch mounted in the dash. you can use the front or both.:rolleyes:
 
frankin5 said:
it mounts on the inside of roof at the rear door or lift gate and direct the air to the front of the sub. it is a seperate evaperater and blower motor with a switch mounted in the dash. you can use the front or both.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Gotcha... that's what I thought I recalled seeing.

So, if you want to remove the top, is the whole system easy to disconnect?
 
jonrpick said:
Gotcha... that's what I thought I recalled seeing.

So, if you want to remove the top, is the whole system easy to disconnect?
Click to expand...
about 8 screws and set it on the floor. :eek1: as cool as it keeps my blazer i have no desire to remove the top.:rolleyes:
 
frankin5 said:
about 8 screws and set it on the floor. :eek1: as cool as it keeps my blazer i have no desire to remove the top.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

:haha:

I can imagine. Dual A/C in a K5...you could probably hang meat in there.

So, is it two compressors or just one bigger one?
 
frankin5 said:
twice as much refigerant.
Click to expand...

I think I know what you mean. Unfortunately, I'm not well-schooled on A/C. I understand the underlying principles of how A/C works, but when it comes to picking and choosing components to achieve a certain level of performance, I'm lost.
 
The way the system works in my Burb, is the compressor (naturally) compresses everything just like a front (single) ac setup, but the lines feeding this front air, are split, (T'd off) those extra lines go back to the rear air where it uses an expansion valve, and the front uses the orifice tube...

compressed freon is ALWAYS running to the rear unit when the compressor is running whether the rear switch is on or off, the switch only runs the fan controls.

I have been told it is wise to at least have the rear on low, to keep from freezing up the evap that's back there. The front ac controls (heat/cool) is where all the temp controls originate though.

with the way mine is attatched to the roof, no, it would not be an easy thing to remove when wanting to remove the top, the whole assembly is bolted up to brackets mounted to the roof, and then obviously the plastic cover, covering everything.
 
jonrpick said:
So does that mean that the compressor is either A) overpowered for use with front air only, or B) underpowered for dual air?
Click to expand...

It probably means that the compressor that's used in K5's isn't worked near its limit, the Suburbans with rear AC are surely closer to this limit. Its likely that the engineers designed the system for the worst case (Sub with rear air) and then used the same compressor across the board to save costs.
 
38377k5 said:
It probably means that the compressor that's used in K5's isn't worked near its limit, the Suburbans with rear AC are surely closer to this limit. Its likely that the engineers designed the system for the worst case (Sub with rear air) and then used the same compressor across the board to save costs.
Click to expand...
it's their one thing fits all mentallity.:D
 
So to remove the top, you set the A/C unit on the floor? You can't remove the A/C without having to recharge the system later, which is why this is better than removing it with the top, right? So where do the refrigerant lines run?


All I know is that a system like this should have a big parallel flow condensor and some big fans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom