Moving the AC from the roof to under the rear seats

[1leglance]

Ok this might be a crazy idea but I think it will work better for my needs.

I want to move the AC unit on my 1970 Suburban from the rear roof to under the rear seats and build a custom center console that will direct the air to the back seat folks & to the front seat people.

Here are some pics and thoughts.
So it fits here which is the most important thing
I will get a shorter run of hose and I can insulate the box to preserve the cold air...very important in our Arizona desert.


Here is my son helping me mock up where the new back bucket seats will go. I should have plenty of room to build a seat frame/box that will hold the AC unit and allow fresh air in and blow the cold air out to the passengers.


This is my first effort with Google Sketchup. I am much better with a pencil/ruler/paper but I thought I would give the digital design thing a go. I plan to watch some tutorial videos and see if this Sketchup thing might be worth playing with.


And I would be using 4 of these kinds of vents set into the console


Here are some fun side benefits and considerations:
We are usually a 3 person family which means the seat behind the driver won't get used by anyone other than the dog normally. That means the "steping over the console" thing won't be a big deal.

The roof of a rig gets hot in Arizona and I think I can insulate the floor/console better than the roof.

The air won't have to travel as far with this setup.

I can built a snack cooler compartment where the cold air blows by a metal floor and chills goodies.

I am open to all thoughts.

I am running a Vintage Air setup in my 72 C-10 truck and it works great there. Worst case I could put something like that in this burb and just not have my son in the back seat get much AC

[Street Smart]

I like your idea, especially the snack cooler, but cold air drops which makes a high mounted A.C. unit work so well. I have rear a.c. in both of my trucks (Sub & a panel), it gets in the way time to time, but it cools great.
Old conversion vans used to mount an auxilary unit on the floor in front on the back wheel well and use ducts to an overhead console.

[gcburdic]

Good Idea lance...look forward to see how this works out....I was looking at the small/ compact units from Vintage Air wondering if they would fit in the rear overhead compartment in my 72???....

[jeffg1010]

I built a console that extends from the dash, between the front driver/passenger seats and drops down to go under the middle seat. And I hid the A/C hoses in it that are meant to cool the 3rd row. I've even talked to Geoff (GCBURDIC) about how I had considered one of the smaller Vintage Air units to boost the rear air, because I think I am pushing the limits of a Gen II system ...hmmm, wonder if I gotta pic? Ironically, the console I used as a base was a Jeep Wrangler console, which has a built in cooler, haha.
Here is from the dash to the middle...

ya can't really see it, here, but it drops down at a curved angle to where it is only about 5 inches high. I actually even used the same Vintage Air vents. You can BARELY see the top of them in this photo:

[1leglance]

Nice setup inside.
I think since I will almost always be 3 person in my rig I will keep the rear part of the console a bit higher so the air can get to people easier.

This weekend I hope to get the seat frames built with some mentoring by Nick-mosesburb and then I can move on the center console concept.

[MAC71]

I have installed a Vintage Air A/C Gen II sure fit A/C system in my 72 Suburban and it does not seem to have the capacity to cool and heat the inside of the truck. I am pondering going back to factory A/C, pulse adding rear air. For rear air I was also thinking about instead of in the rear overhead installing the A/C unit under the middle seat and running the A/C vents through the side panels. I really do not want have to deal with 60 feet of A/C hose to reach the rear over head and I would like rear heat. I am going to keep an eye on this thread.

[1leglance]

thanks Mike,
I just commented in your thread also.

I will be starting on the center console soon but the system won't get hooked up until after my engine transplant which might be a month or so.
But since I am in Arizona we will get much hotter much soon than you in Texas so I should have info to report before you need it

[gcburdic]

Hey lance....I wonder if the rear units are the same for 70 and 72 burbs??....could you please get me some dimensions of your rear ac unit...I thought about using a compact evaporator from Vintage air back there and wanted to see if what they have available would fit....Thanks for your time and I hope I didn't get your thread off track

[MAC71]

I have never seen Sketchup or even heard of it until reading this. Really cool program!

[juancho2901]

Hello is my first speech in this group, and would like to contribute my humble opinion on the subject. I live in a very hot place, Maracaibo, Venezuela and I own a converted 72 Suburvan Panel, I designed a central duct outlets adhered roof for passengers
I seem to locate the evaporator under the seats will main problem very frequent maintenance because suck dust from the floor or carpet, then remember that cold air tends to go down and not up. regards

[Bigdav160]

Welcome Juan!

Do you have more pics of your truck? I see differences from our American made Suburbans.

[Burbaholic]

Originally Posted by MAC71

I have installed a Vintage Air A/C Gen II sure fit A/C system in my 72 Suburban and it does not seem to have the capacity to cool and heat the inside of the truck. I am pondering going back to factory A/C, pulse adding rear air. For rear air I was also thinking about instead of in the rear overhead installing the A/C unit under the middle seat and running the A/C vents through the side panels. I really do not want have to deal with 60 feet of A/C hose to reach the rear over head and I would like rear heat. I am going to keep an eye on this thread.

There is no reason to go back to stock A/C to use the rear unit. I combined a Vintage air sure-fit unit in front with the stock rear unit in my 72 and it works perfectly. A/C on the rear roof circulates much better than on the floor.

[juancho2901]

Thanks for the welcome, I have more pictures of the truck, but I have not here where I work. when you hang them opportunity.
is good to note that the thermal insulation of the vehicle is one of the most important factors to consider, especially the roof which gets the sun and then the fire wall and floor that receives heat from the engine. The system that has my vehicle is mine design and construction, made of fiberglass and upholstered with semicuero, as I did locate the hang ups, patience .... regards
PS: excuse my bad English (it is translated by google, haha)

[Street Smart]

Originally Posted by Burbaholic

There is no reason to go back to stock A/C to use the rear unit. I combined a Vintage air sure-fit unit in front with the stock rear unit in my 72 and it works perfectly. A/C on the rear roof circulates much better than on the floor.

I have the same, works great. Vintage A.C. truck set up with a suburban rear single unit hanging in the back .

[1leglance]

Very cool to see pics from a rig a bit south of me

I have not done much of anything on this issue as I am just flat been enjoying the rig too much to stop and work on it

I understand what folks are saying about cold air dropping but I would like all the head room in the rear possible as I have a sleep inside setup and an ARB off road fridge back there.

Sooner or later I will get around to installing the AC and we will see how it works.

Good to know folks have installed a vintage air setup in the front and ac in the rear as I wondered if I could have both. It is stupid hot in the Arizona desert.

[gregfull]

I've got a vintage air sure fit for the dash and a seperate unit in the spare tire well for the rear passengers. I just had to use a bigger compressor to feed both units. Not sure how well it works yet in the Houston heat, as I am still putting this thing together.

[chris mc bride]

Im getting ready to strip the rear air out of a 95 Astro van we are getting ready to junk. Looks like it should fit the rear of my panel truck great.Looks like the lines can run right above the roof connection,down behing right side door ,under floor and up to condensor. Will run wiring donw left side a at roof line same way.

Looking for info on hooking up late model setup. Doesn't have to be super cold ice cycles will be fine.

[kieth]

One might take a look at a class 8 truck salvage, big rigs have a auxilary a/c --heater unit that fits under the bunk in a big tractor. Kw, pete, freightliner already have those units in them and they are readily available. This way you may not have to make brackets . It would simplify your build.

[magicoolbus]

These big rig a/c units are available new as well through Red Dot.

http://www.rdac.com/

Look at their aftermarket parts catalog- It is not super easy to navigate, but once you figure it out, you will discover there are tons of options that you never dreamed available.

[twistedchevy]

Anything new