When you're building a project vehicle, there are a lot of things to consider. Leaf or coils, t-case or axle gearing, differnet tire sizes and more.

There is one consistent thing that goes between all of these projects and that's air - just simple old air - and many forget to take it into consideration.

Air is fundamentally the most important element to your build. It rolls over your truck's body, through your radiator and around your engine, keeps you cool inside via air conditioning, fills your tires, and controls your air bags if you use them. Airflow or lack thereof can make a big difference to your project. Poor airflow in and around your engine can bring on overheating, melt wiring and more. No airflow around your exhaust pipes and the floor can cook an egg. Put the exhaust pipe in the wrong spot and the air coming out of it can create unwanted noise and fumes.

Air also needs to get into your engine. We manipulate it with super chargers, turbochargers, and polished heads. Of course, compression is all about crushing air and gas together for a nice little explosion. Mix too much air with the gas entering the engine, and you'll run lean; not enough air, it will run rich. Inadequate airflow or not enough surface to a radiator and your engine will overheat. If your fans don't push or pull enough air, it can also lead to overheating. Hold too much air inside the engine compartment and the air going into your engine heats up, reducing power.

Air conditioning is also another way we manipulate air - a compressor cools the inside of the air conditioning condenser and we push air pulled from outside over the cold coils and into the cab to keep us happy as the cooled air blows through our hair (or what is left of it). If you use an air conditioning compressor for on board air, you need to plumb lines and have a tank to hold the air.

Air also needs to be held in our tires and we reduce air pressure for better grip then increase it again for on the road.

A constantly failing starter may just be due to header pipes running close by combined with poor airflow. Many different components will overheat if they don't get enough airflow around them.

We add headers to make the air flow faster out of the engine and specialty air filters to let it in faster to the engine. Plug that filter and your engine can choke from not enough air.

Put enough air under your tires and they spin helplessly, unless you add things like air lockers. We also use air in a vacuum state to actuate axle disconnects and power brake boosters.

Electric compressors are used with and without air tanks and to run those air lockers. These electric compressors get hot and need air space around them to operate correctly and to have long life. Car amplifiers have fins with lots of surface area that are designed to dissipate heat to the air, thereby cooling the hot electronic components inside them.

So, the next time you look at your ride or plan out your next project, think about how the air flows in and around the vehicle and its components - it may save you many dollars and heat frustrations down the road.

Albert Vandervelde
Editor, 4WD Magazine