rear air

[speedcomm Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close speedcomm]

Gday guys, anybody put rear air in a GXL ? my kids are always complaining about the lack of air in the back in the heat, I actually found a smashed 120 Grande in Darwin and spoke to the wrecker about getting the roof vents and ductwork till we realised it ran to the rear ! I was going to run ducting up the front pillars ( surprising amount of space in the front pillar ) from the front vent duct then accross and meet up with the Grande roof ducting, BUT no such luck, apparently the VX/Grande have a blower in the boot hence the ductwork running back wards. It started to get a bit exxy and also complex needing the blower and controls on the console etc etc and then have to work out how to get the cool air to the rear also.

Soooo my latest idea and the idea I will run with I think is to replicate a Ford Terror tory that has vents in the back of the centre console, there is room to run ducting to the front under the console, I have been looking at vents and have found a company caled Vintage Air, a US company who make AC for hot rods etc, they sell a thin flush vent and twin 2 inch flexy air pipe that after a few measurements I think will fit JUST.

This idea will be better than the existing system, NONE !
Any thoughts on all this ?
Has anybody else been down this route ?

[Grandeman Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Grandeman]

Interesting ingenuity there.

Good luck - sounds as though your idea is definitely worth pursuing...

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

yeah, i'll be watching this one with interest as i've found the only way to get air in the back is to turn the centre vents to point between the front seats and crank it up!

although, i think, and i can't check at the moment, that there are vents under the front seats to put air onto the feet of the rear passengers, i've used that once before full blast with cool air to try push some more further back...

[MTpockets Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MTpockets]

The Toyota Surf had rear vents at the back of the console, therefore ducting running through the console as well. It was a heater but could be another way of doing it as well.

[Jon Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Jon]

There are air vents with the outlets under the front seats on the GXL.
You need to have the ventilation control set to 'floor' or dual 'floor / face'.
I put a spacer under the outlets to raise them up a bit.......after removing all the accumulated 'crap' (snatch straps, etc) from under the seats.
Happy campers in the back seats now.

[clifton Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close clifton]

Hi Speedcom,
I had an 06 Toyota Camry as a hire car the other day and it has vents exiting through the centre consul for the rear passengers maybe you can find a late model Camry at the wreckers (there are many hire cars around) and check out the ductwork.

Only a :idea:

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

There are air vents with the outlets under the front seats on the GXL.
You need to have the ventilation control set to 'floor' or dual 'floor / face'.
I put a spacer under the outlets to raise them up a bit.......after removing all the accumulated 'crap' (snatch straps, etc) from under the seats.
Happy campers in the back seats now.

happy campers with cold feet?

this is what i do now too to push some cooler air towards the back.. although i've found that the face vents have a hell of a lot more air passing through them so cranking them up and pointing the centre ones back is a little more effective for fast cooling, then the foot ones for maintaining it..

[speedcomm Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close speedcomm]

I am back on it agin now it is heating up ! We also have child no.4 on the way so will need the boot seats. I have tried a different tack, I have found that 1.5 inch vacum pipe actually fits in the front pillars from down near the drivers foot all the way up to the rear seat area beside he drivers ear once the funny honeycombe thing is removed from under the hood liner, im guessing in a Grande the cavity is for the side air bag, actually quite a lot of room in there, surprised me really, so im now looking around for some 1.5 inch AC duct work as the Vac pipe is too stiff and it smells ( old vac pipe ) Im thinking what I will do is attach the front end to the front outside vent pipe just in behind the vent air adjuster ( outside vents when sitting in the front seats ), again there is plenty of room in here and my drivers vent is blocked by the phone kit anyway, The air adjustment lever could be cracked at the halfway point which should direct enough air up the 1.5 inch pipe heading to the rear ( Done on both sides ) Im making it up as I go if anybody hadnt noticed. :wink:
As for vents I may still go with some vintage air air vents, I will see how the pipe work goes.

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Im making it up as I go if anybody hadnt noticed. :wink:

Well, you're doing a damn good job of making it up. I'm just hanging out for the pics of the finished project - saves me having to do any thinking. :lol:

Good luck
Chippy