Install article and product review.
When I bought my PSD, one of the first add-ons that I had in mind was an Onboard Compressor and Air Tank. My intentions were to have this available for emergencies, airing tires, possible installation of Air Bags, and of course, an Air Horn, because we all know how weak the factory horn is.
Well, I have had my PSD for over a year and a half, and of course the first mod I made was the A-Pillar gauges. Then came the PPIII. Next was the home made AIC off the PTO circuit. Then came the T/C lock-up indicator and ESOF disable followed closely by the Dynomax exhaust. Then there was the Sonax/Tricumulator combo. And of course there had to be a little lift involved, so I installed the Tuff Country leveling kit. Still no On Board Air.
Well, that has just changed because I have now completed what was to be my FIRST mod. On Board Air.
As with any project/mod that I have done, I did a lot of Internet Research and comparing before I made my final decisions. There are a whole bunch of possibilities available with this mod. I found several different compressors available, Gast, Thomas, Quick-Air, Viair, etc. Note that these are all COMPRESSORS, not air pumps like you find on inexpensive air horn kits. Each company makes several models that are more than sufficient to handle the tasks that I was looking for.
One of my objectives was to keep the major equipment purchase as low as possible, and I think that I have accomplished that goal quite nicely. My total outlay for all the major components, including shipping was $320.
The system that I have assembled is comprised entirely of components manufactured by VIAIR, and purchased from Central 4 Wheel Drive in Sacramento. Let me say that both these companies are very good to deal with. When I placed my order at Central 4 Wheel Drive, there was question as which pressure switch I should use, and they gave me the phone # for VIAIR, and I had all my questions answered in about 5 minutes.
Components
Compressor: The compressor that I chose is the VIAIR 300c hardmount. It uses a 12-volt 1/4 h/p permanent magnet motor that draws 20 amps. It has a maximum working pressure of 150 psi, with a 30% duty cycle, and Auto Reset Thermal Protection, braided steel leader hose with check valve, and comes with an air filter that can be remotely mounted if desired. Normally I am very skeptical about buying things sight un seen, but let me tell you, this thing is WELL BUILT. The quality of workmanship is way more than I expected.
Tank: The tank is also made by VIAIR, and is a 2 1/2 gallon tank that is all continuos seem welded, coated inside and out and has 6 1/4" NPT outlets.
Hookup Kit: VIAIR makes three different Hookup Kits, that vary in the pressure switch settings and the Amp rating of the switch. The one that I am using is #20052. It has a pressure switch that is rated at 30 amps, with a 110 psi on, and 150 psi off. The kit also contains 20 ft of airline tubing, 20 ft of fused lead wire, several different air and electric fittings and an illuminated dash panel gauge and on/off switch mounted on a very sturdy bracket. The gauge does not have any brand markings on it, but it matches my ISSPro A-Pillar gauges exactly.
The Whole Shebang!
The Install.
Tank: The first thing I installed was the tank. The obvious location is on the passenger side frame rail, but I discovered a problem with the mounting legs on the tank in regards to the outlets. If the tank is mounted directly to the frame with the mounts of the tank, you do not get an outlet in the down position to facilitate a water drain. To solve this, I took some 1" square steel tubing that I had laying around, (being a pack-rat has its advantages), cut 2 pieces 11" long, and using 3/8 x 9" grade 5 machine bolts and ny-lock nuts, I made up a clamping sort of hangar type of mounting bracket. (Whew). The 1" tubing is very stout, and more than supports the weight of the tank. The tank is supplied with 6 rubber grommets that have brass inserts to create a dampened mount. 4 of the grommets are used on the tank with the other 2 being used only if you need to prop one end of the tank up to help it drain. I decided to change out the supplied bolts with 1/4" x 2" grade 8s and had to slightly drill out the brass inserts for the 1/4" bolts. Just for good measures I used 2 extra heavy duty nylon pull ties as sort of a safety cable just in case!
Compressor: The compressor has 2 mounting brackets installed from the factory to mount the pump in the upright position. The location that I have chosen required them to be moved to the side. The back mount simply unbolts and you rotate it to the desired position and bolt it back up. The front mount is attached using 2 of the bolts that hold the pump to the motor. These 2 are longer than the other 2, so you have to make sure that you move the 2 longer bolts with the bracket, and replace the shorter one where the bracket used to be attached.
Since I was going to mount the pump on the passenger side frame rail, I needed to come up with something to protect it. So as I have seen others do, I went to Wally World and picked up a battery box that had a lid that snapped on. I cut approximately 5 inches off the bottom of the box and attached 2 aluminum angles with 4 3/16" pop rivets on each end to attach it to the frame rail. This allowed me to have an enclosure with a removable cover for service if needed.
Location: In choosing the location for the mount of the pump, I needed to make certain that the pump would not prevent access to any of the mounting bolts on the frame rails, and that the cover to the box could be easily removed and reinstalled. After many trial fittings, I chose to locate the pump just in front of the rear cab mount bracket. This location provided plenty of room, and was clear of all existing hardware.
After marking the location of the 4 mounting bolts, I discovered that it is VERY hard to lay on a creeper and get enough force on the drill with out pushing out from under the truck. Luckily Ford has installed 2 items to aid in the procedure. Simply hook your feet on the backside of the driveline and transfer case and drill away.
The pump is mounted using 4 5mm bolts with 3 washers, 1 on either side of the rubber mounts, and 1 on the backside, finished off with a ny-lock nut. I drilled a 1" hole in the box for the braided leadout hose and bolted the box over the pump. There is plenty of room to work down there.
Plumbing: The install kit, as it comes, is very complete. I did however decide to use 1/4" rubber air hose instead of the supplied 1/4" tubing. The kit comes with nylon zip ties to hold everything in place, but I wanted a little sturdier mount. I drilled and tapped the brass T for a 1/4-20 brass bolt, and then silver soldered it in place for a permanent seal. This allowed me to "BOLT" the T to the frame through an existing hole, then using an elbow and barb fittings, I routed 1 line to the tank, and another to the front for the gauge line, and to give me an outlet for air-horns. There are 2 holes in the bed mount that line up perfect for the lead in to the tank.
Gauge: One of the first things that gave me trouble was where to mount the gauge/switch panel. I did consider mounting it in the dash, but the thought of drilling a 2" hole really bothered me in case I goofed! So while I was holding the panel in different locations, trying to get ideas, I opened the glovebox to get something, and thought, WHY NOT! So with a little trimming and drilling, it came out perfect. I also noticed that the glovebox light shined right on the gauge eliminating the need to hook up the gauges light.
The pressure line for the gauge comes up from a T mounted on the frame just back of the right front wheel well. I will eventually come off the T and hook up an air horn.
Power: First off, I have never been a fan of crimp on connectors, so ALL connectors are soldered, and then finished off with heat shrink tubing.
The install kit comes with 16-gauge hookup wire that has an inline fuse holder. While it might have been enough, I opted to use 10-gauge wire for the main power, with a 30-amp fuse. I hooked it up to the positive on the passenger side battery, and ran it through a 30-amp SPST relay. From there it goes through the pressure switch which is mounted on the air tank, and then to the compressor.
To activate the relay, I used the 16-gauge power lead that came with the install kit. It is hooked up to a switched power lead, then runs to the main switch, then to the relay.
Ford has supplied us with a hole and grommet from the factory that is perfect to run the relay wire and the pressure line.
Operation: When everything was finally hooked up, I flipped the switch and the compressor came to life. You can definitely hear it running even with the engine on. After a few seconds the gauge began to climb, and it took about 3 min. for it to reach just under 100 psi on the gauge, where I shut it off until I can pressure test all the fittings.
So far I am extremely pleased with the way it has come out. The quality of the Viair compressor and tank is very good, and the supplied components are enough for a simple hookup.
The Hadley Twins: Of course one of the main reasons to do the Onboard Air was to power a louder noise maker. Follow this link to check out some real attention getters!
I am always looking for comments or suggestions, so if you have any, please EMAIL ME!
This page has been viewed
times.
Counter provided by Web-Counter