Compressed air on pickup

TRR · Apr 25, 2012

There was a thread about compressed air on pickups. Here's what I did to put it on my F250. The mounting pad I built out of the C purlin material left over from my barn to match existing holes in the truck's frame. The compressor, tank and relay are from VIAIR with fittings from various sources. It's wired to one of the upfitter switches in the cab. Note: this is NOT a high capacity pump. This system is intended more for adjusting air pressure in tires when I'm towing long distances. It can run my air impact wrench for tire changes, but will be slow doing so. I've given some thought to adding an air horn like a semi, but that's still under consideration.

Cooldmax · Apr 25, 2012

Nice setup. I chickened out and mounted mine inside my toolbox. They use way to much salt on my roads to risk keeping it under my truck. I hooked mine up with a relay for fear of to much amp draw for the upfitter switches. I think my tank is an 8 gallon and for little jobs or emergencies it works surprisingly well, even running an impact.

5030 · Apr 25, 2012

That would last about one winter here and be junk. Mine is behind the rear seat in my crew cab Ford. inflates the air bag system on the rear axle, fills the tires in an emergency and blows the train horns under the hood.....

BeezFun · Apr 26, 2012

Very slick install. Like others said, around here salt would kill it dead. I even had to change my trailer connection so I can throw it back inside the rear hatch when I'm not using it, the salt completely corroded it in one season when I had it mounted externally.

TRR · Apr 26, 2012

I agree about the salt and a short life. Fortunately I live in the south where salt is not used, and I make it a point to always be south of the snow line.

HCJtractor · Apr 26, 2012

That is cool! And exactly what I have been wanting to do on my F350. I have the Viair portable pump kit which is really nice, but a built in tank would be very handy. Got any more pix of the set up? How big a tank. Want to walk us through how this was done (or better yet, come to S.C. and do mine!) Which Viair kit did you buy?

TRR · Apr 30, 2012

I hear that SC has some pretty good BBQ. I'm visiting family near Baltimore, so maybe - - -

The hardest part is the bracket that holds the pump and tank. I cut up a piece of 8" C-purlin about 38" long and welded it back together. The hardest part is to get the brackets in the right place and the holes in the bracket to line up with the holes in the frame. There is a DEF line that runs along the outside of the frame in that location so you have to be careful with that. I dropped the plate about 1/2" below the frame to be sure I did not interfere with the DEF line. I clamped the mounting pads to the bracket and the truck frame so everything was in position. Then took everything but 1 mounting pad apart and welded the pad. Put everything back together and repeat until all pads were welded. Then it was time to drill the holes. I used a laser pointer and set it so the beam was in the center of the hole on the truck, then put the bracket in place marked the laser point, took everything apart, drilled the hole. Then repeat for each hole, but putting in bolts where I drilled the hole. Kinda laborious, but all 4 holes line up properly. The three pads are nothing more than an "L" bracket. I needed someplace that was protected for the relay so I turned the rear pad into a "U" shape with a top by welding another L shape to it. (Does this make sense?)

As for how the tank and compressor go together I used Viair's diagram. I have a pump relay controlled by the pressure switch and a blow off valve for safety. The compressor I used is the 380C which is rated to 200psi, the tank is 2.5 gallon/ 6 port also rated to 200 psi. The pressure switch is 110psi on and 145psi off, the blowoff valve is 175psi. All from Viair (including the relay) ordered thru hornblasters. The various 1/4 turn valves, gauges and brass couplings - (most came from the surplus center that advertises here) with one or two items from the hardware store that I missed in my order with them. I have a gauge for the tank pressure and another for the line pressure from the regulator. Its hard to see under the truck when checking pressures so I have color coded the gauges so I know where the pressure is by seeing what color the needle is pointing to.

HCJtractor · May 1, 2012

Thanks for the explanation. What year is your truck? I am going to put that on my to do list. Is that the biggest tank you could squeeze under there? How about air intake? I read some route a intake line with filter to inside the cab behind the back seat. Not sure if that really matters.

handirifle · May 1, 2012

I did a similar install on a Jeep I had, no longer have it though. Someday I want to do the same on my Tundra.

Mine was an under-hood install. It was a two sate install, first involved moving the factory air filter box, then the compressor/tank install.

Here are the two links
http://handirifle.com/articles/Onboardair/airboxmove.htm

http://handirifle.com/articles/Onboardair/onboardair.htm

Cat_Driver · May 1, 2012

I always have a tank from these people on almost everything I drive.
POWERTANK - CO2 Air Systems

The good part it's portable and goes from vehicle to vehicle. Also I can use it in the field if air is needed. They fill up huge Tires in seconds. I can run air grease guns and power tools from this set up.

Costs about $35.00 to fill and tanks last about a year before I fill them up again.