Just a little Project underway....

[IBEW Sparky]

I must be behind the times since I don't have an on-board compressor. I did have to replace an air line last year so I relocated the Schrader valves to a more convenient location.

[xrated]

I must be behind the times since I don't have an on-board compressor. I did have to replace an air line last year so I relocated the Schrader valves to a more convenient location.

I guess I'm right there with you....manual fill for me too. I have an onboard compressor, a Viair that I bought to run the air horns and maybe there would be a way to tie that one in to automatically control the air bags....I've never really checked into it. I'm sure the fact that it is mounted in my toolbox would make it more difficult, so maybe not even worth the extra work.....if there is a way to do it using the existing compressor.

[jlk111]

So I put airbags on a previous truck I had...an F250 diesel about 4 or 5 years ago and it was a total pain in the butt job. That truck is gone and I now have a F350 Dually diesel and I'm getting ready to add some airbags to it. The only reason that I'm not going to be crawling around on the ground under this one, my neighbor built a new garage a few years back and had a 10,000 lb lift installed in the garage and offered to let me use it when I put the bags on the Dually. So here is what is going on the Dually, hopefully this weekend.





I'm also not doing a "standard" hookup as far as the airlines to inflation valve. I'm adding two "T" fittings and an "Open/Closed" valve in the lines. This will give me the ability to be able to fill both bags using either one of the inflation valves. More importantly though, if I close the open/close valve off, I can then inflate one bag to a certain pressure and the other bag to a different pressure. That might come in handy if a load that is placed in the bed of the truck is heavier on one side than the other. Probably a bit of overkill, but hey, I'm retired and have time to do it any way that I like!. Here's a pic of the air flow schematic.....

I installed a small compressor under my hood with a gauge and pushbutton control under dash. Total setup was under $100. I hookup and drive and the wife pushes the button intermittently until I like the feel of the ride. You can also dump air from the bags that way but you get a rubber tire smell from the inside of airbag in the cab for a bit. I usually run the needle on the gauge at the 11 o'clock position if driving alone, not sure of the pressure just run air until it rides nice. Easy to adjust for each trailer I pull. I also plumbed in a quick connect fitting for an air hose to fill a tire if needed.

[Pap and Mimi]

I ordered bags and compressor for my F250 last week, bags came early this week and may be a weekend project. Compressor shows "back-ordered, no ETA" I called Air Lift and was informed they have an electronic components delivery problem and don't know when they will be available. . Looks like I will go the manual route for a while

[xrated]

I ordered bags and compressor for my F250 last week, bags came early this week and may be a weekend project. Compressor shows "back-ordered, no ETA" I called Air Lift and was informed they have an electronic components delivery problem and don't know when they will be available. . Looks like I will go the manual route for a while

I've never had an onboard automatic setup for either truck that I've had air bags on.....it would be nice, but since I already have an onboard Viair compressor in the toolbox of my truck, it's just a matter of popping the lid, hooking up a 25' air hose with the quick connect fittings and throwing a little air in the bags. Granted, it would be more difficult/impossible to change on the fly, but I'm OK with it so far.

[Pap and Mimi]

Bags are installed and the job wasn’t too bad. Ran the valves out the bottom holes in the license plate, like my previous truck, and will T into the lines when/if the compressor arrives. Checked pressure this morning and it was the same as I put in last night, so no leaks.

[xrated]

We went camping this past week, Sun through Wed and I towed the 394M with the bags in place. When the trailer was down on the truck, I ran the psi up to 60 lbs and that brought the truck back up to unhitched height. My pin weight, from a recent CAT scale weigh-in was a little over 3600 lbs. I will likely weigh everything again when we get loaded for our trip out west later this year. I'm thinking that I'll likely be in the ~4000 lb pin range then.