2011-2016 Superduty Air Bag Compressor Installation

[jkwilson]

Thought I’d document this as I go in case someone else can learn from my mistakes or successes. I’m fighting back issues right now, so progress will be slow.

First step is mounting the gauge. I wasn’t too concerned about access while driving. I didn’t want it to be in the way though. I’ve settled on using the useless dash cubby below the 12V port on the driver’s side.



The pictures are before wiring was routed. The first is taken to the right of the steering wheel for clarity, the second is about how you see it while driving. Not ideal, but I don’t think access while driving is important. I can certainly hit the buttons without looking away from the road.

I mounted it by shaping a section of 2x4 with a rasp to fit in the cubby. I painted it with auto trim paint, and anchored it with a couple of screws through the top of the cubby.

Wire and air line were routed through holes I drilled in the back of the cubby.

A tip if you remove the cubby: There is a connector with wiring plugged into the back. It’s just parked there. It’s the wiring for the switch to disable the passenger airbag in standard cab trucks. In CC trucks there is no switch.

[jkwilson]

Next step will be getting lines from outside the cab to inside.

Under the rug in the driver’s footwell are two plugs with access to the underside of the cab.





The small white plug is wide open when removed, but may get too much foot traffic so I’m planning on using the larger plug which is for access to a cab bolt. I plan to use it like a cable gland and will seal with silicone after routing.

[BobLandry]

After a lot of reading and watching, I think I've talked myself into spending the extra $150 and go wireless. I'm just no into running air lines all over the truck, plus, the more connections, the greater the chance for problems.

[Pap and Mimi]

After a lot of reading and watching, I think I've talked myself into spending the extra $150 and go wireless. I'm just no into running air lines all over the truck, plus, the more connections, the greater the chance for problems.

I have had an Airlift HD wireless compressor on backorder since late July, still no ETA as of last week when I called. They are having the “chip” problem like all the car companies.

[jkwilson]

A little out of order here because the picture of this was easier to get. The Air Lift heavy duty compressor has a remote air intake with filter. Instructions say to mount it away from moisture. To me, the cab is the only place in the truck that meets that requirement. As you’ll see in my next post, the compressor is inside the frame under the cab. A plug was available just behind the driver’s seat and I converted it to a grommet. Snaked the air line under the carpet and along the trim strip until it was behind the rear seat. Stuck the filter to the rear pillar with molding tape.



Would have been nicer if the air line was hidden, but this space is where the jack tools are stored along with the tarp and moving blanket I carry, so little chance of damage.

[jkwilson]

Just an update on the reason for no update. I needed a fuse tap to connect power, and hit the same black hole I went in to when I hard wired my dash cam. Fords use low profile mini fuses, but taps made for low profile mini fuses don’t work in Ford fuse blocks. You need standard mini fuse taps, which I finally got. The problem is you then need standard mini fuses to populate the tap to make things work and my local parts place was out of 15A fuses. They are supposed to have them tomorrow.

[BobLandry]

I've been mulling over how to do mine. I'm going to run 8ga hot and ground directly to the battery. The only other thing I need is a 12V wire that is hot when the ignition is on and I can get that under the dash. Trying to stay away from the fuse block if possible.
I'll probably run yhe air line for the compressor filter into the cab and put it behind the back seat. Nothing gets stored there anyway.

I'm undecided as to where to mount the gauges. There will be two, a tank pressure monitor and the fill/deflate one for the bags themselves. Somewhere in the bed makes sense to me. When I inflate the bags, I'll be hitching and therefore standing outside. Same if I'm just running the compressor to inflate tires. I have a Retrax, and when I'm hitched, it stays fully retracted. The Retrax would protect the gauges when closed, so being able to monitor/operate while standing at the side of the truck kinda makes sense. I doubt I would have a need to adjust on the fly, and it's going to be a single feed to both bags. It's easy enough to check the gauges when I stop for fuel. Should the bags deflate while driving(unlikely) I can still keep moving. I do it now without bags and without issues. I saw a video where the guy had the tank monitor mounted to the left of the steering wheel, and the airbag control mounted under his headache rack. I don'r see the logic in mounting them separately, but I'll keep looking at it. You never can tell when the light bulb will turn on. LOL

[jkwilson]

I've been mulling over how to do mine. I'm going to run 8ga hot and ground directly to the battery. The only other thing I need is a 12V wire that is hot when the ignition is on and I can get that under the dash. Trying to stay away from the fuse block if possible.
I'll probably run yhe air line for the compressor filter into the cab and put it behind the back seat. Nothing gets stored there anyway.

I'm undecided as to where to mount the gauges. There will be two, a tank pressure monitor and the fill/deflate one for the bags themselves. Somewhere in the bed makes sense to me. When I inflate the bags, I'll be hitching and therefore standing outside. Same if I'm just running the compressor to inflate tires. I have a Retrax, and when I'm hitched, it stays fully retracted. The Retrax would protect the gauges when closed, so being able to monitor/operate while standing at the side of the truck kinda makes sense. I doubt I would have a need to adjust on the fly, and it's going to be a single feed to both bags. It's easy enough to check the gauges when I stop for fuel. Should the bags deflate while driving(unlikely) I can still keep moving. I do it now without bags and without issues. I saw a video where the guy had the tank monitor mounted to the left of the steering wheel, and the airbag control mounted under his headache rack. I don'r see the logic in mounting them separately, but I'll keep looking at it. You never can tell when the light bulb will turn on. LOL

Have you considered mounting switches in the area where the DEF fill port would be? Handy location.

[BobLandry]

I doubt there is room. There are two gauges and two switches.