pat'sRAPTOR
FRF Addict
i purchased my VIAIR on board air system from Chris at freedom motorsports. I received it the day before thanksgiving and my wife hasn't been feeling well so I waited till Saturday to start the install. now this took me roughly 2 days (1.5 to be exact) to do because it was a lot of trial and error kinda stuff i wanted to make sure everything was perfect so when i did the write up for everyone else there wouldn't be any problems. plus i'm kinda **** when it comes to things like this with running wires and all. another reason it took so long was cause i did it all by myself lol my wife hasn't been feeling well so she couldn't help the whole time and the their was only one time i ABSOLUTELY needed her help you'll see what part you'll need two people. ok time to start!
I received the box and of course opened it up and took everything out. i was amazed on how awesome this kit was. i knew it was good but my hopes really weren't that high but man this thing is a beast of a kit highly recommend it!!!! from FREEDOM MOTORSPORTS of course
this kit comes with EVERYTHING you need to install it minus the extra wire to run from the tank solenoid to the on/off switch and i used a 25ft roll i got from home depot of 12g wire and the way i ran it i used all 25 feet of it haha
ok so a few things i changed from the original kit.. the hardware that comes with it to mount the tank and compressor are decent but i don't know how strong they are or what grade so i went to tractor supply and got grade 8 hardware the same size as the bolts that came with it i also got metal self locking nuts to make sure they don't come lose. i don't trust the self locking nuts with the plastic or nylon locker in it that stuff can strip out easily i prefer the all metal locking nuts. that black bolts are the ones that come with it.
the rubber bushings didn't come already on the tank but they came on the compressor it didn't make sense to me but oh well lol so i cut a slit in them to make them easier to install. and they some with spacers so when you tighten the bolts you don't smash the bushings
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q640/patsraptor/223_zps944eb59d.jpg
the kit has diagrams that show you where to put all the fittings the only change i made was to the bleed valve and the pressure safety valve. i swapped them cause i was gonna be hanging the tank upside down i wanted to bleeder valve to be on the bottom (top hanging upside down) so when i bleed the air out after using it any condensation inside will also drain out
now these are brass fittings and well if you try to muscle it too much you break shit lol i snapped the safety valve and had to go to tractor supply and get a new one. i bought two just in case.. come to find out the one they send with the kit isn't and strong as the one i got.
i used vice grips to get it out! and make sure you use a thread sealant on all the fittings so you don't get any air leaks when the tank is full.
while i was at tractor supply getting a new pressure safety valve i picked up two 1/4 inch by 48inches long steel plate about 2 inches wide to mount the tank
i measured the length needed to reach across the frame and have a little on each end stick out about 1/8 inch.. so i measured them at 38" and cut them
next i cut out the spare tire holder since my spare is strapped to the bed with my 3-way tire strap.
now this next part is where we separate the men from the boys lol jk i take the two pieces of steel that i cut earlier and placed them on top of the frame. the first piece i put up against the brace that goes across the bottom of the bed like so
i then welded the steel bar to the frame and held the tank up to it to mark the holes that will go on that bar (two holes) this is where two people would come in handy haha the tanks not heavy but after holding it for a minute it gets a little heavy.
next measure the distance between the two holes in the sides and place the center of the other bar the correct distance and weld that one in place. after that's all welded in and sturdy. mount the tank to the steel bars after drilling the holes. these bars aren't going anywhere i laid on my back and pushed the truck up with my legs as high as i could get it to go and the welds help. decent for a little flux core welder (first time using it wanted to try it out and see if it worked as advertised lol) when drilling the holes for the tank while you're holding the tank up to mark the holes make sure you center it the best you can so it doesn't hit anything (its sturdy enough it shouldn't hit anything)
next is mounting the compressor this took me a while to figure out where to put it since the tank (2.5 gal) took up all the room where the spare went i had to find a new location that was still close enough so the supply line for the tank from the compressor would still reach so this is where i decided to mount it.
now i didn't see a point in getting two more large pieces of steel to run across the frame like i did for the tank so what i did was just mount it to the bottom of the bed itself. and the length of the compressor matches with the groves of the bed perfectly so since my spare sites where some of the bolts will be i placed them in the indented parts of the bed.
after holding the compressor up where i wanted it i marked one of the holes and drilled it out from under the truck i then jumped up into the bed to mark and drill the rest of the hole (work smarter not harder)
once the holes are drilled next comes the part where you WILL NEED TWO PEOPLE!!!! unless you're stretch armstrong lol you have one person turn the bolts while you hold up the compressor and start the washer and nut.. now its a very tight fit doing it this way so you gotta barely stick the bolt through the bottom plate of the compressor and get the but started onto the bolt (its meant to go the other way) then tighten them all down and you're done with that!
now comes the wiring and the pluming!!
i ran all of the wires through the frame. as well as the air line that goes from the tank to the gauge that tells you how much psi is in the tank.
all the wires on the grey box mounted on the tank are marked and make everything really easy! also the diagram in the manual shows you where everything goes. the kit didn't come with wire to run from the on/off switch to the grey relay box mounted on the tank. for this i went to home depot and got a 25ft spool of 12G wire and i'm glad i got the 25ft and not the 15ft like i was gonna do cause i used every single foot of it.
now the air plumbing.. this was fun to try and run through the frame so i did that same thing as i did for the wires i ran a long string of 550 cord through the frame and attached it to the air line with the fitting on the end so it didn't slid off as i was pulling it through
now that the air line is ran time to mount the gauge and switch. it originally comes on a nice bracket you could mount up but i couldn't find a suitable place to mount it so after thinking for about 15 minutes i finally realized i can take the switch and gauge off and mount it anywhere! so i decided to mount it up bellow the headlight switch just about the emergency brake release! i traced out a rough sketch and used my dremel to cut it out but left a little still there so i could smooth it out and cut the rest out with a knife so i can get it to fit nice an snug!
now that the holes are cut for the gauge and switch time to run the air line up to the gauge. for this i realized i would have to drill through the firewall so i checked both sides (under hood and under dash) to make sure it was clear to do so. i went about 2 inches to the right of the hood release cable that runs through. since the tubing is 1/4" i used a 1/4" drill bit and just worked it around to make it a tiny bit larger so it would be a snug fit. i took a file and ran it across the edges so they weren't sharp our rough! i took the tube that i ran up through the frame and fed it through the hole in the firewall and into the back of the gauge
after that was ran and connected to the back of the gauge i put the gauge in and secured it with the bracket that was used to secure it to the metal bracket it was originally on!
finally it was time to figure out where i was gonna run the filter for the compressor. there are two ways you can mount the filter either to the compressor itself or on a remote line so its out of the way i chose to mount it on the remote line to try and get it up out of the way from any water or dirt that might clog it (i know under the truck isn't the best place) so i ran the hose above the tank to the back of the rear frame and stuck the hose through a hole in the frame and then put the filter on the coupling and it holds the line in place. it sits on top of the frame so hopefully it'll keep the dirt out of it a little better. i'm not gonna be running the pump while driving or going off road so i don't really need to worry about the filter getting dirty or wet i just have to make sure that when i do use it to check the filter and make sure it still looks clean and free of dirt!
for the coupling to hook up to the tank to fill your tires or use your train horns just figure out where you want the access port to be and measure how much tubing you'll need. you will have plenty of tubing left after running the tube through the frame from the tank to the gauge. so i cut a piece off and ran it from the tank to the hook up. i'll be drilling a hole into the rear bumper but i need to get different port that i can bolt into the hole. i'll update with pics when i get that part done but it'll look kinda like this just a lot better.
well that's it folk nice simple an easy haha i did all the hard work for you!!! any questions please ask!
I received the box and of course opened it up and took everything out. i was amazed on how awesome this kit was. i knew it was good but my hopes really weren't that high but man this thing is a beast of a kit highly recommend it!!!! from FREEDOM MOTORSPORTS of course
this kit comes with EVERYTHING you need to install it minus the extra wire to run from the tank solenoid to the on/off switch and i used a 25ft roll i got from home depot of 12g wire and the way i ran it i used all 25 feet of it haha
ok so a few things i changed from the original kit.. the hardware that comes with it to mount the tank and compressor are decent but i don't know how strong they are or what grade so i went to tractor supply and got grade 8 hardware the same size as the bolts that came with it i also got metal self locking nuts to make sure they don't come lose. i don't trust the self locking nuts with the plastic or nylon locker in it that stuff can strip out easily i prefer the all metal locking nuts. that black bolts are the ones that come with it.
the rubber bushings didn't come already on the tank but they came on the compressor it didn't make sense to me but oh well lol so i cut a slit in them to make them easier to install. and they some with spacers so when you tighten the bolts you don't smash the bushings
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q640/patsraptor/223_zps944eb59d.jpg
the kit has diagrams that show you where to put all the fittings the only change i made was to the bleed valve and the pressure safety valve. i swapped them cause i was gonna be hanging the tank upside down i wanted to bleeder valve to be on the bottom (top hanging upside down) so when i bleed the air out after using it any condensation inside will also drain out
now these are brass fittings and well if you try to muscle it too much you break shit lol i snapped the safety valve and had to go to tractor supply and get a new one. i bought two just in case.. come to find out the one they send with the kit isn't and strong as the one i got.
i used vice grips to get it out! and make sure you use a thread sealant on all the fittings so you don't get any air leaks when the tank is full.
while i was at tractor supply getting a new pressure safety valve i picked up two 1/4 inch by 48inches long steel plate about 2 inches wide to mount the tank
i measured the length needed to reach across the frame and have a little on each end stick out about 1/8 inch.. so i measured them at 38" and cut them
next i cut out the spare tire holder since my spare is strapped to the bed with my 3-way tire strap.
now this next part is where we separate the men from the boys lol jk i take the two pieces of steel that i cut earlier and placed them on top of the frame. the first piece i put up against the brace that goes across the bottom of the bed like so
i then welded the steel bar to the frame and held the tank up to it to mark the holes that will go on that bar (two holes) this is where two people would come in handy haha the tanks not heavy but after holding it for a minute it gets a little heavy.
next measure the distance between the two holes in the sides and place the center of the other bar the correct distance and weld that one in place. after that's all welded in and sturdy. mount the tank to the steel bars after drilling the holes. these bars aren't going anywhere i laid on my back and pushed the truck up with my legs as high as i could get it to go and the welds help. decent for a little flux core welder (first time using it wanted to try it out and see if it worked as advertised lol) when drilling the holes for the tank while you're holding the tank up to mark the holes make sure you center it the best you can so it doesn't hit anything (its sturdy enough it shouldn't hit anything)
next is mounting the compressor this took me a while to figure out where to put it since the tank (2.5 gal) took up all the room where the spare went i had to find a new location that was still close enough so the supply line for the tank from the compressor would still reach so this is where i decided to mount it.
now i didn't see a point in getting two more large pieces of steel to run across the frame like i did for the tank so what i did was just mount it to the bottom of the bed itself. and the length of the compressor matches with the groves of the bed perfectly so since my spare sites where some of the bolts will be i placed them in the indented parts of the bed.
after holding the compressor up where i wanted it i marked one of the holes and drilled it out from under the truck i then jumped up into the bed to mark and drill the rest of the hole (work smarter not harder)
once the holes are drilled next comes the part where you WILL NEED TWO PEOPLE!!!! unless you're stretch armstrong lol you have one person turn the bolts while you hold up the compressor and start the washer and nut.. now its a very tight fit doing it this way so you gotta barely stick the bolt through the bottom plate of the compressor and get the but started onto the bolt (its meant to go the other way) then tighten them all down and you're done with that!
now comes the wiring and the pluming!!
i ran all of the wires through the frame. as well as the air line that goes from the tank to the gauge that tells you how much psi is in the tank.
all the wires on the grey box mounted on the tank are marked and make everything really easy! also the diagram in the manual shows you where everything goes. the kit didn't come with wire to run from the on/off switch to the grey relay box mounted on the tank. for this i went to home depot and got a 25ft spool of 12G wire and i'm glad i got the 25ft and not the 15ft like i was gonna do cause i used every single foot of it.
now the air plumbing.. this was fun to try and run through the frame so i did that same thing as i did for the wires i ran a long string of 550 cord through the frame and attached it to the air line with the fitting on the end so it didn't slid off as i was pulling it through
now that the air line is ran time to mount the gauge and switch. it originally comes on a nice bracket you could mount up but i couldn't find a suitable place to mount it so after thinking for about 15 minutes i finally realized i can take the switch and gauge off and mount it anywhere! so i decided to mount it up bellow the headlight switch just about the emergency brake release! i traced out a rough sketch and used my dremel to cut it out but left a little still there so i could smooth it out and cut the rest out with a knife so i can get it to fit nice an snug!
now that the holes are cut for the gauge and switch time to run the air line up to the gauge. for this i realized i would have to drill through the firewall so i checked both sides (under hood and under dash) to make sure it was clear to do so. i went about 2 inches to the right of the hood release cable that runs through. since the tubing is 1/4" i used a 1/4" drill bit and just worked it around to make it a tiny bit larger so it would be a snug fit. i took a file and ran it across the edges so they weren't sharp our rough! i took the tube that i ran up through the frame and fed it through the hole in the firewall and into the back of the gauge
after that was ran and connected to the back of the gauge i put the gauge in and secured it with the bracket that was used to secure it to the metal bracket it was originally on!
finally it was time to figure out where i was gonna run the filter for the compressor. there are two ways you can mount the filter either to the compressor itself or on a remote line so its out of the way i chose to mount it on the remote line to try and get it up out of the way from any water or dirt that might clog it (i know under the truck isn't the best place) so i ran the hose above the tank to the back of the rear frame and stuck the hose through a hole in the frame and then put the filter on the coupling and it holds the line in place. it sits on top of the frame so hopefully it'll keep the dirt out of it a little better. i'm not gonna be running the pump while driving or going off road so i don't really need to worry about the filter getting dirty or wet i just have to make sure that when i do use it to check the filter and make sure it still looks clean and free of dirt!
for the coupling to hook up to the tank to fill your tires or use your train horns just figure out where you want the access port to be and measure how much tubing you'll need. you will have plenty of tubing left after running the tube through the frame from the tank to the gauge. so i cut a piece off and ran it from the tank to the hook up. i'll be drilling a hole into the rear bumper but i need to get different port that i can bolt into the hole. i'll update with pics when i get that part done but it'll look kinda like this just a lot better.
well that's it folk nice simple an easy haha i did all the hard work for you!!! any questions please ask!
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