Fisherguy

I put a Pac Brake PRXB which comes with a small tank and compressor on my truck a couple years ago and when I got my Pac Brake air bags I wanted to find a way to use the tank and compressor on my truck to inflate my airbags when loaded.

I didn’t really want the big ugly analog gauge and switches hanging down under my dash and for sure didn’t want to run 2 air lines and more wiring into the cab. I went to the Air Lift website and at the time they had an airbag controller where you ran a cat-5 cable from the solenoid to inside the cab (which has since been discontinued) so I emailed them asking about using it with my existing compressor. They replied saying the were coming out with a new wireless system that would suit my needs a little better.

The Air Lift Wireless Air system comes with its own compressor, if you call them though (1800 248-0892) they’ll give you the part number of a solenoid that you can get with your kit instead of the compressor, take that part number to your Air Lift -dealer and they’ll set you up.

Here's a link:
http://www.airliftcompany.com/WirelessAIR.html


When it got here I found the Air Lift WirelssAir comes with good instructions, 13 pages well laid out with templates for mounting the manifold and compressor, good wiring and air line schematics.

Here’s how the install went….


Unfortunately the solenoid does not come with any kind of mounting bracket so I found something I could use to mount it to the fire wall lip, you simply substitute the solenoid for the compressor as far as wiring it in:




I T’d off the existing air line that goes between the compressor and the Pac Brake solenoid, I added the green T fitting as you can see here:





From there I ran a single air line to the manifold which I mounted to the back of the support for the box as shown here along with the relay. I chose to mount the manifold back there for 2 reasons, I’m running out of room under the hood and this way I only need to run 1 air line to the rear of the truck instead of 2:




Then all that was left was to T into the airline going to each air bag:






Here’s a picture of the wireless controller, it comes with a clip for hanging it on the sun visor but I removed it and keep in the cubby hole of my dash beside my Bully Dog but it really you could put it in the console, map pocket or whatever, the best thing is NO WIRES OR AIRLINES need to be run into the cab.




I’ve had it in a few months now and I think it’s a pretty sweet set up. It has 2 presets you can set, (ie. 1 for running empty, the other for when you’re loaded) as well you can adjust the pressure anytime whenever you want. You can hook up your trailer, load up your camper or whatever, then stand outside with the wireless controller and adjust until it’s level, no guessing involved.

It’s got a couple other features that’s pretty cool too, when I first did the install one of my T fittings at the air bags was not in all the way and had a slow leak, the display showed a LEAK on it and pointed to the side that had the problem, I checked the T and found one of the lines was not fully seated and just needed to be pushed in a little farther.

It will also let air out of the bags if the pressure increases due to expansion from heat or load or whatever. I was going to get some gravel I new was going to be heavy and pumped up the bags to the 100 pound max. I had the gravel loaded and when I turned the key on I heard the sound of air leaking, I checked the controller and saw it was letting air out of the bags, the 3000 pounds of gravel was compressing the bags so the pressure went up and the controller released air until it was back to the 100 pounds the controller was set to.


If you have air bags and are looking into controllers, you should definitely consider the WirelessAir system, if you already have the compressor call Air Lift for the solenoid option, I think wireless is the way to go.

Jaxom

That looks very nice. Nice to know.
Thanks.

Guess I'll ask, someone will anyway...How much for the solenoid & wireless system alone. Assuming you already have the air bags.
Thanks.

LeonT

I had an automatic air bag system installed on my new 1/2 ton Ferd. The compressor is noisy (they mounted it right under the driver side floorboard), with a trailer it airs up to 100 psi and then deflates itself after reaching 100 psi and not reaching its goal height, only to start the cycle all over again. I finally just pulled the fuse in disgust. It's only rated at 1,000 pounds, and apparently a 16' enclosed trailer and three quads is too much to handle.

And to think I paid someone to install it and screw it up when I could have done it myself.

As soon as I hit the road I wished I had just hooked the trailer up to my Dodge and never looked back. Ford's new 1/2 ton 5.4 setup pulls like crap, and gets 10 mpg to boot while doing it. After 500 miles of that I was ready to pull my hair out.

Fisherguy

I think the kit with compressor sells for 380 US, there's a link at the Air lift website to locate dealers and on line retailers.

n2moto

Did I read it correctly that both bags fill from one line, or can you fill them up to different pressure?

Thanks for the link and the pics good write up too.

Fisherguy

No, 1 air line from the solenoid to the manifold, from the manifold there's 1 line to each airbag. You can see the L and R on the manifold in the 3rd picture, the one on the side goes to the solenoid (or compressor).

chris.willis.68

I am contemplating using this on my Kelderman lift install. Just want to make sure that I can have a manifold for the front and another for the rear. Each manifold has independant plumbing...

ie Each bag is plumbed seperately and therefore there would be less roll in corners (air escaping from outside bag and flowing to inside bag).

Thanks for the input and writeup.

Fisherguy

Hmmm, you'd be better off asking the tech guys at Airlift that question.
With both air lines coming out of 1 manifold I don't think there's any way for air to travel from 1 bag into the other since the manifold monitors them seperately they're not actually T'd together, but I'm no expert.
I'll try to see what I can find out though.

RiverRat2

Thats cool but without seeing the airline schematics,,,,what has me hosed up is seeing the manifold with the L & R individual air lines to each bag,,,, why do you need to have a T in the line to each bag???? Equalizer??????

LOLOL

Fisherguy

Oh, I get it now.
I had airlines going to the back bumper before so I couls fill them manually which I can still do if I ever loose the compressor.

Fisherguy

Just got confirmation from AirLift, I was right, air will not transfer from left to right and this does help with roll stability.

chris.willis.68

Super. Thanks for the help. Where did you order yours from?

AH64ID

It's been a year, what are your longer term impressions?

Do you have the part number for the kit without the compressor? I can't find it on the website.

Fisherguy

No change, never let me down, one of my best mods, so handy and with our bigger trailer with 1000 pound tongue weight leveling things is not a problem.
Try calling the 1-800 number in my first post, I've emailed them for a part number and will post it when I hear back.

AH64ID

Thank you.