Revising an old(ish) thread rather than starting a new one.

I just ordered the ARB CKMA12 and the 2.5 gallon Viair tank. After looking at lots of different mounting options, I plan to mount mine exactly where @Squirrel13 mounted his. I picked up a brass T and 90* 1/4" NPT adapters, along with a 21" braided leader hose to connect them together. But I have a few questions...

I won't have air lockers, and at this time no airbags, however, in some time I'll more than likely add airbags... depending on how much squat I have with my camper... but even so, it'll be a long while... I gotta stop spending money for a while... lol. But, I am going to go ahead and try to pick out an air horn (so any suggestions about that would be great!), So, with my set up I will only be running the airhorn, and will run a hose to the back and install a QD near the license plate which will be intended for airing up tires on the truck and the camper.

So, first question, any suggestions for the actual hose to run from the tank to the license plate? I see lots of cut to size hose on Amazon, but the reviews are all over the place. Same on the connectors... I would like to just buy a section of hose that way I can cut it and run what will likely be a pretty short run to the QD at the back, and then another run to the air horn... which I still have to decide where I want to mount it... So, anyone got recommendations on a particular hose and connectors that they have used and have had good results with?

Also, when I installed the LED lights at the back of my truck (on outfitter #3) I also ran a length of 10 gauge wire which I connected to upfitter #5. I figured I would use that to connect the compressor to... I see that the wiring harness that comes with the ARB compressor has wires that go to the battery, which I imagine I will have to extend, and I assume I will need to use 8 gauge wire for that to run straight to the battery? But, at this point, which wires do I connect to the upfitter wires? I assume that I will use the wires coming off the relay, but it looks like there are 3 wires? I figure one is a ground and one is a hot (which I would connect to the wire I already ran from #5?) but is there another wire with this bundle, and if so, what does it go to? I have been trying to watch videos but I can't get a good idea of what's going on with that section, and most folks seem to be using the included switch, which I don't want to use since I would rather hook it to my upfitter #5. Also, being that this is only controlling the relay, I would assume that the 10 gauge wire I have already ran would be plenty big enough for this?

 

1/4 nylon tubing is what I will be running for all air needs on mine, air bags, air horn and air source for tires.

As to your wiring question, your air compressor must be a lot different than mine, on mine I will be wiring the hot side of the compressor to the hot wire from the upfitter switch and just ground the compressor to the frame.

 

Check out Parker Push-to-connect or prestolok fittings and nylon tubing. I haven’t used this for the purpose you’re needing but I will if I ever install an air system on my ride. I work offshore on a drilling rig and we use this for the majority of our pneumatic equipment. It’s easy to work with and it’s durable.

https://ph.parker.com/us/17054/en/pn...c-fittings-fsc

https://ph.parker.com/us/en/flexible...ubing-n-series

 

I just wired up the same compressor. Once you get the owners manual, you'll see that one of the included harnesses will have the wire to attach to an upfitter. It's like 18 gauge or something...red with yellow tracer. The 8 and 10 gauge wires go directly to the battery. I mounted the compressor, it's switch, tank, and air bag control switch in my bed tool box. I turn on the upfitter, and then turn on the compressor switch in the tool box to operate the compressor. Since you aren't using air locker solenoids and their switches, you follow the wiring diagram for the "isolation switch." At least that's how mine worked. That last part isn't exactly explained in the manual and I figured it out by trial and error. As for air line and fittings, the other guy posted a link to some nice fittings and lines....I found similar things from McMaster.

 

@Squirrel13

I'm curious where you had to drill, vs where you used existing holes, for mounting the tank and the pump. I don't have my truck yet so I can't just go out and look...

 

BigUnixGeek - I drilled 5 holes for the OBA. Two in the crossmember to mount the tank, two in spare tire plate to mount the compressor and 1 in the rear bumper for the air chuck. All holes were cleaned, primed and painted flat black to prevent corrosion.

 

ChadstickPoindexter - the ARB harness is complicated with the isolation switch and leads for front and rear locker switches. The simplest thing to do is use the 40A upfitter switch to feed 12V to the ARB battery lead and the relay trigger. The harness and relay have to remain to interrupt power because the pressure switch can't handle the current of the compressor thru it. I took the time and untaped the harness to remove all of the unused leads, waste of time. I would just snip off the connectors on unused leads tape them individually then bundle them. Much quicker.

 

The "brain" (relay) on the tank is what triggers the compressor to kick on and off. The 3 wires are switch, ignition and ground. You can ignore the ignition, and just run the switch to one of your upfitters, with small wire. It's just a 12v on/off not an amperage draw. The draw is the wire coming from the compressor that goes to the battery.

That is how I ran mine, then I ran the 1/4 intake hose between the bed and cab, and inside the existing air vent, to always draw "clean" air.

Also, I ran a 2' hose out the drain hole on the bottom and canted the air tank so all moisture would flow toward the drain hole. This 2' hose will collect any moisture, instead of it sitting inside the tank. (obviously 2' is way overkill, but it was the length I needed to run the drain to the side of my running boards).

I bought a water separator for the output of the tank, but have not gotten around to installing it yet. Pain in the *** with the tight fit. I'll most likely run some hose out first then put it in line.

 

Really nice install Squirel13. I just installed a dual viar system with a 8 gallon tank on my 2018n F350, along with airbags and a set of Hornblaster nightmare series horns.

 

I may understand this all a little better once everything is in hand... but if I am reading this right, are you saying that you combined the battery lead and the red wire after the relay together, and then hooked them both to the (same) 40A up fitter switch? If so, this is where I am worried that the 10 gauge wire I already ran won't be adequate for the up to 34 (or 32) amp draw? So, I was going to extend the battery lead all the way to one of my batteries and just wire the negative to a ground somewhere under the vehicle... Then I would attach the red and black wire after the relay to the 10 gauge wire I already ran to the up fitter and the battery negative...

So you're saying I don't have to worry about the third wire coming out of the relay? Just tape it off and leave it be, and only connect the red and black wires to my up fitter...?

I hate that I ran the 10 gauge wire to number 5 already... it seems that it is too big to waste on just the relay, but too small to use to run the compressor off of...

I guess my choices are:

1. I could leave the wire I already ran from #5 there in case I need it for something else and just run an 8 gauge wire off the #6, then I could hook everything from the compressor to it since the wire and fuse size would be adequate.

Or..

2. I could run the battery lead from the compressor to the battery, and then also run another smaller wire from up fitter #4 and connect it to the relay. This would save me #5 and #6 for anything else I might need more power for, but I wouldn't be able to run the compressor unless the key was turned... which may be a good thing too...?

Right now I am saving #1 for my air horn, have my high idle on #2, rear LED lights on #3 then nothing on #4, #5 or #6...

 

Correct. That is what I've done with mine.

10awg is ~30amp. Check your wattage draw, 12v*30a = 360watt. Not sure how much your compressor draws and how long of a wire you're running. I would run the compressor to the battery and not to the upfitter. It will never turn on until the relay on the tank calls it.

I would do #2. Upfitters themselves don't work without the key anyway.

 

For those of you that went with the VIAIR Tank and ARB Compressor is there a reason you chose the ARB vs the VIAIR compressor that usually comes with these tanks? I have both and I'm torn on which to use.

 

RubenZ - I've had both brands over the years. My Jeep on 37s had a Viair but I was able to hit thermal shutdown. I'm sure it wasn't a constant duty model. I switched the Jeep to the ARB twin and never had a problem filling 4 37x13.50x17 from 6psi to 30. The Excursion had Horn Blasters Shocker XL and Airlift bags running of the ARB single and a 2.5g tank no issues. The F350 has the ARB single. 2.5g tank and Airlift bags.

I prefer the compact size of the ARB units. Their housing can be rotated to facilitate different mounting positions.

 

This is incorrect, 5 and 6 can be configured for contant power by moving the 5 amp fuse.

 

Fair enough, forgot about that.

May go without saying, but I'd be extra careful with what I put on the battery that's hot full time.