Air tank installation (for air horn)

[Dave Burden]

It was a productive weekend outside even thought the temps were in the high 40's and low 50's both days. I was able to mount an air tank under the chassis to supply air for the roof mounted air horn.  I placed it on the driver's side just behind the battery compartment so it sits underneath the dining area.  I had to remove one storage compartment to make room for the tank.

It's held in place with two metal straps (gas tank straps from a VW Jetta) so I had to drill 4 holes through the floor.  Two were under the rear dining bench and two ended up between the seats under the table.  I used carriage bolts for these two and painted them light brown to blend in with the flooring.

I placed it so the fill port and gauge are visible through the access door to the compartment I removed, although it's easy to get to it from underneath as well.  The final step is to route the air line back to the tank. 

Here are some pictures:









Dave

[sdkid]

How's this coming along Dave? How big is the tank? Looking to set an air horn up on mine.

[Dave Burden]

The tank, hose and horn are all in and they work fine.  I have to manually fill the tank since I haven't installed a compressor on the Chieftain yet.  I'm thinking of putting in a small 12v one to keep the tank topped up.  Right now we just carry a rechargeable one to fill it up while we are away from home. 

The hose runs from the tank forward, around the battery compartment to the front left wheel well.  It then goes straight up through the floor behind the driver's seat and up to the horn valve on the ceiling.  I ran a cord from the valve to a screw on the wall so there is a loop I can easily grab and pull to blast the horn, just like in the big rigs!

The tank came off an older Ford 18 wheeler cab and is about 3' long and 15" in diameter.  There are two compartments in it with a one-way valve between them.  I fill it from the rear compartment and the outlet hose is connected to the front.

Dave