On an earlier thread Brutal showed how he had put together a homemade pressure tester for the front and rear suspension air bags. I have a bunch of stuff from my days in the motorcycle business as well as a couple of different size compressors and air tanks and that got me to thinking about how someone could put together their own tester with minimal expense.

I actually came up with three basic alternatives that are variations on a theme. Here are a couple of pictures, a parts list, and a cost for one of the complete units if you duplicated it.

The three pictures show a complete unit from different angles so you can blow them up and get a solid idea as to what you'll need while the last picture is of a tire pressure fill and pressure gauge I used for motorcycle tire mounting and inflating. It has the advantage of having a pressure gauge that will 'hold' the maximum read and comes with an interchangeable air connection at both ends to suit your compressor, air tank, and choice of air shock inlet connector. Self contained and really not very expensive on-line.

The homemade unit consists of 7 pieces, but could be made with one or two fewer if your local parts store has a very large selection of the various adapters, reducers, and extensions. For that one I used the following parts with my cost next to each part number.

1) Autocraft air regulator...Part # AC597 125+psi..................$9.99
2) Campbell Hausfield tank valve...Part # MP3229..................$3.99
3) Advance Auto 1/4" NPT coupler...Part # 321034.1.............$1.99 (2)
4) Advance Auto 1/4 X 1/8 NPT adaptor... Part # 321204.1.....$1.99
5) Advance Auto 1/4 NPT short nipple...Part # 321124.1.........$1.99 (2)

Total...less then $25.00 !

The air regulator has a one way air flow with a shut=off valve that can be adjusted to regulate air flow and could read a pressure drop if left attached. The tank valve is essentially a Schrader valve so you could disconnect the air supply and let it sit for as long as it took to show any pressure drop (like overnight) but be careful about shutting the hood (bonnet).


Almost forgot. option #3 is to just use the tank valve by itself as it will screw into the air inlet at the top of the shock and you can just hook your compressor or air tank directly to it. Doesn't have any pressure checking ability and the only regulation of inflowing air is your trigger finger on the compressor or tank trigger but if your careful it will work and for $4.00 it's a steal<G>