Changing to an AD-9 air dryer

i recently swapped mine over to a ad-9 from some off the wall haladex unit. the small line is the the small line is the unloader that comes off your governor that makes it spit when the compressor kicks out. i believe the inlet was on the side and outlet on the bottom. the inlet was marked on the dryer.

it was really a very simple swap, i bought the ad-9 mounting bracket kit witch required only a slight amount of work to mount the brackets on the truck dryer bolted right to the mount kit. and then the threaded port for the unloader line was a slightly different size so i had to swap out that fitting.

 

I haven't put an AD9 on recently, used to come with mounting bracket and wiring plug kit if you bought a new assembly instead of reman. You'll have to pay core charge more than likely on reman if you don't have a core match.

 

http://www.beamalarm.com/Documents/air_dryer_ad-9_service_data.html

Here is some information on it. Since you are changing to an AD-9, I also recommend to buy the mounting kit. It will make life a lot easier to install.

 

Why an AD9? I'm not saying that it's a bad dryer, but ADSP or Wabco SS1200 are much easier to service.

 

i got a ad-9 with the heater plug and mounting brackets for 165 shipped on e-bay

the dryer will still spit without the heater but you will want that heater hooked up before any sub freezing temps or it will freeze up and not work.

i chose the ad-9 because its what I'm familiar with and parts are readily available everywhere if you need to service it.

 

From a serviceability side of servicing any air dryer nothing is better that replacing the whole unit with a complete reman. This is just my opinion, but replacing just the filter, even just the spin on type, is only servicing part of the unit. Only a complete rebuild guarantees a refreshed unit. For me at the shop, it makes no sense to rebuild one. You have to remove it to rebuild it, so you might as well just replace the whole thing. By the time you buy all your parts, plus your time, in most cases it is actually cheaper to install a reman unit. AD-9 are relatively cheap and you can get them anywhere! It is faster and easier to just replace one complete with a rebuilt exchange unit and be done with it, warranty included! If you walk into a parts store, everyone has an AD-9. The other models and makes start to get iffy. Nothing wrong with the other brands, but just less headaches if you go with the most common and most reliable dryer out there!

 

We use mostly ADSP's, very popular as well. Actually, around here they are more popular than the AD9's. A service is a cartride, purge valve, test the heater and a good cleaning. They do not have to come off the truck, it takes about 1/2 hour. There's not a whole lot more to them really, other than the cartrige and purge valve, there is a delivery check, turbo cut-off valve and heater.

If there is any corrosion problems, we'll swap the whole unit, but tyically with an annual service, they last ~ a million miles in these northeast winters. If they are not seviced annually, then the valves and heater can stick and you break them trying to get them out, then it's time for a new unit because you can't clean it good or check for any other problems.

We pay about $15 for a cartridge on sale in the fall (regular $20) and about $50 for a purge valve kit from Pete or KW dealers.

 

We see too many varieties. Customers rarely come in yearly. Most wait until something is wrong with them. Most of the time they have been neglected for far too long. It would be nice if you could send some of your trucks my way. We don't see too many that can have a complete air dryer rebuild in as little as 1/2 hr with a full cleaning in chassis.