Portable Compressor recommendations

L

Longbeard87

Advanced Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Messages
82
Any recommendations for a small, portable compressor for filling ride rites, etc... I have seen lots of low cost imported models - would prefer something that will be reliable and last..... thanks
 
Longbeard87
I'll throw in my 2 cents worth. Right now I'm using an older ARB compressor, it works but is slow, have aired up low car tires, from around 28 to 38 took a long time. I would suggest one that has 100% duty cycle, designed for large tires. Look at the viair website, look up the 450p model ad view the fill rates chart. Saving up to buy one might be a little pricy, but I feel confident it will do the job, and not take for ever to do so.
Russ



Edit for m/n
 
It takes so little air to fill Ride Rites that I was reluctant to use my compressor. I just use a six inche bike pump.
 
Edgewood said:
It takes so little air to fill Ride Rites that I was reluctant to use my compressor. I just use a six inche bike pump.
Click to expand...
Thanks Edgewood. I just discovered that!! The ride rites were just installed this week. I was toying around with pressures this afternoon (after posting) and was shocked how easy they were to fill with a bicycle pump. Pretty cool.
 
Best bang for the buck out there is the MV50 compressor. It's imported and not perfect. But it's a lot of compressor for about the same price as a parts store buzz box.

Lot's of threads on the web about these. The couple of semi common glitchs are easy fixes. I had to upgrade the in the cord fuse holder in mine. Mine has served me well for several years now.



 
^^^Those. We carry one of these as either the primary or the back-up compressor in every 4wd vehicle.
 
Really depends on what you are inflating. If tires after an air down, consider tire size and target psi and how long you want to sit roadside.

I opted for an ExtremeAir with a continuous duty cycle. But, I'm inflating 4x 295/65R20 from 28 to 80 psi. Total roadside time inflating ~ 6 minutes per tire.

Basically, continuous duty cycle and higher CFM will equate to higher priced compressors.

Also, these compressors generate A LOT OF HEAT so you need a safe place to store if you want to hit the road immediately after inflating tires or let it cool down before stowing. If you opt to mount it under the hood (heat build up now not an issue), you can run lines to each side of mid-frame and affix couplers so all you have to do is carry about 10' of coiled poly air hose.
 
I don't air down my tires. I normally have an ATV to take on the real rough stuff. If I need to add air to my Ride Rites I use this cheep compressor. I have pumped up tires to 80 PSI with this compressor. You have to let the pump and hose cool down often or the hose will blow out. Pumping up a tire to 35 PSI is not a big deal and like you have found out adding air to the suspension is not any big deal at all.

https://www.amazon.com/Slime-40031-Power-Heavy-Inflator/dp/B00BSG2YE0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1483316304&sr=8-4&keywords=Slime+compressor
 
idahoron said:
I don't air down my tires.
Click to expand...
If you never leave tarmac, I guess you don't need to air down.

But, airing down for driving along groomed FS gravel roads will demonstrate remarkable benefits for ride comfort and reducing wear-n-tear on darn near every truck and camper component.

Even airing down 5-10 psi on a Tacoma Load E tire (with it's stiff sidewalls) can make a huge difference in making for a more compliant ride along the most benign gravel road. Give it a try you might be surprised.

Anytime I'm heading onto a groomed gravel road for an extended time, I air down from 80 to 40 psi. If the road gets rough or washboard, I go down to 30 psi and have even gone as low as 26 psi on an exceptionally rough washboard FS road that lasted about 7 miles.

If you air down, you gotta slow down. And you have to approach obstacles even slower. And most importantly, air up when you reach tarmac, not later! Low psi tires will overheat in very short order and lead to possible tire failure when operating at normal highway speeds.

I don't have beadlock wheels, so I'm hesitant to go below 30 psi given my normal tarmac tire inflation is 80psi.

Here is a very good article.
 
Whether I air down or not really depends on how long I'll be offroad. I'm kind of lazy. If I'll be back on pavement in a hour I probably won't bother. In the truck I'm hesitant to go below 40psi largely because I just don't know how low is safe unlike the Jeep. Also if I guess wrong in the Jeep its a lot easier to change a tire or reseat a bead on it.

I tried to purchase a CO2 setup but got such a run around I gave up. I still want to do it but I think I'll just go over to my welding supply store and build my own. In the meantime I use an MV50 for the truck and the QuickairII in the Jeep.

Of course terrain has a lot to do with airing down also. Certain obstacles all but demand airing down.
 
^^ Ok, doesn't take much to convince me on the merits of quality vs quantity . some budget constraints aside for now. If I remember, you are piloting an F350, pretty new. This is with Fords taller box such as my F150 correct ? is there enough room to store a small compressor in one of the tie down locations ? I will be installing an ATC Ocelot on a 6.5 bed. Jeff tells me I will get 4 more inches of headroom to accommodate this .. I have seen a thread somewhere here about storage in theses four locations, just cant find it now that I need it. I wouldn't feel good about doing this if I couldn't lock it down tight or protect both components. So many of my questions I would go look if the thing were here , but until then... thanks
 
I bought a MV50 last year and was planning to do all of the upgrades/rebuild stuff that I have read about. When I took the unit apart, it appeared that most of these issues had already been addressed by the manufacturer. I put it back together and have been using it as is with no problems. Mine doesn't even get very hot, at least not sizzle hot, in use airing up 31/10.5/15 or 750/16 tires. Pretty quiet as well. I bought another one for a friend.

cwd
 
craig333 said:
Whether I air down or not really depends on how long I'll be offroad. I'm kind of lazy. If I'll be back on pavement in a hour I probably won't bother. In the truck I'm hesitant to go below 40psi largely because I just don't know how low is safe unlike the Jeep. Also if I guess wrong in the Jeep its a lot easier to change a tire or reseat a bead on it.
Click to expand...
Hi Craig...

I use to be lazy as well until I bought a continuous duty cycle compressor capable of pumping my tires back up to 80psi in short order. Then, I just got in the habit of just airing down. Sure makes the ride a whole lot more comfortable and much fewer comments from the cheering section (wife and dogs)!

I was airing down a F-250 OME lifted with 295/60R16 Toyo ATIIs and now a F-350. I might bite the bullet and purchase beadlock wheels for the F-350 when I lift it; Low psi (lower than 30) would have made a world of difference on the ~2.5 mile road up to the Zapata Falls CG just south of Great Sand Dunes NP. It took 30 minutes to go 2.5 miles from CO15 (paved) up the FS (or BLM not sure which) road to the campground! I can't begin to imagine driving that road without airing down! And, I'm not even talking about Jeep rock crawling trails, just a FS road to a camp ground.

In so far as losing the bead, you have to be running some really low psi (under 20psi for most of our camping style rigs) and hit an obstacle at the wrong angle or a little too fast. But, discretion is always the better part of valor so pick your minimum psi wisely. Load E tires are a *itch to set the bead trail side due to the more ply/stiffer sidewalls. Why most of your Jeep rock crawling tires or Load C or D; soft sidewalls allowing the tire to conform to the obstacle or flatten into a bigger footprint front to rear. And, when you blow your bead, easier to set trailside. But, I have not done truck rock crawling in many decades because something always get broken (probably due more to youthful exuberance) and I got tired of spending hard earned cash breaking things. Fun factor was no longer worth more than dollars expended fixing things.
 
Bill is your compressor portable or mounted on your F-350? If so, could you post a pic?
Also what 295/65R20 tire are you running. I'm looking to go to a wider tire when the oem Michelin's wear out...
 
 
Airing down is much, much easier and faster—and thus more likely to actually happen—if you have a good deflator or a set of them. I did a review of the most common ones here.

Thanks Advmoto 18 for the earlier link to the article on the ARB Twin compressor; it's expensive but superb.
 
I would use auto deflators if a manufacturer made them to stop at 25 and/or 30 psi. Most of the auto deflators are user set to 5 - 20 psi. 20 is too low for my F-350/camper weight without beadlock wheels. I'm airing down with the ARB Deflator; not convenient as the autos, but, all that works to bring 80 down to 30, my starting point for airing down.

Eddie, I'm currently using a ExtremeAire Magnum 12V portable compressor (stows in its own tool box). I decided to go the portable route this time rather than a hard mount on the truck. The new truck has an electric locker on the rear axle (I prefer air lockers but will stay with the electric for the time being) so simply decided to go with a portable compressor for the time being.

Bill
 
I purchased a set of the trailheads for the truck. The 15-40 version (5-20 in the Jeep). In the Jeep I'll typically air down 15-8 psi and I'll do the last psi manually with the included gauge. By the time I get all four on the first tire is just about done. I expect 40 psi in the truck will be about right for most conditions. A bit less for snow and sand. I'd still like a C02 setup but I'm also considering something like Extremeaire portable and installing it in a semi hard mount (maybe next to the camper batteries, quick connects for power and air) but still usable a portable if I wish.

Planning on doing the Winter Fun Festival this coming weekend and its nice not to be the last person in the group everyone is waiting on :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads - WTW

h2opup
Camper Step Recommendation?
h2opup
h2opup
N
Portable hammock stand
CGSwimmer
C
Jzack605
ARB Twin Compressor on ‘19 Tundra
Jzack605
Jzack605
T
Tundra Hawk Suspension Mods
JHanson
JHanson
flinchlock
2008 ATC Cougar for sale $10,000
flinchlock
flinchlock

New posts - WTW

Back
Top Bottom