Inflating tyres on a budget

[Defender]

Hi all,

I'm looking at options to inflate tyres from 4 psi to 30 psi without taking 25 minutes to do 4, on the lowest budget possible. Tmax double piston compressor seems good but has anyone used it & is it worth the money? Other option I thought of was buying a cheap compressor & an inverter but this is going to be bulky to carry around on off roading trips.

I was also wondering if anyone had any experience of using CO2 for inflating large tyres? They seem to use it quite a bit in the states but I've been told that CO2 is sensative to hot or cold which can drastically reduce or increase the pressure. Downside is I'm not sure how many tyres I could inflate with a refill & that could be expensive so I'm just after info on this really.

Any other options on a budget that are worth looking at????

Thanks,

Pete

[white90]

A Search revealed this

[BogMonster]

I've got a twin pump one on order from Bearmach but it won't be here until the new year.

[white90]

Mine has proved a great piece of kit

put Simex back onto the bead with ease.

ideal for blowing out breathers etc to

[Mark]

I have a t-max double compressor, and it is surprisingly effective. I have been more than pleased with it.

[jules]

I keep meaning to buy on but I keep forgetting to order one. I have heard there realy good for the money

[Exmoor Beast]

I've had my T-Max twin pump compressor for nearly a year now, Very very pleased. Apart from the carp valve attachment. Well worth £90.

Will

[Diff]

If you are in to a bit of diy, an engine mounted compressor system will out perform any 12volt compressor. About the only one which comes close is the Oasis which is a modified York air conditioning pump driven by a winch motor. I have no direct experience of the electric twin pumps but they sound good for the money. I would be interested to know how fast they can inflate a 32 inch tyre to 30psi from zero. My onboard air will inflate a 32 inch tyre to 30 psi from zero in about 25 seconds.

The standard air conditioning pump for most of the Land Rover engines is the Sanden rotary type. These can easily be modded for onboard air and of course all the standard brackets pulleys, belts etc make mounting them easy too. Only the 4 cylinder petrol engines don't have mounting points as standard.

If you are creative and use some second hand components, an onboard air system can be built for less than the cost of an electric compressor which may have slower performance.

Having said that, if you use a decent sized air tank with an electric compressor, the tyre inflation performance will increase.

My home built system is here:

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=13723

With regard to CO2, it works very well and there is no need to worry about the temp at all. It is not an issue. You can buy a Power Tank CO2 system from the states, or you could create a very similar system with a mig welding bottle and a non standard regulator. You can simply get the bottle refilled/exchanged at a welding shop. I looked into this, but the cost of the bottle, regulator and the refills meant that an onboard air system was more cost effective.

You can use a CO2 fire extinguisher for fast inflation. Remove the 'Trumpet' and fit an air line to connect to the tyre valve, Turn the extinguisher upside down (so you don't get liquid CO2 in the tyre) and squeeze the handle. The downside is that you need to keep checking the tyre pressure till you get it right, though in theory you could fit a pressure gauge on a 'T' in the hose. This is only viable if you have easy access to cheap/free refills or have a supply of out of date extinguishers which are still full.

Hope this helps,

Diff

[Paul Humphries]

I remember seeing a program on TV about the off road / ice drivers in Iceland.

They run huge tyres at very low pressure so sometimes they can break the bead and instantly deflate.

What they did, on the program, was squirt lighter gas into the tyre and then chuck in a match

The explosion reseals the tyre and inflates at the same time.

Not sure I'd want to try it myself though.

Paul Humphries

[TJ101]

Am sure it was the smaller T-Max compressor, than Bish & I borrowed from Bob (Treebloke) at JST's last event,

Pump up a pair of debeaded Simex with ease, once the vehicle was lifted a tad, to take the weight off the rim !! quite impressed, Kike Jules, keep meaning to order one, maybe even the twin pump,

Thanks again Bob

[honitonhobbit]

More than happy with my double pumper. The valve fitting is cr&p though but easily changed.

[LandyManLuke]

What they did, on the program, was squirt lighter gas into the tyre and then chuck in a match :

The explosion reseals the tyre and inflates at the same time.

Works well with petrol and a lighter, if you're 'in the field' and stuck, as we were.

[TJ101]

More than happy with my double pumper. The valve fitting is cr&p though but easily changed.

David,,

Do i remember right !! did you say once say you were going to get me one ,, seam to recall something along those lines ???

[white90]

Tim foundry 4x4 were the cheapest I paid £70 each ordering 2

[TJ101]

Tim foundry 4x4 were the cheapest I paid £70 each ordering 2

Yep, saw the link on the other thread, will send them a mail ... Thanks TC

[white90]

I called them and paid direct to save them e bay fees.

You get a VAT invoice to.

[jj_110]

Works well with petrol and a lighter, if you're 'in the field' and stuck, as we were.

carb cleaner...plenty of carb cleaner...

JJ

[rjblank]

If you have access to a welder, you can fab up some good dual function bumpers... I have seen many trail vehicles using tube bumpers as air storage tanks especially in vehicles with limited carry space. (like the Land Rover) If you are looking at CO2 for an alternative to a pump, you can also use Nitrogen in the same fashion.

[TJ101]

you can also use Nitrogen in the same fashion.

Not wrong

[jericho]

you can also use Nitrogen in the same fashion.

nitrogen condenses at a much lower temperature/higher pressure - requiring much stronger,heavier tanks to store an equal usable volume.

CO2 is in solid state at around 800psi at normal air temp - thats why you can fit so much of it into such a small light weight container.

[TJ101]

But nitrogen gives you a consent type pressure, when heat builds up in the tyre surface,

Agreed, not a concern to the average Landrover tyre,

[Defender]

Thanks for your help everyone much appreciated.

Just out of interest how long does it take for the twin pump Tmax to inflate a big tyre like 35" or 37"????

Pete

[Diff]

This article gives a good comparison of the performance differences between various compressors, CO2 and onboard air. The article tests the time taken to inflate a 30 inch tyre (test one - T1) and a 35 inch tyre (test 2 - T2). Both are 15 inch rim size so will take a bit more air to fill compared to our more commonly used 16 inch sizes (assuming the same width).

It also has a twin pump compressor which may be similar to the ones mentioned in this thread. Interestingly, the last item tested is a York onboard air system which they chose to run at idling speed which meant it was outperformed by the Oasis (winch motor powered York) which was running at 2000rpm. If the Onboard air was running at 2000rpm it would have had the same/similar performance as the Oasis.

http://www.offroadair.net/4WD-0502-Air-82-85.pdf

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Diff

[bathtub]

Thanks for your help everyone much appreciated.

Just out of interest how long does it take for the twin pump Tmax to inflate a big tyre like 35" or 37"????

Pete

Hi Pete,

I have a Quick Air 3 electric compressor & it pumps my 42" from 3psi to 20 in about 4 mins .

Got the Pro-power tank & it will fill my new 44 Boggers in about 50 seconds apparantly & about 20 tyres worth.

Lighter fuel & a rag works well if you kill a bead lock

Pump your spare to a much as you dare as you drive along & then when you stop use a link hose to pump the other tyres up one at a time. That is really cheap as well .

Spare tyre 70psi if you dare .1st go a few seconds on each say 10 psi to 15 psi on each.

Drive a while whilst your Halfords pump does it bit for 10mins on your spare & then start again.etc etc etc.

Depends if your in a rush.