The hassle of getting air into your tyres

Richard53

forgotmyname wrote: »

Avoid the cheap little £5 compressors. They take ages and usually can only run for a few minutes before they get too hot and need cooling.

But why not get the alloy fixed? Plenty of companies out there to refurbish it/them.

I've had the same 'cheap little £5 compressor' for about 15 years now. I use it every time I need to top up tyres (2 cars and 3 motorcycles plus 2 pushbikes at the last count) and it has never failed. The only time it struggled was when I had dropped the tyres on a Land Rover to 10 psi for some off-road stuff and needed to get them back to 30 psi for the drive home. I had to do one tyre at a time and give it time to cool, but it got there. 40 minutes to do four 235/85/16s - that's a lot of air.


These little things might be slow, but it's in the boot at all times and costs nothing but the 12V it takes from the car. Living out in the sticks, I wouldn't be without one. A bigger, more robust compressor would be less convenient to lug about, and might be in the shed at home when I needed it.

[Deleted User]

20p at Asda last week and I managed to top all 4 tyres up in one go by taking caps off first. Rear tyres were pretty low too.

prowla

Is there a pump with an accurate gauge?

Mr_Toad

I've got a Quadratech on-board air compressor on my Jeep Wrangler, runs off the engine. There are air outlets behind both front and rear bumpers that can be used to inflate the tyres or power the air tools.

Used mainly when getting back on the tarmac after driving on soft sand/mud where tyre pressure needs to be low.

foomanchu

Our local Sainsburys still has a free tyre inflator in their forecourt. Can't think of any others that don't charge now...

baza52

Just bought an electric pump from ebay, £11 odd delivered. If its gets me home one day it would have paid for itself.

Norman_Castle

I find a footpump much quicker and easier than an electric pump. One of my two electric pumps takes forever to fit back inside its storage case. It should be sold as a Chinese puzzle.

droopsnoot

Richard53 wrote: »

I've had the same 'cheap little £5 compressor' for about 15 years now.

Ah well, that's the key - a further fifteen years of "product development" has refined the cost of more modern units down to a point where it's just about fit for purpose for long enough that the customer won't bother bringing it back.

When I were a lad, etc. etc.

Cyberman60

I had leaking alloys straight after having new tyres fitted. I took them back to the garage and had them fitted again, properly, for no extra charge !!

alastairq

I have given up with plastic electric air pumps....[ might invest in one of these, for my trialling antics? http://www.paddockspares.com/pm982-twin-cylinder-12v-compressor-usually-60-00gbp.html ]

Quite a few years ago, I did invest in one of the Aldi specials, air compressor mit tank...!

Much quicker at tyres inflation than any other means.....has a long hose, and came with quite a few useful tools....best £50's worth I spent in a long while....