Equipment Recommendations for Airing Up

[Robertdoubting]

Question for the group - Besides having a built-in solution for airing up your tires, why does one buy a $900 compressor over a $120 portable solution? Also, what are your recommendations for airing up/down?
$980: ARB Twin 12v Air Compressor

$120: Dewalt 20v Portable Inflator

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[BD6G]

I have the @TireFlate set up. Very reasonably priced for a dual compressor unit with the 4 tire air up down kit provided. Plenty YouTube test out there of it and it works very well.

 

[BroncoA512021]

Question for the group - Besides having a built-in solution for airing up your tires, why does one buy a $900 compressor over a $120 portable solution? Also, what are your recommendations for airing up/down?
$980: ARB Twin 12v Air Compressor

$120: Dewalt 20v Portable Inflator

Because I can ! I want the best! Cheaper is always more expensive in the long run.

I purchased mine here: https://www.4x4truckleds.com/kr-off-road-air-compressor-engine-bay-kit-for-2021-ford-bronco/

 

[KT_bronco]

I started with portable, a single hose and no dedicated deflators. As I started going more often, I found I wanted to take less stuff with me each time and air up/down faster. I got the onboard twin arb compressor, the valve stems that deflate in 4-5 seconds and the quad hoses. It made the tedium of airing up and down a bit less of a chore.

Still annoying unless you manage to get one of these installed on your bronco. Also if anyone in the states has done this, show it off. This pic I found on reddit.

 

[Tdub0527]

Well I thought the same thing at one point but there are a few reasons why I am going to buy a better setup than that dewalt you have pictured (I own that now).

- Time. If you don't mind wasting time than you're fine on this point. For the rest of us the faster you can get the job done the better. Airing up the tires with the Dewalt is just simply too long of a job.
- Duty Cycle. Something I had never thought about. This also factors into your time. You can only run the Dewalt for a certain period of time before you have to let it cool down. I want to say you can run it for 10 minutes then you have to wait something crazy like 30 minutes. I aired down to 18psi and it took 8-9 minutes to air back up to 38psi. If you factor in the time to air + waiting for it to cool down it simply is way too much time.

I'm going to buy the Morrflate system with the quad hose which is $400 more than the dewalt but $400 less than the ARB.

https://morrflate.com/shop/air-sources/portable-compressors/morrflate-tensix-psi-pro-12v-compressor/

 

[HotdogThud]

echoing what others have said, I've got a portable one that's just fine. But the ARB one that's in the Ford accessory kit, even being a single tank one is holy cow levels of fast on airing up a tire compared to the little dewalt.

 

[Wrongco]

Napa twin motor air compressor is tough to beat for $149 even with the single hose we air up all 4 in under 7-8 minutes

 

[Oldhippie]

While an ARB under the hood is a clean setup, it is a steep price to pay for the extra storage space…my TD (like NAPA) compressor was @$125 and works about as fast…I don’t like the storage space it takes up or having to drag it out each time I use it but for the price I’ll live with it…there are less and more powerful units out there but I am happy.

 

[Desert_Brush]

If you need to deflate and re-inflate frequently I imagine it's worth it for an onboard system that is also much quicker. I go maybe two to three times a year so I have a cheap Viair as a primary and a Milwaukee M18 air compressor as a backup that I got for free.

 

[Ninjak]

Here in S. FL I have not been much I need to air way down for. I have a Milwaukee M18 for that duty.

I been seeing a lot of other solutions, and if decide I need to go that route I may get the MoFlate unit, or for the onboard, get the DV8 storage, and purchase the Tireflate unit perhaps. It seems to get a decent review on a Youtube channel.

But as I said, I am not quite there yet.

 

[userdude]

I recommend a good single Viair or MORRFlate's FiveSix with a two hose setup. With a good but not expensive single, they're smaller, on two tires aren't that slow (the FiveSix is about as fast as the TenSix four tire), and switching sides only duplicates the tire air up/down time, which is shorter on these things than the setup/teardown. In other words, in my opinion it's diminishing returns going to a good twin/four hose setup.

 

[Frankie945]

Napa maxi trac. Best bang for the buck, all others are basically clones from it. Still have 20% off too.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_MTWM10215C

 

[Robertdoubting]

Because I can ! I want the best! Cheaper is always more expensive in the long run.

I purchased mine here: https://www.4x4truckleds.com/kr-off-road-air-compressor-engine-bay-kit-for-2021-ford-bronco/

“Because I can” —> Probably the best reason

 

[SouthEnd]

I only go off-roading a handful of times a year, and I have a viair 400p that suits my needs perfectly. If I wanted to upgrade I could just buy or build a 4 way hose kit and it would be nearly as convenient as onboard air.

 

[Brian_B]

Speed is a big difference in these inflators. I have a small Ryobi 18V that I’ve had for years and it will do it, but it takes most of an hour to go from 15 to 25 on four 35” tires, and I still have to top them off when I get home.

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