Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives 12 volt Air Compressor

Which ones have you found to work and be reliable and adequate to keep in the truck for emergencies.
Would appreciate your comments.

I've got one of these slime flat repair kits.

http://www.slime.com/shop/smart-spair-15-minute-emergency-tire-repair-ss-pdq06/

I've never used the slime in it, but use the compressor all the time instead of pulling out my big compressor, it keeps going like the energizer bunny. Well worth the $20 or so it cost at Wal-Mart.

They're too big to carry all the time unless you have a camper shell or something, but a jump starter with a compressor can get you out of a lot of jams. Don't get a cheap one, though. Get one with enough amp hrs to actually start a cold engine. Many of them won't. Many can't be recharged except with 120 AC but some can be recharged as you drive from 12V.

BTW - tire shops hate Slime. It coats the inside of the tire and makes a good repair very difficult.

Tire plug kit and a can of Fixaflat to reinflate the tire, close enough. If ya can't fix it with a plug, it probably ain't gonna get fixed.

Keep a cheap crappy one in all of my vehicles. Takes a while, but just clip them on and sit inside and wait. They've saved me and others more than a few times.

Craftsman made a decent heavy-duty unit a few years ago specifically for large SUV and truck tires. That one has lasted me quite a while, and takes half the time of the standard units. It also has no trouble taking 'E' tires on the truck or trailer to 65 psi, which the small units never seemed able to do, no matter how long the wait.

Thanks to each of you who have responded.

This is what I carry in my Jeep to re-inflate the tires after they're aired down on the trail. Works pretty well.

http://www.amazon.com/Industries-MV...p;sr=8-9&keywords=12v+air+compressor

I have one of these too. Mine is about 7 years old now and I think the rings are about shot now. I guess I shouldn't complain for the price. It would also get e rated tires aired up nicely in a short time.

Very good point, I'm not running in that load range, I'm sure a better quality compressor would be needed in that case. I've seen one of the smaller units get hot and blow a fuse trying to get a skid steer trailer tire up similiar to what you're talking about.

Cambell-Hausefield 12 volt inflaterator, have had one for years.
Works great.

Don't care if they hate it or not. When they start fixing my flats on the side of the road in the rain then I'll worry about their tootsies getting slime on them, until then it'll get used if it's needed. I don't use slime in my vehicle tires unless I have to, but it goes in all my ATV tires. Without it you're just asking for trouble, you'll be airing up ATV tires every time you ride it. It's good stuff.

I worked in a tire shop for three years during college. It was before the days of slime but we had fix a flat and I didn't like to see it come in because it was a mess to get out. However, it usually would get the customer to the shop and I recognized it's necessity. As a tire monkey my job was to fix the problem for the customer, it wasn't in any way the customer's responsibility to avoid taking necessary measures to get himself out of a jam just so it would make my job easier or cleaner. I probably wouldn't like it if a tire full of slime came into my shop for me to fix either, but I'd figure out how to deal with it if I wanted to get paid. If a tire monkey doesn't want to deal with it then he should do what I did, finish college, quit the job and get a better job where he doesn't have to fix tires for a living. He can then pay someone else to clean slime out of tires.

I have three Slime compressors and have used each several times. One is for the truck, one for the 4 wheeler, and one for the KLR. Cheap but very effective when needed. I have aired up several truck/vehicle/RV tires, 4 wheeler tires x's 20, bicycle tires, and inner tubes for floating, KLR tires x's 3.

i clicked your link and saw this review- WTF

I have a super-flow or something along those lines in the truck box. It takes it a while to fill a 33" tire but it does it.

However The wires that run from your battery to the compressor are on the light side. Never noticed it until I get back to my truck thats in the middle of nowhere to find a flat. Put a plug in it and hooked up the compressor. It was about 1/2way inflated and I start smelling burning plastic or something. It was the fuse holder for the inline fuse. It was melting around the fuse. So i got to stand and watch the race to see what was goona happen first. Tire inflated or burned up compressor lol.

Replaced the inline fuse when I got back to town but the wires still get hot as hell if you run it more than a few mins at a time.