Tire Pumps

Joined
Aug 4, 2002
Messages
363
I'm just wondering what everyone is using to keep their car's tires inflated at the proper pressure these days. There basically aren't any gas stations with free compressed air where I live anymore. I have an old PowerStation air compressor / portable battery jumper / 120V power source I bought from Costco years ago, but the battery in that is failing now, and a new battery to replace it costs more than I paid for the unit.

I still have my dad's old manual pump, but that thing is older than I am, and it takes a huge amount of work to pump up a tire beyond 35 PSI.

Any manual or electric tire pumps/air compressors out there someone can recommend?
 
Sears sells a small 120V compressor that doesn't have a tank,I think the price of a new one is around $50.00,I have one that I picked up used a while back for $20.00,it's small and doesn't take up much room,they claim a maximum pressure of 125psi,I've used it to about 60 without any trouble.
 
Cheap air compressors are okay for car tires. My pick up (Toyota Tundra) has 34" diameter tires that take a huge volume of air to get to anything over 30PSI. My little 1 gallon tank 1HP compressor will not air those tires up. On a normal size car, not a problem though. I think I paid $70 at Target for it about 2 years ago. Today, I would spend about $150 for a larger tank ~3HP model.
 
As Sid and Beau have posted the little Sears units go to about 125psi but not a lot of free air...works ok on my Explorer and to blow out my shooting toys...I carry a manual unit in the car...regards Les
 
Used to be the only 12v tire pumps you could get were very slow, 15 or 20 minutes to pump up a completely flat tire (at least, the only ones I was aware of) but recently mine died and I got a new one that's much faster -- less than half the time. I don't recall the brand but the time it takes is advertised on the package. It was cheap, too.
 
I carry a portable air tank in the trunk. I usually fill it up at work but I have a little 120V compressor at home and a cheapo 12 volt in the trunk. With the tank it's easier to top off a low tire than with the 12V compressor. A full tank will go at least a year unless you have a slow leak in any of your tires.
 
I have a 20gallon 1.8HP Craftsman Professional Compressor. Does a great job of airing anything. I added a new regulator and a new intake muffler, runs quite and efficient. The regulator I put on it has great flow.


I keep the regulator at 100psi and just add or remove air checking with a hand held pressure gauge at the tire.

I can fill flats in seconds, and adjust pressure even faster.
 
Believe it or not, a decent bicycle pump can accomplish this fairly well. I found out a month or two ago when I suddenly had only ~10 lbs in one tire. Getting it up to 34 lbs was ~5-10 minutes of work but 2-3 lb adjustments were quick.
 
Used to be the only 12v tire pumps you could get were very slow, 15 or 20 minutes to pump up a completely flat tire (at least, the only ones I was aware of) but recently mine died and I got a new one that's much faster -- less than half the time. I don't recall the brand but the time it takes is advertised on the package. It was cheap, too.

+1 on this.
I have a cheap $8 pump that plugs into my lighter socket for when I'm away from home.
At home I use a 120v construction compressor.
 
I bought my father a Black & Decker air station about 20 years ago. The thing still works like a champ. 120V no tank, kind of noisy, and a little slow. You may even be able to use one on the road if you had an inverter.
 
I haven't had much luck using bicycle tire pumps for automobile tires. Bike tires are low volume, high pressure. The pump barrel is long and skinny. A car tire is high volume, low pressure. A car tire pump has a fatter barrel. I bought an air compressor with a pancake tank. It is light enough to carry around the car. You don't need a 20 ft. hose.
 
I bought my father a Black & Decker air station about 20 years ago. The thing still works like a champ. 120V no tank, kind of noisy, and a little slow. You may even be able to use one on the road if you had an inverter.

+1 Mine still works too. Damn noisy, I use my shooting ear muffs with it. Puts 70lbs in my bike tires too.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Based on them, I decided to not get a manual pump type. I also decided not to get a pump with a battery in it - I figured if I did get one it would last maybe 5-7 years at the most like a regular car battery, Prius battery, etc., just like my old PowerStation brand unit did.

I ended up getting this:
41uDbDHx5JL._SS500_.jpg

I saw it at Costco for $40. I think its a brand new model since I couldn't find any online reviews of it. But, Costco has a great return policy, so I decided to go for it.

I used it tonight on both of my cars. Very easy to use. Built in pressure gauge works perfectly. A little noisy. Puts out air at a decent rate. It seems fairly sturdy, comes with a bunch of accessories for inflating air mattresses, balls, etc., which all store within the unit.

The hose clamp attached to all my tire stems perfectly. I bought my mom an old Coleman electric air pump, and that thing always seemed to leak air when you attached it.

So far, I'm very satisfied with my purchase.
 
Back
Top