Best air compressor? Thoughts?

Hey all,

I am looking to invest in a quality air compressor. I am not looking to bust the bank, but also not looking to get the cheapest one out there. Maybe $300 or so? (I'm guessing....)
Tire size is between 33 - 35 inches.

Are there any recommendations...? (in order of importance)

1) very reliable (especially in the back country if traveling alone)
2) speedy
3) easy to use

Hoping I didn't open up a can or worms...

Thanks!

 

I have a Vlair 88p off Amazon for around $76.00. Works well.

 

Make sure you check the specs.... you want one with a 100% duty cycle.

Many of the compressors sold have way less than that. You have to constantly shut them down to cool off.

I have a Viair. It's probably 5 or 6 years old now and still going strong.

https://viaircorp.com/collections/p...PRESSORS&page=1&sort_by=manual&article_count=

 

I have a Viair 300P and it's good for my 295's. You might want to step up to a bigger one for 35's, though.

 

Viair 440P, just under $300: https://viaircorp.com/products/440p-portable

ARB's CKMP12V2 is comparable in performance and reliability, but costs a lot more.

 

I’m pretty happy with my Viair 450P. I’d go ARB dual for my next one.

 

The Viair model numbers (and prices) keep going up the longer the thread lasts.

 

I have this one and it’s been great. I use the heck out of it. Bonus, it fits nicely in the rear sidewall pocket.

 

Look at your tire size and what you intend to air down to.
XL or SL tires on mild dirt, snow, sand etc probably do not need very low pressure. LT for harder usage maybe 10-15 psi to 35-40 highway.
You might air up all 4 before your pump gets hot.
My Smitty Built M 2780, 2.54 cfm aired up my nephews 37x12 LT (Bronco) from 25 trail to 40 highway in about 2.5 min. Well within its run time. Cost about $150.
Lots of online discussions for all brands & price points.

 

been using the napa one, i can air up all four in a few minutes. 15psi to 35psi
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_MTWM10215C

 

Viair 400p for me. Use it with morflate to fill up two tires at once. No issue so far, it’s been working great

 

Viair 400P has served me well for 5 years

 

Viair. It's the winner.

 

My Viair 88P has been flawless, and fills my 33's satisfactorily.

 

Don’t overthink it.

 

Wow! You guys are all awesome! Thank you for the quick response!
Looks like VIAIR is the choice brand for most folks.
I'm going to look into this brand.
Thanks!

 

Gotta throw in Morrflate! Set it, and go, plus the air chucks are so easy to use.

 

A cheap used co2 tank, and 16 dollars to fill it every other summer. If all your going to use it for is airing tires back up from tooling around, and here there usage. Way faster than any pump on the market, WAY cheaper, more relialbe, and you can leave it if you want, stupid cheap to fill, safe, uses nothing off your rig electrical/alternator, takes up little space, and put/mount it anywhere. Works a treat. But, to each their own. I know having on board air is up there on the cool factor. For some anyway.

 

hmmm...co2 tanks never crossed my mind. Interesting. I'll look into that as well. Good to have options! Thank you!

 

Geeeze Louise
Got knock? That should be an astronomical amount of bass in a 4R

 

Not a recommendation. A question.

After my trusty Craftsman <Slow> air compressor failed I bought this one from Amazon. Its very fast to air up. However the air seems to be very hot. Is it the same case with highend air compressors like ARB dual? Is the air much cooler after 10minutes of working?

 

I have the Maxi-trac twin cylinder from NAPA. It's a beast, and was only 125-ish.

It'll air a 265 up from 0 in about 2 minutes.

 

The mechanical operation generates a lot of heat, I bet that's it. I have to be careful handling my 88P after airing up and it was the same with my much slower (and cheaper) Bon-aire compressor.

Edit: Removed traces of unfinished post

 

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I have the basic Viar and that thing is so slow for the 34s...

I've really been considering getting onboard air with an ARB twin but every time I price out the compressor, the mount, a quad hose system and switch I talk myself out of it.

 

My Viair 450p has been flawless, but I am considering one of these for bigger tires: https://www.speedflate.com/shop/p/autocompressor 10.6CFM is well past what an ARB dual does (6.1) for less than half the price - $250.

 

I thinks it’s a neat idea, but takes up little space, more than my compressor, which in its case can stack on something or get stuffed in a little hole.

 

No. 440P is the highest CFM compressor ViAir offers. 450P is actually slower.

 

The Napa compressor posted by Knarf is faster than the ARB twin. However, it doesn't satisfy 1) very reliable (especially in the back country if traveling alone)

One way around this problem is to buy two of these: https://www.amazon.com/ALL-TOP-150Psi-Compressor-Portable-Heavy/dp/B08637KCWQ/ You can hook up both to the battery and inflate two tires at the same time. This negates the shrader valve bottleneck without needing a quad hose system, and provides redundancy if one compressor fails.

 

Viair 400p with the inflater gun has been fast and reliable on my 33” Toyos. $250 open box item on Amazon.