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Equipping the Overland Vehicle Vehicle accessories - Making your home away from home comfortable, safe and reliable.
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

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Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
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Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 29 Mar 2001
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Vehicle mounted air compressors
Whilst the air compressor available through this website is exceptionally efficient, it is a little on the large side for my already over-packed 4wd. Any ideas out there for alternatives (but still better than the small portable units (which take up to 15 minutes per tyre))?

Sam.
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  #2  
Old 1 Apr 2001
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Anything is better than a Halfords jobby of course and the smaller types mentioned in the book will do the job I'm told, but they will still be slow and so prone to overheating (esp. in summer!...) - some are only meant to activate diff lock switches.
I know the price is ridiculous but trust me, leave the PSP behind and find space for 8kg of Grand Erg compressor or something like it. You will not regret it. It gives the ability to keep your tyres at optimum pressures by knowing that you can deflate, get across w/o plates or pushing/digging and pump up again in a couple of mins. IMHO and experience, a meaty compressor is the most overlookied and under-rated accessory for sandy dez travels (tho not general overlanding). I've yet to use my plates.

Ch
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  #3  
Old 5 Apr 2001
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There are a number of smaller compressors available (at least in Australia) eg ARB, Blue Tongue, Thomas, all of which are designed for intermittant operation (usually OK for tyres). They are also fitted with a thermal cut out if you push them too hard.

Magnum makes a slightly bigger compressor designed for continuous output, and available either mechanically driven (off the fan pully) or electric.

I have a Thomas pump which I have mounted under the bonnet.

I would recommend a pump for general overlanding too - after repairing 13 punctures on our UK - S Africa trip and using a foot pump for them ALL!

Cheers,

Andy
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  #4  
Old 8 Apr 2001
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Just returned from Egypt's western desert, we had very good results with the US made Truck Air comprssors. Two units got all 12 tyres of three heavily laden landcruisers (without any jacking) from 20 to 30 PSI in less than 30 minutes. It's available for order over the web at http://buyitonline.com/timesavingtools/p633.html for $51 plus postage
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  #5  
Old 8 Apr 2001
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Is that impressive? - 5 minutes to get a tyre pumped up by 10 psi? And who jacks cars up just to pump up tyres..? It looks pretty similar to the cheapo Halfords units you can buy here.

Ch
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  #6  
Old 10 Apr 2001
Renate
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Sam

There is one called the "Truckman" 275 PSI - pretty good by all accounts. Its a heavy duty one, we used them in Egypt this year, I think they can be bought on the net, don't know price though, and I don't have their web page details

Renate
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  #7  
Old 14 Apr 2001
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Hi

I can only echo the importance of compressors - do not skimp and your tyres will love you for it

I am currently trying out a 240v / 2amp compressor with 5 litre air receiver. This pushes 100 litres a minute as I cannot find a 12v compressor without going to the grand erg jobbies that can cope with my trucks 900x16 tyres.

I use a 1500 watt inverter to run it

Just as a point - No matter how good your compressor is - still pack a footpump - the onl thing guarenteed about technology is that it will fail just when you need it

Rich
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  #8  
Old 18 Apr 2001
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Interesting stuff above. All I'll add is that the £15 Halfords job that I bought as recomended by an article in Land Rover Monthly has been absolute pants. Each time I use it to inflate 4 x 750x16s from 20 psi to 30 psi it melts. I take it back to Halfords and get a replacement. I'm on my 7th! I even let it cool down between tyres. The whole proceedure can take up to an hour. Get a big one.
Toby
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Old 19 Apr 2001
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Wow, this has pompted some discussion!

Having spoken (in an emailly kind of a way) to Chris, I'm going to go for the Grand Erg - you get what you pay for? Also, there are going to be two of us in Libya and Algeria...

Sam.
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Old 20 Apr 2001
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The compressor I am testing has managed to re-inflate my 255/85 * 16 tyres from 20 to 40 psi in 80 seconds, so 320 seconds or 5 minutes 20 seconds for the whole truck.

I think this might just work.......

Rich
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  #11  
Old 22 Apr 2001
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On my trip to Morocco last year I found the ARB compressor enough than satisfactory. It took less than 15 min to reinlflate four tyres from 12 psi to 24 psi and the compressor was running hot but not alarmingly. Considering mass vs usability it isn't bad IMHO.

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  #12  
Old 23 Apr 2001
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Hello,

On my trip in Morocco, 2 days ago, i've met 2 dutch guys with a defender 110 witch had a airco-pump mounted on there engine witch inflated there tires in just 50 seconds. Hopes this helps,

greatings,

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  #13  
Old 4 Jun 2001
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Truck Air-Grand Erg comparison.

I've just obtained one of these 'Truck Air 275 psi' compressors from the US to test against the Grand Erg. Here are the results on a 235/85 R16 tubeless BFG AT fitted on the back of my car starting at dune pressure - 1 bar or 14psi.
Truck Air after 2 minutes reached 1.3 bar or 18 psi
Grand Erg after 2 minutes reached 2.5 bar or 35 psi (road pressure)

Who knows how long it would have taken the Truck Air to reach road pressure, but of course it's a fraction of the weight and cost of a Grand Erg.

The test unit is for sale. It has a The fan cooled motor, 4 metre lead and a pressure dial which goes all the way up to 300 psi. 50 quid.

Chris S
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  #14  
Old 6 Jun 2001
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Talking about air tanks for compressors, does it make sense to fit, say a 2 l tank, or will it make little difference in terms of overrall inflation time/convenience?


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  #15  
Old 8 Jun 2001
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Jan Van den Broeck,
Do you have the email of the Dutch guys with the airco compressor? Or does anybody else have any experience with airco compressors for pumping up tyres?

Ron and Roberta.
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