Convenient Method to Add Air to Tires?

T

truvette

New member
Please don't laugh, but I was wondering if it would be reasonable to use a bicycle hand pump as a way to add air to my tires? I'm only asking as I have one in my garage and thought it would be convenient to use rather than having to drive down to the service station and mess with the machine they have there.
 
Thatsa lotta pumps...they do make foot operated pumps for tires, but a lotta steps on that baby...try a cigarette-lighter powered pump...or Sears and other places sell small (5-6 gallon) air tanks that you can pump up at the gas station or elsewhere. Also Sears has a real small electric compressor, I don't know how much but they had a larger one on sale before xmas for $90, or an inflator for around $50.
 
Air is Air,do what you gotta do. Depending on low your tire is, it may take a while to get it where you want it.



That would be funny though driving by someone's house and seeing them pumping up a car tire w/ one of those.



You also get one of those portable air tanks that just hold air. Take to a gas station fill it up and store it in your garage. When you need a shot of air you'll have it. Just re-fill as needed. As long as everything is sealed tight ie; hose connections etc. It should last until used. Just a thought.
 
General Lee said:
You also get one of those portable air tanks that just hold air. Take to a gas station fill it up and store it in your garage.
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That's what I recommend to my not-into-cars-or-tools friends who aren't gonna buy a compressor :xyxthumbs



You can find compressors pretty cheap though...
 
JM19- Yeah, that tank should work well. If you'd like to save a little money you could get one from somebody else for maybe half as much ;) Check places like Harbor Freight.



The manufacturer's info is a good starting point, but it all depends on the individual situation. Many manufacturers recommend pressures that are, IMO, too low so the vehicle rides "soft". Watch the tires for odd wear and adjust accordingly unless you have some other criteria you want to go by.



And get a good tire gauge. I had five supposedly good ones that gave me four different readings :rolleyes: The two most expensive ones agree, so that's what I go by (but I still *really* go by how the vehicles drive and how the tires wear).
 
A bicycle pump will work fine for going up 3 or 4psi and really doesn't take that long. At the Solo I/II events that I attend guys are always using bicycle pumps to increase the pressures. The air tanks (aka air pigs) are okay but it can really be a pain to find a gas station that has enough pressure to get them to a useful level. The cheap cigarette lighter pumps are totally useless and take forever and don't ever trust their built in guages.



Yes, the manufacturers ratings are for cold tires. Get a good guage and check the pressures weekly and you'll be set (temperatures can really change the pressures).
 
I am a bicycle guy, too, so I have an assortment of foot and hand pumps around. The trouble is, all bike pumps are high-pressure, low volume. Car tires are high-volume, low-pressure. So you end up pumping your brains out getting enough air in. It works, but you get the cardio workout you never wanted! :eek:



I just bought a Sears Craftsman 12V portable compressor to stick in the Mini Cooper and carry along to track days. It is about the size of a small clock radio. (The smallest, best proportioned I have seen so I can stick it is the wheel well out of the way) It has a regulator so you can pre-set the pressure if you like, a gauge, a long 12V cord for the cigarette lighter, etc. $29 on sale. :up



I also have one of the tanks that the others have mentioned. You can fill it up every so often at the gas station and the air is there when you need it. Harbor Freight has those cheap.

http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp



Of course, nothing beats a big ole compressor! I just replaced the Ingorsoll Rand in the pic with a 6hp/33 gallon Craftsman. Big enough for me anyway.

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keep your valve caps on, it really goes a long way towards keeping your gauge last and keeping accurate.



I cheap out on the pump, 9 dollar autozone cig lighter pump tops off my tires in seconds..... Wont seat a bead mind you but it works
 
I think the bicycle pump might work well for my situation. As of now, the tire pressures seem to be off about 3 to 5 PSI whenever I check them COLD. However, if I check them after driving they seem to be at the correct factory specs. :nixweiss
 
JM19 said:
... if I check them after driving they seem to be at the correct factory specs. :nixweiss
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Just following the laws of physics. As the temperature goes up pressure increases. Driving on a tire heats it up.



Unfortunately the recommended inflation pressures are cold pressures. It's not a big deal but you might try adding a pound or two warm and checking them again cold until you get it where you want it.





PC.
 
I routinely use the air compressor I linked even for small PSI differences and it works wonderfully. Only negative about it I find is that it's a little too bulky if you wanted to bring it with you while biking.
 
Here is a crazy question.



Do you really need to put those little valve caps over the stems? Do they prevent leakage or are they just for show? Checking and putting air in one's tires would be a lot faster if you could simply remove the valve caps permanently leaving the bare stems.
 
I have a little Campbell Hausfeld that is cordless (rechargeable). It's nice because you're not messing with cords either from the lighter or the house, and it's about the size of a shoe box. I suppose you could keep it in the car with you if you really wanted. A single charge will let me top off my tires probably 10-15 times, then just plug it in overnight to recharge. It was about $35 @ Sears. I don't trust the gauge on it though-for that I have a digital guage from AccuTire.
 
Dude said:
Here is a crazy question.



Do you really need to put those little valve caps over the stems? Do they prevent leakage or are they just for show? Checking and putting air in one's tires would be a lot faster if you could simply remove the valve caps permanently leaving the bare stems.
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Yes, they really do provide a secondary seal against leakage. I consider myself to be a pretty impatient person at times...but I never thought I was wasting my life away for the 3 seconds it takes to screw or unscrew a valve cap! :confused:
 
kompressornsc said:
I have a little Campbell Hausfeld that is cordless (rechargeable). It's nice because you're not messing with cords either from the lighter or the house, and it's about the size of a shoe box. I suppose you could keep it in the car with you... I don't trust the gauge on it though-for that I have a digital guage from AccuTire.
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I have one of those that Accumulatorette takes with her on road trips :xyxthumbs And IIRC I give her an AccuTire brand digital gauge too! I *think* that's the brand, it was the one that matched my "benchmark" gauge.
 
I have a portable (re-chargable) air pump from Sears. It also is a dc outlet if the need arises. The neat thing is no cords to unwind and trail through the cars. Being battery powered it takes longer than a 120 volt AC Black and Decker one I had earlier (and wore out), but the portability outweighs the quickness. Cost was under $50. Plus being portable it can go down the road if the wife discovers a slow leak in a parking lot. Of course the gauge is inaccurate so I too use a digital gauge. Takes maybe 2-3 minutes to bump up the pressure 4 pounds or so on a truck tire.
 
Cold tires means those parked in the shade an not driven for at least 2 hours. Watch the ambient temp too. Tires can change 1 psi for every 10 degrees F change in temperature. There's a very good reason why I don't use gas station air pumps. They get the hell used out of them and I doubt they drain the water out very often. This means you're probably getting more water vapor in your tires which means even larger changes in pressure due to temp changes.



I check my tires once per month. More often is fine. Tires typically lose 1 psi of air pressure per month. I also use the little screw on valve caps that turn red when the pressure is low. My tires are inflated to 30 psi, so I use the 32 psi caps. When the pressure gets to 28, they start to turn red. I still check the pressure with a gauge once per month, but the caps are an easy way to do a quick check.



There are a lot of reasons to maintain proper tire pressure. One they always say is fuel economy. It doesn't take too many lbs of pressure loss to equal a 2% decrease in fuel economy. This doesn't sound like much, but think of it as getting a free tank of gas once per year just for checking your pressure 12 times.



One last tip is don't forget to check the pressure of the spare. There's nothing worse than having a flat out in the middle of nowhere and finding out you have two flats.
 
Yep that rechargeable compressor is the one I have also. I linked it earlier.



The caps do seem to make a difference plus another ornamental option is available: I have Audi ring logo valve stem caps on mine.



Pondscum said:
One last tip is don't forget to check the pressure of the spare. There's nothing worse than having a flat out in the middle of nowhere and finding out you have two flats.
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I do this at least at every oil change if not monthly
 
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