Portable tire inflator suggestions

[2oolhound]

I remember for about 35 years I never used to change my tire valve stems. They lasted forever but in the last 10 - 15 years you almost need to change them every time you install tires.

That said I've burned out at least 15 of the cheap 12V inflators. They were adaquate on my little Jimmy with 15" tires but when I got a 3/4 ton with 18" tires they got super hot and just died. They all struggled with the final 5 lbs which took forever until they over heated and died. I had tried many brands of 12v and 120v but usually cheapos. I moved up to a $99.99 one and it did OK but just OK on my 18" tires until it was stolen during a smash and grab.

My point here is it's worth noting the performance over time and at the higher pressures, how well do they hold out over time? This is starting to show now on this thread, good follow ups guys, keep em coming. I like the comments like "it does my 80 lb tractor tires" etc. That's the one I'll be leaning toward on my next purchase.

Great thread.

 

[Steel_Rain]

I love the Makita XGT inflator:


I have one in all my rigs. Quiet, and I have the cheater switch so I can set/forget it and walk away since it will stop at whatever you have it preset to.

 

[kngelv]

The Milwaukee 18V is the best out there.

James

 

[nerraw117]

The Milwaukee 18V is the best out there.

James

Agree. I have used a few and even the m12 inflator and the m18 is top notch

 

[bobg03]

I have this one. If the tire is completely flat it’ll struggle but for quick checks and top ups it’s really hard to beat. I’ve also been slowly swapping my m18 stuff for m12. It’s just so much lighter and easier to handle

I have the M12 too, I had to inflate my spare from 15# to 60# with a 4AH battery. Took a few but not too long, topped off 4 sets of tires before I finally swapped the battery for a fresh one. I was impressed.

 

[engineer2]

I have a couple of the Makita 18V inflators and they are the best out there. Pressure readings match my high accuracy digital gauge. Reliable and good ergonomics. I use my 12 year old 3.0 batteries since it is a light-duty application. No problem doing 12 car tires and a couple of bicycles and leaving one in the trunk for a few months.

 

[Steel_Rain]

I have a couple of the Makita 18V inflators and they are the best out there. Pressure readings match my high accuracy digital gauge. Reliable and good ergonomics. I use my 12 year old 3.0 batteries since it is a light-duty application. No problem doing 12 car tires and a couple of bicycles and leaving one in the trunk for a few months.

I agree, my XGT versions of these work great. I had the older Milwaukee version, but ditched that when I left the Milwaukee brand altogether. I feel like the Makita is better built and more quiet. It also seems to sip battery power.

 

[richfinn]

I recently treated myself to the Milwaukee M18 inflator (I already had the M18 charger/batteries), I deal with lots of flat Tires in my mobile work.

I love it fast/quiet/reasonable weight (even with a 12.0 ah battery) 4 memory settings for pressure (in PSI/BAR/KPA) auto shut off.

I upgraded the filler chuck with a "Lock-n-flate" for a flawless fast hook up, no more running air lines from the van for me

 

[turnthewrench 2.0]

DCC020IB is the best cordless inflator I’ve used so far.

That's the one I own. A workhorse.

 

[pbon]

I have the M12 and M18 Milwaukee since I have mostly Milwaukee tools and sharing batteries makes sense. The M12 gets the job done but is a little buzz box and will be slow on a flat tire. It is best for topping off but the small size and light weight are nice. The M18 is much more powerful.

 

[username2]

Just thought I'd tag onto this thread.

I've got both 18v Makita and M12 Milwaukee batteries. Need an inflator to throw in the car for trips and to use at home.

So:

Makita DMP181ZX ($169 Amazon)
Makita DMP180ZX ($102 Amazon)
Milwaukee 2475-20 ($84 Amazon)
...or cordless is bad use this:
VIAir88P ($80 Amazon)

What does the hivemind say?

 

[mikedodge]

I have a couple cheap ones, the newest was about $15 on amazon. They've saved me a couple times either coming out to a flat or having to add air right before a trip.

 

[tncatadjuster]

AstroAI Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor (Up to 150 PSI) Tire Pump for Car 12V DC Digital Air Pump with 12 LEDs Super Bright Light for Bicycle, Motorcycle, Automotive Car Accessories https://a.co/d/47EKVWh

 

[Achilleus]

If you do go for the DeWalt, I'd recommend one of these bags, it's super nicely made and you'll just want to hug it. It sits flat, and there's room for a can of vulcanizing fluid and your puncture tools.

 

[kngelv]

Just thought I'd tag onto this thread.

I've got both 18v Makita and M12 Milwaukee batteries. Need an inflator to throw in the car for trips and to use at home.

So:

Makita DMP181ZX ($169 Amazon)
Makita DMP180ZX ($102 Amazon)
Milwaukee 2475-20 ($84 Amazon)
...or cordless is bad use this:
VIAir88P ($80 Amazon)

What does the hivemind say?

The Makita 181. The Milwaukee M12 is kind of weak. The only one better than the Makita is the 18V Milwaukee.

James

 

[username2]

I spent a couple of minutes going through various rabbit holes. Jump starter + inflators, Chinesium jump starters that run off power tool batteries (the idea being, let's say, a Makita battery + inflator + jump start thingie), thinking about using the car for power vs. a battery. Analysis paralysis.

Grok appears to agree with the above posters. AstroAI for wired VIAir if you want heavy duty, Makita 181 for cordless. It also really likes some DeWalt product.

https://x.ai/

It's an amazing tool for thinking about stuff. Really worth a look. I just did some stupid complicated Social Security calcs with it.

AstroAI looks like the ticket, given that gas stations provide lottery tickets rather than air anymore, and I don't really need the portability of cordless. Naturally there are multiple versions.

Now if I could just find a tire chuck that isn't garbage, I've tried the name brands. Moroso tire gauges seem to work well, so it doesn't seem to be an impossible design problem.

edit: jeez Louise there's a lot of this stuff.

OK...is there any quality difference between this and this?

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

 

[Dig Doug]

I’ve got a few portable air filler devices

viair 400p
2- power tank co2 bottles
arb twin air compressor
2- m12 fillers
1- m18 filler

I use the m12 and m18 more often than all of the others due to simplicity & ease of use

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I have pretty much everything Doug has, and I agree. The M18 stuff is leap years ahead of the M12 for low tires, but the M12 is hard to beat for balancing tires out or general household duties (bicycles, sports balls, etc.). My favorite tire inflators are a Puma 12v with tank for passenger and LT tires and my Viair (can't remember the model) for my higher PSI stuff (12 ply tires). Granted, both of those aren't battery operated. The Viair is wired into my truck toolbox and I will actually go for that before I fire up my garage compressor.

 

[username2]

After looking at Amazon for a bit, my God there are a lot of inflator things. I like the looks of the NOCO gizmo, but am unconvinced there's $130 worth of goodness there. Short of finding a teardown channel that actually looks at the products, I just assume that they are all garbage inside.

This all came about because of my notion of putting together an emergency bag that follows me rather than the vehicle with the handful of thing I might actually do away from home. Air, jump start, decent lightweight jack (another story in itself), some lug sockets, breaker bar, bare minimum hand tools. Probably all for nothing as my lifetime of actual failures over 50 years has been, 1 jumpstart, 3 deflating tires.

It's funny to think of the tires:
. 1970 PI Galaxie - used super scary bumper jack + spare (1979)
. 1969 Z/28 - hissing tire, tire shop next to restaurant, ate lunch and let someone else deal with it (1989)
. late model truck - heavy rain, across street from coffee shop, used AAA for my one and only time (2010)

really these problems are rare.

 

[Ryno CW]

WOLFBOX 3000A Jump Starter with Air Compressor is a great pocket sized one to keep in the car for emergencies, but hands down DeWalt DCC0201B is my favorite. Highest cfms I've found so far without needing a cart or wheels to tote it around.

 

[NightSky]

No one has cared to mention the Worx product - https://www.worx.com/20v-power-share-portable-inflator-wx092l.html. I've owned this for about a year and am satisfied with it. As has been mentioned for other platforms, a cold Li battery doesn't perform well. And for that reason alone, I will look for something else to have in the trunk for the winter, maybe one of the Viair inflators.
I have used it to top off the tires and 60 psi spare on my Corolla. Worx claims a time of 4 mins 5 seconds to inflate a 215/55R17 tire from 0 to 36 PSI and a max pressure of 150 psi.