Hi all, I have a new F250 on the way and am looking into air compressors. All I want it for is filling my tires. I'd be interested in mounting it to the truck only if I could keep it well out of the way.

There's a lot out there, does anybody have any suggestions? Seems like I am looking for greater volume over PSI.

Thanks

 

Yes, look for cfm ratings rather than psi. Most any cheap 12V compressor can top 100 psi. That doesn't mean it will fill a tire before you get old. Duty cycle is another thing to watch. If you ever expect to air up more than one tire at a time you have a very good chance of overheating a lot of compressors.

The problem with getting a good 12V compressor is that high cfm means high power, and with only 12V, that means high amps. Doing that without overheating means a lot of copper, and it gets expensive.

I have a Viair on my Bronco. The price was relatively reasonable and it's not horribly slow airing up four 33/10.50-15 from 15 to 35 psi.

 

Thanks. I looked at a lot of CO2 stuff, and because I have two 4x4s that I drive on the beach regularly, I think that a non-mounted portable is the way to go. I've had a hard time finding a site that sorts 12v compressors by cfm. Which Viair do you have and how long would you expect it to fill a stock tire.

 

I don't remember the model. It's over 10 years old, so they probably don't have that exact model anymore anyway. It is a single cylinder (at least when I got it they had two cylinder models as well).

Hard to say how long it would take to air your stock tires up with my Viair. My 33/10.50-15 probably aren't much bigger than what you'll have, but I probably don't go as high pressure as you'll want. So I'd guess your tires will take a little more time than mine. I've never timed it, but it's probably 4-5 minutes / tire for me. Long enough that I feel like my family's getting antsy waiting for me, but short enough that my wife insists it's OK and I don't need to get a CO2 system.

 

i have twin viair 480's mounted in the 02 diesel with 12 gallons of tank capacity.
i also have a viair 88P portable for use in the other trucks.
the 88 is a nice unit, 25 minute duty cycle.
but it only takes 2-3 minutes to fill a low tire from 10-15 psi to 35 psi.
only issue is it gets HOT. so you can not just toss it in the back with plastics, it gets hot enough to melt plastic if not left to cool off for a few minutes.