I’m sure I add air eight times or more from September to January when temperatures are steadily dropping. You must live somewhere where the temperature is fairly constant.
It’s about twice a year with the change in seasons. When it goes from 60 or more to 20, ya have to add some air. When it goes below zero I monitor it to see if more air is needed. Only if one tire shows low will I get the soap out to check for leaks. Maybe every three years or so. Picking up a nail or screw is a pretty rare event but when that happens, depending on the tire life left, I like to,put new ones on.
I have a big compressor in the garage for when I’m home. but I keep one of these in the trunk. it seems to work well. you set the pressure you want, and it will go about a half a pound over to compensate for the air you might lose unscrewing it from the tire. it says not for truck tires, but I have used it to fill the tires when I had an f-150
Amazon.com: EPAuto 12V DC Portable Air Compressor Pump, Digital Tire Inflator : Everything Else
I have one in the trunk of both of my cars since you don’t know if you will be near the car with the pump if you need it. And the full truth is I have two in each trunk. One is the 12 v plug-in Harbor Freight ones I have had for years (I don’t see them online today) and the other is the older model Ryobi that works off their 18 volt batteries. It is quieter and faster than the others. I keep the plug in one in case the Ryobi battery fails (they never have-I rotate them out to charge).
I can’t imagine pumping car tire volumes of air with a bike pump; it is bad enough doing my bike tires with the hand pump.
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I suppose it could be useful but there has only been one time when I picked up a screw on a trip and needed air to get to my destination to get it fixed. I found a station with an air hose. Otherwise I’ve always used my garage compressor.
Oops, thanks corrected now…
This is the one I like (link below) but it doesn’t have a trigger lock, so you have to babysit it, no different then using a shop air, but most have a set it and walk away, BUT it does seem pretty fast compared to others, so there is that…
BTW, We go from 105 degree days to, well this morning it was 16 degrees, during the calendar year, and it will get colder, and I have already in the last couple months had to top off air in 6 vehicles not counting the fun car, the weather here is up and down a lot of days through out the year 20-30 degrees sometimes more in one day… We often can have enough of a drop in one day that we would get overwhelmed/or overloaded with customers TPMS lights coming on that just need topped off…
Yeah, I’d want one where you set the pressure and it shuts off. This one says it does, it’s a lot like the Ryobi I have:
Amazon.com: CRAFTSMAN Inflator/Vacuum/Blower 3-IN-1, Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor with LED Light, Car Vacuum or Blower, Ultra Quiet, Max Pressure 160 PSI, 12V DC Corded And 20V DC Cordless Battery : Automotive
I’ve looked at that one also, really want something less bulky, much smaller… The vacuum part might be nice, but I would probably never use it… lol
I hate picking stuff out for myself, I have no issues helping others spend their money, but when it comes to mine, well, you might be starting to see the problem…
I got a digital Chuck for my compressor, compared the readings to my hand held gauge and the car’s read out, all three gave me the same reading. It is good, fill and adjust pressure easily. Though it reads to tenths of a pound I suspect it is more likely around a half pound.
That airmoto unit looks good for bike tire, PIA to get a clamp style connector onto a bicycle tire tube that is totally flat.
Generally speaking, I only need to inflate/deflate according to seasonal temperature changes.
The vehicle mfr specifies 33 psi, and during the warmer months I keep my tires inflated to 36-37 psi. When temps start to drop in the fall, I add 3-4 psi in order to compensate for the pressure drop.
On even the coldest morning so far, the tires were at 33 psi, and after 30 minutes or so of driving, they are at my desired level of 36-37 psi. When spring returns, I will have to take a few psi out of the tires, but I probably won’t have to touch them again until the following Fall, but I do check them each day, thanks to the convenience of the TPMS readout on the car’s screen and on my smartphone.
Yes, I suppose that the Pacific NW has fairly mild weather compared to places that have 80 degree temp swings throughout the year. Today is in the 40’s, summer will be in the 80’s. But also the tire pressure will be checked and adjusted at each oil change, so 1-4 times per year depending on the car and that will account for seasonal temp changes.
Also I’m not going to bother adjusting pressure based on a few degrees of temp changes. Assuming tire pressure changes 1psi for every 10 degrees of ambient temp, I should be able to go from March to June with no discernable change in air pressure.
2 cars, top off the air in each about every 6 months.