I want to get something to keep air in my tires. Cant decide what kind to get. Would like recommendations. I don't go on long trips so I don't know that it is important I have the type I can keep in the car. Want a good gage and maybe recommendations on how often I should check the tires.

 

Tire Inflator | Slime

This works well!

 

Never pass up an opportunity to get a new multipurpose power tool. If you have a garage something like this could do what you need.

pancake compressor

 

Another vote for the pancake compressor. Mine is rated at 150 psi, and has enough flow to run spray guns and air tools. Works great to pump up bicycle and car tires.

 

For only topping up tires, pretty much anything will work. The 12V ones that plug into the lighter plug are sloooow and noisy, so probably something a little bigger is better.

If you think you might want to run some air tools or do other such things, consider what you reasonably might need and look up the air requirements for such things. Air nailers and staplers and blow-off guns don't need a huge compressor. Impact wrenches take a little more air, and many sprayers and sanders take quite a bit of air. (You can use some of these with an undersized compressor if you go in short bits. That's more practical with an impact wrench, say, than a sander.)

I have one of these compressors and it does fine for my uses. It's rather noisy, as is typical of direct drive compressors, but so far has been reliable and trouble-free. I think the same basic compressor is widely sold under different brands; this was the least expensive variant I could find locally when I was buying.

I also have one of these Fini AirBoss compressors for my motorhome. It's much more compact (it's a good bit smaller than the pancake compressors) and a little quieter in operation, but not quite so powerful (in terms of flow). It's plenty for filling tires, even to 80 PSI as the motorhome needs, and for running nailers. I'd probably give it a higher recommendation for your uses, as you've described them, than the other.

For filling tires, the tank size is not really a relevant consideration.

 

Thank you. This one sounds perfect. Now for an accurate gauge.

 

This one sounds pretty good too...

 

That looks like terrific compact, high pressure compressor. It would be perfect our needs at work. I may ordering one soon. Thanks for sharing the link.

 

Agreed, I wish I had such a compact compressor. I have a larger one (maybe 6-8 gal, not quite sure) and I basically use it to inflate the tires so it would be nice to have something that uses less garage space and that I could keep on a shelf rather than the floor.

 

i got the tiny one on amazon by Slime. thing is very small, yet DID NOT fit under the trunk floor in that foam tray. so stupid how honda designed the GK's trunk.

on my GE, there's a side pocket in the trunk. the same air pump fits in there just fine.

 

That foam tray is just begging to be remade out of wood or fiberglass or something... to give it more stability and durability but take up less volume, so you can actually use more of the space in that area.

 

completely agree! i hate how it uses up the donut's hub area too to support the foam from caving in. that cavity is good for carrying a lot of things.

 

I have a 20 year old, 20 gallon Craftsman roll-around that sees a lot of duty on my farm airing tires and running air tools, sandblasters, spray guns, etc.… probably overkill if all you're doing is filling your car tires every so often.

es

 

I wound up getting this one. Hope I made a wise choice:
Shop Stanley 2-Gallon 115-PSI 120-Volt Horizontal Electric Air Compressor at Lowes.com

 

It'll work fine to put air in the tires. It should also be adequate to run a nail gun (at least intermittently, depending on size) or an airbrush (but not a large spray gun). I think it'll be OK for what you want.

As for how often to check your tire pressure, maybe every week for a few weeks, and then you can adjust the schedule depending on whether they hold pressure properly or not. I only have to add air to my car tires maybe a couple or three times a year, most often when the temperatures get colder.

Don't forget to check and top up the spare while you're at it. Unfortunately, Honda set things up so that the valve stem faces down when the spare is stored, so you have to remove it to check the pressure—rather inconvenient, but it's even more inconvenient to get a flat and discover that your spare is also flat.

 

Buy a good one for the garage, but remember it's useless once you're away from home. I always carry a small portable unit in any car I drive and it has saved me a lot of inconvenience when getting slow leak nail flats. I just top off and leisurely drive to the nearest tire repair shop to get it taken care of. A small one suffices since it's only used in emergencies, doesn't matter to me it takes a few extra minutes over a larger unit to top off. You can store it in the foam spare tire spacer by cutting out the shape with a kitchen knife. Every car should have one... small first aid kit too.

 

For the portable one: do you use the kind that plug into the "cigarette" port or clip to the battery?

 

bicycle tire pump, light weight, portable

 

That sounds a bit small to me.

 

Cig port is fine. You only need the kind that clips to the battery, allowing for huge current draws, if you're trying to pump up something massive, like a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon's tire. Someone posted a Slime pump, that works just fine and will allow you to store it in your spare tire well - use a kitchen knife to enlarge a storage spot for it in the foam support structure where the jack goes into.


Also note to make sure to keep the car's engine ON when using the tire pump due to the puny battery they have in the Fit. You sure don't want to trade one problem for another by inflating your tire then realizing your car now doesn't start.