[Quick Survey] Got a tire inflator? Tell us what's missing

[TreadAuto]

Hey everyone!

We're TreadAuto, proud sponsor of this forum, and we're currently doing research on portable wireless tire inflators.

We want to hear directly from you, the people who actually use this stuff.

A few questions we'd love your input on:

1. What's something your current tire inflator can't do that you wish it could?
2. Any features that feel clunky, slow, or frustrating to use?
3. Is there a feature you've never seen on an inflator but always wanted?

No agenda here, just genuinely trying to understand what matters to real truck owners. Drop your thoughts below, even a quick one-liner helps a ton.

Your ideas matter—they could actually become real features in our future product, and help more people get the inflator they truly need.

Thanks in advance!

Sponsored

 

[Loudpa]

I would like an inflator that allows one to deflate to a desired pressure as well as inflate.
Battery operation as well with ability to charge say a phone.

 

[WV-Mtnyr]

I have several compressors, none of them can do air mattresses or water flotation. I use a seperate one for those.

 

[Dino Jockey]

Do not and would not consider using a battery powered inflator for any vehicle. Too slow and do not want to worry about battery dying or toting around additional batteries. Direct connect to vehicle battery whether hard wires or clamps is much more efficient and dependable. My .2.

 

[gregdconsulting]

I have a battery inflator and some that plug-in to the cigarette lighter receptacle. The battery one is great, but I never know if it is charged or keeping a charge. A charge indicator either always on or activated by a button would be great. I also don't know how long the battery might last. I mostly use the inflator for bike tires, but travel with it in the car on longer trips with a plug kit. The one I have allows a set pressure to be entered and the item is inflated to that pressure. That is great! As a marketing ploy, I would sell one with a plug kit and pliers, then target people with run-flat tires. The Ranger has a spare tire, so not this forum. I go to Costco to fill my Ranger tires with nitrogen.

 

[Cliff3]

I currently use a Ryobi 18v inflator that has apparently been discontinued by the mfg.

Cons:

• It does not let me set a pressure to inflate to, then shut itself off.
• It does not have a bleed valve.
• Its pistol grip design requires me to hold it while it works
• The pressure gauge is inaccurate and requires me to use my Longacre gauge to confirm pressure. I overfill with the Ryobi inflator, then bleed to the desired pressure with the Longacre gauge.
• Hose storage/management is weak

Pros:

• It uses a widely available battery system that I have adopted as one of my personal standards (I also have a number of Makita tools, and an Ingersoll-Rand impact wrench for my other battery systems)
• It's small
• Performance with a 2Ah battery is good

I have 2 Longacre tools: an inflator attached to a large compressor and a handheld gauge. Both gauges display the same pressure, so it should be possible for an inflator manufacturer to provide an accurate gauge. Since you're asking this in a truck forum, the inflator should be aimed at filling truck and trailer tires (RV, boat, etc) and push a lot of air, i.e.: fairly high CFM. I have other ways to fill bicycle tires, balls, pool floats, and air mattresses.

I have in the past used 12vdc inflators from Viair with either cigarette lighter plugs or alligator clips to connect to the vehicle's battery. The former tended either to break or overwhelm the amperage rating of the cigarette lighter circuit in the car, while the battery can sometimes to difficult to connect to or is located in an inconvenient place (it was in the trunk of my BMW E46). I prefer using a dedicated battery for the inflator.

 

[Sauce]

Hey everyone!

We're TreadAuto, proud sponsor of this forum, and we're currently doing research on portable wireless tire inflators.

We want to hear directly from you, the people who actually use this stuff.

A few questions we'd love your input on:

1. What's something your current tire inflator can't do that you wish it could?
2. Any features that feel clunky, slow, or frustrating to use?
3. Is there a feature you've never seen on an inflator but always wanted?

No agenda here, just genuinely trying to understand what matters to real truck owners. Drop your thoughts below, even a quick one-liner helps a ton.

Your ideas matter—they could actually become real features in our future product, and help more people get the inflator they truly need.

Thanks in advance!

A battery powered inflator that is as powerful and reliable as an arb twin (heck even an arb single) would be amazing but I can’t see that happening. I don’t think there is anything battery powered that is remotely close and while my experience with them is limited I can’t imagine using a battery powered unit to fill four tires from 15 to 30 psi given how long it would take. That’s my use case and why I use an arb twin.

If it were possible to come anywhere close to that performance it would be very interesting. Otherwise it’s more of a backup/ convenience device for top off vs a primary inflation device.

Setting pressure for inflate/deflate would be good. Maybe with an app that connects to CarPlay so I can monitor inflation from phone or CarPlay (cool but not critical). This becomes more important on a 2 or 4 tire system.

Quieter.

Battery monitoring unit that doesn’t take a lot of babysitting. Something that can be safely stored on full battery (and reliably hold that charge).

Something allowing me to use the battery to jump a car.

 

[pablo94sc]

I got one of Amazon for $60. Can run off a 12v for small things, and direct off the vehicle battery for things like tires. Has a digital pressure guage built-in, and auto cutoff at desired pressure, which matches my accurate tire guages. Can't recall if the display is back-lit. Works a treat even if it's slower.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BGHHH779?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[TNMike]

I keep a DeWALT model DCC020IB inflator in my wife's 4-Runner with a 5Ah battery and it fits the bill perfectly. She had carried a cheap 12V inflator in her trunk for years and used it quite a few times and was proud of it. It had to be plugged in and the cord had to run outside to the tire that was low or flat. And it was slow. That is not acceptable if she is by herself on the side of the road or in a parking lot somewhere. With this DeWALT inflator, all she has to do is insert the battery, connect the hose, set the pressure and hit the start button. The gauge is accurate and it shuts down automatically. It has adaptors to inflate anything and it's quick. The old inflator went to Good Will and gave somebody a job! I would highly recommend the DeWALT.

 

[superj]

i have no idea. all those little portable inflators seem to suck, that i have ever used. the best one i have used, i got using a 100 dollar gift card from them for some reason. the compressor is solid but the framing around it sucks and the feet broke off. it also gets super hot and takes forever to fill sp i would hate to actually be in an emergency situation and trying to use it to get a vehicle back on the road.

i have no idea how anyone could make a decent portable compressor that is easily useable by anyone on the side of hte road and also quick. really all the junk one could want or need added to one is already done by this company or that and none are particularly great.

the wired ones seem to be the best but then it sucks to walk the wire to each wheel and hope its long enough. and you lose so much power on such a long wire that the wire gets hot and the compressor gets hot.

 

[Chuck2001]

Reliable, quality, repairable, battery connected (not wireless), automatic deflate and inflate to a set pressure, performance (high flow version vs high pressure version depending on application)

All I care for.

 

[flux-capacitor]

Hey everyone!

We're TreadAuto, proud sponsor of this forum, and we're currently doing research on portable wireless tire inflators.

We want to hear directly from you, the people who actually use this stuff.

A few questions we'd love your input on:

1. What's something your current tire inflator can't do that you wish it could?
2. Any features that feel clunky, slow, or frustrating to use?
3. Is there a feature you've never seen on an inflator but always wanted?

No agenda here, just genuinely trying to understand what matters to real truck owners. Drop your thoughts below, even a quick one-liner helps a ton.

Your ideas matter—they could actually become real features in our future product, and help more people get the inflator they truly need.

Thanks in advance!

• A compressor that can inflate everything from pool floats to a tire would be great
• One where you can set the pressure and not have to fiddle with a phone. A simple physical interface like those automatic tire inflaters you might see at a gas station.
• Something that can withstand harsh conditions that come with being mounted on the under side of the truck.
• Duty cycle management and safety guards. I just want to be able run the thing and not worry about exceeding the limits of the compressor
• Air filter and intake relocation
• A 100% duty cycle would be cool

 

[purdyd]

I keep a DeWALT model DCC020IB inflator in my wife's 4-Runner with a 5Ah battery and it fits the bill perfectly. She had carried a cheap 12V inflator in her trunk for years and used it quite a few times and was proud of it. It had to be plugged in and the cord had to run outside to the tire that was low or flat. And it was slow. That is not acceptable if she is by herself on the side of the road or in a parking lot somewhere. With this DeWALT inflator, all she has to do is insert the battery, connect the hose, set the pressure and hit the start button. The gauge is accurate and it shuts down automatically. It has adaptors to inflate anything and it's quick. The old inflator went to Good Will and gave somebody a job! I would highly recommend the DeWALT.

I have the dewalt also and while it is not exceedingly fast, because it shuts off automatically and screws onto the valve, it is exceedingly useful. With th 6Ah battery I have never run out of power and it also has an option for 9V power.

It is very easy to go around a vehicle and top off the tires. I've also aired down before and used it to pump back up. No issues.

I hear the Milwaukee is faster but it doesn't automatically shutoff.

What I miss is being able to let air out to a specific pressure.

Also, while the dewalt has a low pressure high volume capability, it doesn't auto shutoff in that capacity. That would make it handier for things if it did.

The dewalt also has a light which I suppose could be handy.

 

[Medic 6]

I carry a Dewalt tire inflator and micro battery jump box. No issues with either and work great.

 

[jpschneid]

I just purchased a highly-rated one that is also a jump pack. (YaberAuto 12-in-1 Jump Starter with Air Compressor). I've only used it once, but so far it's worked well .... maybe improve upon the features?

Sponsored