Checking air pressure

[xo1rider]

I'm new to travel trailers in general, my Airstream is my first railer.

It's becoming a puzzle to me how to check and air my tires, in general I have a compresser at home but the trailer lives in a storage yard. I tried one truck stop with no luck at all.

I bought a tiny little 110V compressor that works fine, when I'm hooked up at a park to power I plug it into the external outlet and spend what seems like 20 minutes per tire. It's got me thinking about buying a generator and hauling around a heavy compressor in the back of my tow vehicle.

Is there someplace on the road that you know of where you can easily have access to a professional grade compressor?

[HowieE]

Any truck stop will have air. You may have to go through the truck fuel line to get to it but most have a separate location for air.

Sears has several small compressors that will do fine at home. Any compressor with a tanks should do you.

Most important is the correct pressure. Check this chart for against your trailer weight.

http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/pdfs/rv_inflation.pdf

[Castaway]

I just bought a Cambell Hausfeld 2 gallon compressor, not only does it pump up the tires but I can blow out the water lines for winterizing. Only cost around $75.00 and takes up very little space.

[Ahab]

Costco sells a heavy duty 12v compressor. It needs to be hooked directly to the battery because it draws a lot of amps but it fills the tire fast and does not weigh a lot.

[xo1rider]

Thanks Ahab,

That might do the trick, I'm trying to avoid carrying a "real" compressor in the back of the truck. I tried a couple of truck stops on my last trip in once case the machine took my quarters but the check on the hose was so beat up I lost more air than I added.

I just wish I could store the trailer at home but I live in a suburban neighborhood with a tiny driveway. The storage yard I'm using does not have a compressor or for that matter electricity.

[withidl]

No mention has been made that the tires MUST be at ambient temperature when adding/removing air. If you drive to a truckstop or other facility with air the AS tires will have aquired heat from the road surface and from "flexing" friction, which will cause each of them to be at a different pressure; so to accurately inflate them you would have to allow the AS tires to sit for some time to return to ambient before adding/removing air.

[aftermath]

withidl makes a good point. You should always check your pressure when the tires are cold. I store my trailer off site as well but can park it in front of my house prior to trips. I bring it home and let it sit overnight. I check and air the tires the next day.

While on the road I check them every now and then. When I was bringing my trailer home for the first time I went through the same experience you had. I stopped in to a truck stop and was directed to some cheap pump that wouldn't inflate the tires in a timely fashion. I then drove to a tire shop where they pumped them up at no charge.

I have one of those little emergency compressors and that will have to do. I don't like carrying a bunch of stuff around.

If you can't park the trailer at your place I would check the pressure while cold and record how many pounds of air you need. Drive it to a facility that has a pump and then add that many pounds. JMHO

[Goal15]

I bought a Black and Decker Air Station that runs on DC and 110V because I couldnt find any place where i could actually pull the AS up next to the air station at filling stations and the closest truck stop to me is a very busy TA and I just hate to get in the way of those guys out there making a living on the road.

I have found that it takes about 7-8 minutes to top off each tire, so i can do it in the morning before we take off for a trip while I am messing around with all the other last minute things like loading the bicycles, etc.

the Air Station gets mixed reviews on the internets but so far mine has worked as it is supposed to. But i will be looking into that $75 compressor because while a neighbor says i can borrow his, im the kind of person who hates to impose on the good nature of neighbors if I don't have to

[dkottum]

The tires should not lose much if any air, so I have a quality hand pump (the kind you stand on the base and use two hands to pump) with a built-in pressure gauge. Always have power (me) available to top the tires off. Lightweight, easy to use and store.

doug k

[Goal15]

Doug

You know, I had thought about doing just that but wasn't sure it would work. Not sure why I doubted it, after all car tires were pumped up that way back in the day..... could have saved myself some money

Dana

[perryg114]

Keep in mind that most mechanical tire pressure gages have a huge calibration error. I have seen any two be 10psi or more different than each other. However, the electronic gages seem to be much more accurate and consistant with each other. The old sliding scale type that pops out seem to be more accurate than the dial type. Always check tires when they are cold. Some tires leak more than others but outside air temp has a lot to do with pressure. A tire that does not leak at all will read several psi lower when it is cold outside. So you take a tire already low on air and then it gets cold outside, you have a problem. The little cigarette lighter powered pumps work ok but most of them have very low volume and it takes forever to pump up an RV tire, some have higher volume than others. These are better than nothing on the road. Always good to have a real air compressor at home.

Never use flat fixer in a can because it makes the tire almost impossible to patch when you get to a garage. Do carry the do it yourself tubeless tire patch kit to temporarily patch a tire on the road. It is stuff that looks like hairy string you stick in the hole. Then use your 12V pump to get air back in it assuming you did not let it explode or come off the rim before you stopped.

Perry

[Bill M.]

In regards to filling up tires at a truck stop after they are hot. You can check the pressure in the morning before you leave and then add that amount to whaterver pressure they are at the truck stop.

[FlashSilver]

Originally Posted by dkottum

The tires should not lose much if any air, so I have a quality hand pump (the kind you stand on the base and use two hands to pump) with a built-in pressure gauge. Always have power (me) available to top the tires off. Lightweight, easy to use and store.

doug k

Not to mention a pretty good upper body workout. I have two hand pumps with gauges that I use for my bikes, one bike needs 120 lbs psi and the other 65lbs psi. I always have one pump in the Toyota, but I never thought of using it on the trailer tires, or the TV. Of course they will work, and will fill slow enough so we can get the pressure just right. Thanks for the blinding glimpse of the obvious for those of us oblivious to such things.

[TBRich]

We also have a small 12v compressor that we carry with us. It was important to me to get one that attaches directly to the battery rather than using a cigarette lighter plug because those often don't reach far enough to use on a trailer. With the battery set up I can use the truck battery or the rig batteries, depending on the situation.

Also, we have PressurePros. So when we bring the Bambi into the driveway the day before we leave, I park the truck in front of the Bambi as if it was hitched, and plug in the PressurePro receiver in the truck...I can get a pressure reading for each tire without actually taking the pressure at each tire. Then, if one or more need topping off, I can do that while they are still cold.

[Zigidachs]

Just a few thoughts from lots of reading:
1) Check the COLD tire pressure every morning before departure. ( a tire pressure monitoring system eliminates that hassle, but costs. It is interesting that while towing, the PSI increases after towing only 10+ miles even if you start a little low)
2) Obviously use a reliable gauge.
3) We carry a Home Depot special air compressor.....didn't cost a lot of money, but has way more than enough capacity to increase the PSI in a minute or two..runs off a/c--plugs into the side of the AS- if on shore power- or into a generator. Problem: bulky (but rides in its comfortable home in the bed of the truck)
4)NEVER let air out of a HOT or WARM tire....could ruin the bead / rim interface.
5)Be ready to change out tires every 4-5 years. The older the tire, the more likely it will fail.
6)NEVER use tire "dressing" on the tire if it has petroleum distillates.....causes deterioration of tire-cracking and hardening.
7) Conflict: the only problem we have encountered occurred when traveling this fall in the mountains. The morning temps dipped into the low 40's(tire pressure dropped about 5psi - we run Michelin's with a max of 80psi) and then the daytime temps would rise to the high 70's. I usually start off the morning with the tires at 80psi, but when the temps dropped, I saw that the psi's dropped to 74-75psi. After running 10+miles, the psi's returned to normal at 80psi. I asked several truckers about this issue, and they basically told me that I should not worry, and that the tires that fail are those that are very under-inflated.

Just my .02. Great advice on this thread. Zigi

[Wingeezer]

You could always buy an "Air Pig" - it is is just a portable air tank. You can get one at Harbor Freight or other auto places.

You said that you had a compressor at home, and so you could fill up the "pig" and take it along when you go check on the trailer.

I used to do that whenever we would go to collect our trailer which we store about 15 miles from home just in case I found one tire low.

Now that we have a little Honda gennie, i just throw that + a small 110v compressor in the back of the truck in case I might need it.

Brian.

[Zigidachs]

Checked up on "Brutus", the AS today. Temps to dip toward 32 tonight. Fired up the furnace--batteries sustained by a 145W solar panel--and warmed the little guy up to 58 degrees to settle in over night. Didn't winterize because we are planning to use the AS throughout the winter- mostly visiting kids in Calif.

Pulled up to Brutus, activated the tire pressure monitor, found the psi's to be at 73 instead of 80, temps at 39 degrees. Connected the compressor to the genie and aired up in less than ten minutes.

Love the tire pressure monitors. Our "friends" need attention and affection!

[perryg114]

My solution is check your tires by eyeball and touch when you stop. Don't buy trailer tires and pay attention. Check tire pressure before you leave on a trip. Flats I have had on cars I see before I get in that something is not right. I lost a tire patch going over a rail road track and I stopped as soon as I heard air escaping from the tire. The tire was fixed and I drove it till it wore out. If you check your tires often and pay attention you will be ok.


Perry

[Jim Foster]

Any tire shop on the road should have a hose long enough to add air to your tires. We needed a new valve stem and air and got them both at a Walmart.

[techiej]

You can also use a 12VDC inflator pump. While it won't work as fast as an AC unit all you need is a cigarette lighter plug for it to work.

FYI -- I have a used one that I'm looking to sell...PM me if interested.