Air compressor

[George Frudakis]

What is the best air compressor to have to fill the tires. also the best air gauges.
Thanks

george

[Bruce Sieloff]

One that goes to 150 psi, that way you can get your tires to 125 if needed. My coach compressor only went to 105 and that wasn't enough for me since I run higher pressures. I bought a single cylinder Kobalt on sale for $139 at Lowes (tip from Roy Warren) with an extended warranty about 3 years ago and it does the job just fine, is compact to tuck into the bay on its nose and it has saved my bacon more than once. I'm sure you can pay a lot more but space is an issue and I have time to wait for the fill. I bought 30 feet of good high pressure hose and a standard air fill fitting with no pressure gauge built in. My pressure gauge is a standard stick trucker gauge from NAPA, about $33. Been satisfied so far. You can calibrate your gauge against any known trusted source. 

[Bill Sprague]

You don't need a compressor to fill tires.  Use the one built in to your rig.   The technique involves triggering the compressor so that it pumps long enough.

This explains it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDOqCk6dTuo

And this is an update:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5fK54DKWP0

That said, my favorite compressor is a Makita MAC700 Big Bore 2.0 HP.  It costs a little more, but it has a very small footprint.   

[Stan Simpson]

VIAIR 400P-RV..the best thing since sliced bread. Has hose that will reach from the front of a 45 ft coach, to the rear. Comes in a little canvas bag, and weighs about 11 lbs. Will fill 295/80/22.5 tires from 90 to 105 PSI in about 45 seconds. Runs off the 12V battery in the coach, or the one in your toad.

A Christmas present from Becky four years ago. Wouldn't leave home without it.

http://www.viaircorp.com/portables/400p-rv-auto/

[Gerald Farris]

For my coach, I have 2 Viair 444C 12 volt compressors mounted in the basement running into a 3 gallon tank with a pressure switch that cuts them on at 160 PSI and off at 200 PSI. I chose the higher pressure compressors because I run 120 PSI in my tires, and compressors that cut on at 120 PSI or less, including the engine driven compressor, do not have enough pressure differential to air up my tires. However, with a 160 to 200 PSI source, setting air pressure is a breeze. 

Gerald 

[Pat Long]

Gerald,    Do you really run that much pressure in a 3 gallon tank, Wow.   I think you are pushing your luck.

[Joel Ashley]

My Makita MAC700 has a tank gauge to 200psi, though its cutout is set at 130. 

I built a device to carry with the coach that's like the one in the links Bill provided, and it works better than I expected. 

http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,4277.0.html

So I don't carry the Makita with us on the rig, although I can use it easy enough if the coach is home next to our garage where the Makita connects to a 50ft ceiling hose reel just inside the door.  It's phenomenal for any common household and tire inflation including the coach, but lags a bit in blowing out our sprinkler system before winter;  the little tank can't quite match any one sprinkler zone's capacity and struggles to provide even a consistent 50psi, so I should've gone bigger for that, but it eventually does the job - just takes longer.  For everything else I couldn't be happier with it.

Thanks to Ed Buker for recommending the unit a couple years ago.  It's a bit more expensive these days. 

https://www.amazon.com/Makita-MAC700-Big-Bore-Compressor/dp/B0001Q2VK0#productDetails 

If you didn't want to build the space-saving device like I did, Gerald's 3g. tank or Stan's little tankless ViAir or the Makita should be considered.  All high-quality and capable.

Joel

[George Frudakis]

Its the  vlair for me. Thanks all for the info
George