Tire Deflators - What Do You Use and Why?
- Thread starter nwoods
- Start date
1leglance
2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
These 100%,
I do the same thing, start at Drivers Front and work around, by the time I get back my 33s on 17s are down from 45 to 30 and a few seconds later 25lbs so I start the removal process.
Super easy and cheap
ducktapeguy
Adventurer
I have some Staun knockoffs and from Amazon and just picked up a couple of sets of coyote deflators. The Coyote's are supposed to be the equivalent or improved versions of the Stauns, plus they're cheaper and made in the US. Don't have the Stauns so I can't compare directly, but I'm happy with the Coyote, they're worth the extra cost over the other knockoffs. You can have them preset from the factory, and with my initial testing they are accurate to within 1 psi, which is good enough for me.
I use the Coyote's set at my most common off road pressure, and keep the other knockoffs for low pressure when the accuracy isn't as important.
I use the Coyote's set at my most common off road pressure, and keep the other knockoffs for low pressure when the accuracy isn't as important.
Two sets of Stauns/Coyotes. One set with two deflators at 45 and two at 35. The other with two at 25 and two at 20. When travelling in our Tacoma with 255/85/16 load range E, I just carry the low pressure set. When travelling in our EarthCruiser with 315/75/16 I carry both sets. In the EarthCruiser I'll mix and match the two sets depending on what surface & speed we anticipate.
Howard
Howard
TommyG
Adventurer
To Tommy and Arlindsay, I have to admit that on more than one occasion I discovered my Stauns where still on at the end of the trail when I went to air back up
Oh yeah. Sitting the cab with the empty pouch thinking "What the hell did I do with those things?"
TommyG
Adventurer
I LOVE this thing. I have the higher pressure version with a six foot hose and use it in the shop and out in the wild. Standing up and away from the tire valve with a gauge right under your nose is fantastic. It also has a pretty good flow rate compared to other inflators I have used.
BlindingWhiteTaco
Observer
I had an ARB deflator, but the gauge wasn’t high enough for a full size truck’s tire pressure. I bought the indeflate and have been pleased with it.
Regcabguy
Oil eater.
USA made too. They look good.
Roaddude
Long time off-grid vanlife adventurist
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Same, though what I've been using for couple years is the TeraFlex; looks identical though yours was less expensive than this one is now. Prices have been going up on all sorts of gear.
I have the ARB Deflators and one from Boulder Tools that you can preset desired low pressure. What I've found, though, is that these are always close at hand, right on my keychain or console and that, like @Herbie, I can start with one wheel, work my way around, and by the time I get back to the first wheel it is down about where I want.
The more I'm out wandering, the more I reach for the simplest, most efficient, tool, and that I am rarely in so much of a rush that I am concerned about a couple minutes time messing with air pressure. It's actually when I check my tread, lean my head into wheel wells to inspect, just generally do a check.
Even after a year of not going anywhere, I knew right where this was today and didn't have to unpack or open anything or dig for it.
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roving1
Well-known member
I am always a little surprised more people don't use a similar device. I use more or less the same that came with my Viaair compressor. It's fast enough and in a group the guys with deflators or valve core removers seem to finish airing down their tires and then proceed to screw around anyways so I see almost no real world time saving gains.
But what I never get is I almost never air down to the exact same pressure. It's always depends on the task. Beach sand, sandy track, mud and rock, smoothing out bumps, splitting the difference between off-roading and still being able to go 65 on pavement for a bit. Setting automatically to one pressure seems more trouble than it's worth to me.
Also on the filling side I have seen people use their ARB twin compressor to fill the tires super fast and then pop a pressure gauge on and off 4 times per tire until they get where they want. That seems like an annoying effort compared to just having an in line gauge.
Being able to stand up and fill while reading the gauge is great as well.
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geoffff
Observer
If anyone's wondering what the difference is between the JTBrooks "Pro" deflators ($100) and the JTBrooks not-Pro ones ($70) -- the Pro ones have PSI calibration markings written on them, while the cheaper ones don't. https://jtbrooks.com/our-products
I use these, by Lisle: https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools/tire-deflator-set
Without driving a few hours, or seeking out a dedicated off-road park, we don't have any forest service roads/trails that require airing down for traction, so I air down very rarely. These were cheap, compact, and reliable. I keep them in my console tray, along with a tire pressure gauge.
Without driving a few hours, or seeking out a dedicated off-road park, we don't have any forest service roads/trails that require airing down for traction, so I air down very rarely. These were cheap, compact, and reliable. I keep them in my console tray, along with a tire pressure gauge.