I got the $40 one from Harbor tool. It works better than the others.

I strongly recommend you carry a manual pump in addition to an electric pump. As a motorcyclist, I have read a lot about the portable pumps, and pretty much all of them will fail without warning. I do own a relatively expensive one that has a good reputation, but even it has stories of sudden failure.

A low pressure high volume bicycle floor standing pump will work quite well on a car tire. I ended up using one way out in the middle of nowhere after running over an old railroad spike (on the old transcontinental railway bed near the Utah Nevada border). At home I will use the floor pump to put air in the car tires. About 3 psi is not a big deal to add for this 63 year old.

One is none, two is one. It definitely applies to air pumps if you are relying on it.

My son bought one of the Kobalt "Inflators" from Lowes. I borrowed his truck one day and had to use it - that sold me. Since that one worked, I didn't look any further and picked up two, one for me and one for my wife.
Security blanket for only $40.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobal...-Source-Car/50137724

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I have the Dewalt 20v. It’s great. You can dial the psi to the setting you want, press start, then it auto shuts off when it reaches that psi. Had it about 3 or 4 years with no problems. This is it: https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-...e%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-3

I have a fair number of DeWALT cordless tools.

I ordered one of these and was quite excited to add it to my emergency kit. It failed on the first tire with an error code "Er S", (a fault with the pressure sensor), which requires a trip to an authorized service center. A quick google showed it was a fairly common issue so I returned it to Amazon.

I'm still looking for something to go in the trunk (capable of pressure above 60 PSI).

I bought three Slime brand tire inflators to put in each vehicle for emergency needs.
Less then $20.

Project Farm has a video comparing inflators.

If it’s for keeping in your car, don’t buy a battery powered one. Get one that attaches to your car battery for power. Viair is a good one.

I bought THIS one last week. So far it has filled four car and two bike tires and battery still shows three bars. It was 1/3 the cost of the DeWalt model and way smaller. It feels and looks cheap, but it got the job done and the pressure gauge is within 1psi. Will it last the long haul? Who knows...for now I'm happy with it.

Milwaukee M12 for me. Looking back at it, I should've bought the M18 but the M12 was on sale. Go with your current battery system if you already have one.

Like trapper189 said, look at your needs. Itty bitty tire you need to top off every once in a while? The cheap one will probably be good. Bigger tires you air down for off road, or any tire you want to inflate from dead flat, get something rated for continuous duty.

I wouldn't rely on a battery operated one. Too much risk of me forgetting to keep the battery charged and it being dead when I need it.

So, figure out your needs. Then bite the bullet and just get a Viair.

I bought a 12v inflator for my wife's car and keep it in the compartment with the spare tire . I think it's a SLIME brand . Works ok , just not portable like a cordless model .

I’ve put one of the harbor freight battery operated units in each vehicle. They are cheap and they work.

If you look at getting one that plugs into cigarette lighter, then make sure you check the fuse rating against the compressor current draw.
My mazda only has 15A at outlet, and I blew a fuse when trying to pump a flat. So , ended up getting a compressor that didn't draw 20A. Who would have guessed.....

I got a super cheap Chinese "Jojoy Lux" brand from Amazon a couple years ago and it's done nothing but work. Set it to the pressure, hit the button, and it fills it. The onboard tpms agrees with it, too. No idea how long it will last, but it has made it easy to keep my tires inflated properly.

I have a bunch of Ryobi 18V stuff and all have been outstanding.

Only one I have broken is this inflator.
https://www.ryobitools.com/pro.../details/33287178452

Granted it only cost $20. It’s getting repaired under warranty as we speak.

I have a little junker that plugs into the cigarette lighter that has worked for over a decade it is just slow.

Going to get one of these
https://www.viaircorp.com/portables/400p-auto

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I have a bunch of Ryobi 18V stuff and all have been outstanding.

Only one I have broken is this inflator.
https://www.ryobitools.com/pro.../details/33287178452

Granted it only cost $20. It’s getting repaired under warranty as we speak.

Try one of these instead. It's the better/beefier Ryobi inflator. Mine's the previous generation version, but same thing.

https://www.ryobitools.com/pro.../details/33287178780

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
I strongly recommend you carry a manual pump in addition to an electric pump. As a motorcyclist, I have read a lot about the portable pumps, and pretty much all of them will fail without warning. I do own a relatively expensive one that has a good reputation, but even it has stories of sudden failure.

A low pressure high volume bicycle floor standing pump will work quite well on a car tire. I ended up using one way out in the middle of nowhere after running over an old railroad spike (on the old transcontinental railway bed near the Utah Nevada border). At home I will use the floor pump to put air in the car tires. About 3 psi is not a big deal to add for this 63 year old.

One is none, two is one. It definitely applies to air pumps if you are relying on it.

I was thinking about that! I have one of those pumps at home for my mountain bike. Actually, I used to keep it in the car because I would check the tires on my mountain bike regularly before going on a ride. I might throw it back it the car.

For a portable battery powered one, I use Gooloo. I'm pretty sure this was Project Farm tested and was pretty good.

I mainly use it to top off a few PSI here and there, not for complete empty or really low tires.
The built in digital gauge pretty much matches my mechanical Jaco pressure gauge, maybe a half pound variance. Good enough for me.

https://www.amazon.com/GOOLOO-...mFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Another vote for Viair 88p for standard passenger car and SUVs with standard tires.

Reasons:

1) Decouple the air compressor from a battery pack or cordless system. Your car has power. Why increase complexity and add another maintenance point for something that's supposed to be solving problems, not causing more problems.

2) The flow rate and duty cycle is plenty, and better than most compressors anyway. Quiet too.

3) Uses clamps directly onto the vehicle battery terminal, rather than the 12v cigarette lighter port. One fewer vehicle fuse to potentially fry.

The 88P is the one that lives in the car most of the time. I have a 18v Ryobi inflator (that also doubles as a high-flow mattress and pool toy inflator) that is very handy to have around just to top off tires here and there, but I wouldn't keep that in the car and depend on it in a flat tire situation.

quote:

Originally posted by rainmaker5505:
Do you have cordless tools already? If you do, then the best answer is the one that works with the batteries you already have. I have milwaukee stuff, so I have a milwaukee inflator. I also keep a cordless impact in my truck with the appropriate socket for my lug nuts, because if I have to actually change that tire and its 20 degrees and dark, I'm not screwing around with the lousy tools that came with the truck. The impact is Milwaukee too.

I have several Craftsman battery powered yard tools, so I might have to think about this too.