Smittybilt Compressor

[woody]

Won one (courtesy Discount Tire!) while at the FJ Summit and decided to put it to the test...further abuse pending, but impressed thus far...

http://www.rockcrawler.com/forum/threads/smittybilt-air-compressor-2780.1263/

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

Nicely done air compressor test Woody.

But, the performance of this Smittybilt portable air compressor is nothing to write home about . . . . . 28 minutes for 4 tires? Run your vehicle (to power the compressor) for almost 1/2 an hour to air up the 4 tires?

That is why I went with a 20 lb. CO2 bottle - air-up 4 33 inch tires in about 10 minutes total. Cost was under US$100.

Regards,

Alan

 

[woody]

. . . 28 minutes for 4 tires? Run your vehicle (to power the compressor) for almost 1/2 an hour to air up the 4 tires?

Where did I say the car was running? It was not. The compressor runs faster when the car IS running...so time would have been less.

CO2 is great....provided you have a secure position for the bottle (there are some scary videos out there of bottle explosions)...provided it doesn't run out when you've got 3 aired up to highway pressure and are left with one not aired up yet...

I have CO2. Three, to be exact (one in the 80, one that was in the FJ40, and one that rotates between my UTV's). Compressor's are still very useful.

That is why I went with a 20 lb. CO2 bottle - air-up 4 33 inch tires in about 10 minutes total. Cost was under US$100.

My 5# aluminum CO2 bottle was more than that...not including the fill or the fittings or a mount (and certainly not a regulator)...where is this $100 deal?

 

[cartercd]

I believe Smittybilt sources their compressors from the same manufacturer as the popular SuperFlow compressors (according to LowRange Off-Road as well as comparing pics). Perhaps a better Smittybilt option for larger tires is model 2781, which is identical to the SuperFlow MV-90. This unit has 5.65cfm vs the 2.54cfm of the Smittybilt 2870 (the compressor in original post). My 2781 does the job, but the leader hose did crack way sooner than it should have, and I noticed the barbed connector (aluminum) coming out of the unit uses a non-standard thread size. This made it difficult to convert to a different hose setup.

 

[Josie'sLandCruiser]

Hi all,

Sorry Woody, I just assumed that the truck would be running while an electric air compressor was running for over 20 minutes.

Where did I say the car was running? It was not. The compressor runs faster when the car IS running...so time would have been less.


No doubt about it! I have a spot in my '40 for the 20 lb. CO2 tank that is within the roll cage. And I do have to be aware of how much gas I have left.

CO2 is great....provided you have a secure position for the bottle (there are some scary videos out there of bottle explosions)...provided it doesn't run out when you've got 3 aired up to highway pressure and are left with one not aired up yet...

I have CO2. Three, to be exact (one in the 80, one that was in the FJ40, and one that rotates between my UTV's). Compressor's are still very useful.

I use a standard 20 lb. CO2 bottle with a fixed 90 PSI regulator that I bought through a welding supply shop. The hose and inflator are Harbor Freight parts.

My 5# aluminum CO2 bottle was more than that...not including the fill or the fittings or a mount (and certainly not a regulator)...where is this $100 deal?

I'd love to have an belt-driven engine-mounted air compressor (such as a York) on my '40 but have not been able to convince myself it is worth the $$, trouble, or extra junk under the hood. Plus, the CO2 tank is easily movable between rigs.

Regards,

Alan

 

[Dazrin]

My 2781 does the job, but the leader hose did crack way sooner than it should have, and I noticed the barbed connector (aluminum) coming out of the unit uses a non-standard thread size. This made it difficult to convert to a different hose setup.

This is unfortunate. I am trying to decide between a Viair 400P-Auto or the Smittybilt 2781 and am having a hard time. The higher flow 2781 seems nice, but I doubt the build quality is the same. And the Viair with the "auto" feature comes with a pressure switch built-in which might be re-usable for a future OBA setup w/ tank.

Any thoughts from the group? Should I bite the bullet and spend the extra $50-$70 for the Viair? I will not have anything larger than 35" tires (31" now).

 

[ChaseTruck]

Just FYI: Puma 12V compressor in the 80. The one in my Blazer takes a little less than two minutes to fill a 315/75r16 on an 8-inch rim from 13 to 35psi; that's at idle. Hand throttle on the 80 helps the compressor, but my truck doesn't count as it is still on tiny 285 street tires. Wiring is w/ ~12' of 6 awg from the battery; some say 4 awg is needed; we used to run these with 20' of 10 awg landscape wire..
I used CO2 for several years, w/ tank and regulator from a welding supply store, but then I found the refill logistics too cumbersome.
For some reason, the comp in the Blazer is a little lame to run my 3/8" IR impact; the 80 w/ hand throttle seems to work better for that.

 

[lumpy70]

Cartercd, you mentioned: "...the leader hose did crack way sooner than it should have, and I noticed the barbed connector (aluminum) coming out of the unit uses a non-standard thread size. This made it difficult to convert to a different hose setup."

What size is the barbed connector? I would like to swap this out and get standard fittings on here as soon as possible!

 

[cartercd]

I never found a barbed connector that would thread into the Smittybuilt 2781. It is an odd-ball thread size / pitch. Found this on Google as one alternative: http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=151178. This requires eliminating the handle. If you want to keep the handle, you can buy a conventional barbed fitting, probably sand down the diameter a bit, and cross-thread it in. This has worked for me for 2 years.

 

[lumpy70]

Thanks for the info...what a pain.

 

[titanpat57]

Nice write up Woodrow

We used a compressor at OEX that was in a toolbox, no tank, hooked up pos/negative clamps and an Anderson clip extension....

I'm going to split my Puma and try that...it's not too big once the tank and regulator are off.

Like your test, you'd have to wait for the unit to cool down a bit before packing it away.

 

[spurcap]

Bringing up an old thread but I have this compressor and lost the supplied inflatoir/gauge on the trail ...
Couldn't track down a replacement so figured I would convert this to standard 1/4" NPT.
Have successfully done this but I can't figure out how to run the thing given the supplied inflator screws on to the schrader value but lets air continue to flow when not connected while normal tire inflators have an air shut off valve so air is only coming out when you press into the tire value (and normally push down a lever on the inflator). Everything works fine if I hook up my inflator to the tire hold down the lever on the inflator and then turn it on, then turn off the compressor before letting go but since the compressor doesn't have a tank/regulator like a normal compressor if the inflator lever is let go or the inflator comes off the schrader valve the compressor starts building up pressure in the hose and I think if I left it long enough it would just stop working from overheating or be damaged.

Any ideas of the best way to fix it. The easiest would be to find a 1/4" NPT inflator that lets air through all the time like the one that came with it but other than this, I don't have many ideas.

 

[cartercd]

Buy a conventional chuck that you can disassemble, similar to below. Then modify or remove the seal so air will flow freely through it when the compressor is on.