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  #1  
Old 01-10-2010, 05:21 PM
Pat Hatch's Avatar
Pat Hatch Pat Hatch is offline
 
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Location: Vero Beach, FL
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Default Seeking the Ultimate Tire Inflator

I have been messing around with different ways to inflate the mains through the wheel pants for years and have never really been satisfied. I was just about ready to concede that perhaps the best way was just to pull off the front half of the wheel pant.

But then I was inspired by Jerry Farek's (Falcon) rig that he sells because it was similar to something I had, but what I really wanted was to be able to poke the inflator throught the hole, find the shrader valve, and inflate and adjust pressure all in one motion. So I had seen the kind of tire inflators with a gauge that some garages use and I thought I would try WalMart out to see what I could find. I bought a Campbell Hausfeld M6000 for $15 that looked promising. Went out to the hangar today and tinkered around with it and came up with the following:



I found a piece of 3/8" o.d. tubing in my junk-tubing bin that was threaded on both ends. I then removed the 1/4" flexible hose from the CH inflator, screwed in the piece of tubing and added a couple of other fittings and the chuck at the other end. Just junk I had lying around. Here's a picture of the original packaging and the finished product.



So I tried it out on my SUV and it worked great. Next, came the RV test and lo and behold, it worked great! The inflator also has a brass button on the side to release air if you overshoot. I don't know if this is the ultimate tire inflator I have been coveting, but it comes close!



The other tools I use are a couple of tongue depressors sharpened at one end to remove the "wilkie button" covering on my 3/4" hole, and then a nut driver to remove the shrader valve cap. Here's a photo that illustrates the complete operation.



I'm kind of hoping Jerry Farek will take it from here and provide the straight inflator that will just screw into this Campbell Hausfeld rig. It will look a lot more professional for sure! Anyway I thought I would share this in the interest of perhaps making this chore a little easier for some.
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  #2  
Old 01-10-2010, 06:16 PM
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hevansrv7a hevansrv7a is offline
 
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Location: Detroit, MI
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Default Just a contrary thought..

It looks very good. I merely suggest that you think about taking something in the airplane for when you need air and you are not at your hangar. A normal valve extension from an auto parts store will do the trick. I had to use two in series, but it worked well and it lives in my little "travel" toolkit. They came 2 or 4 in a bubble pack (I forget which).
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  #3  
Old 01-10-2010, 11:59 PM
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erich weaver erich weaver is offline
 
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Default

Me likey!

erich
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  #4  
Old 02-05-2010, 04:03 PM
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Default Great idea!

I love the idea, but what is the black fitting at the end that attaches to the valve stem?
Another project!!
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  #5  
Old 02-05-2010, 06:43 PM
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Pat Hatch Pat Hatch is offline
 
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Location: Vero Beach, FL
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Default

The black fitting is just a plain chuck available at most auto parts stores. It's the end of an inflator with the center pin that depresses the shrader valve in the stem. Having said that, you might also look at Jerry Farek's inflator which is much the same, only more compact and professionally done! But if you're a do-it-yourselfer, go for it!
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  #6  
Old 02-05-2010, 07:34 PM
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MSFT-1 MSFT-1 is offline
 
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Default One thought on this topic

You should probably still plan to take the front half of the wheelpant off at least a couple times per year.

On my RV-10, I didn't realize how much wear I had on my tires until I busted up a wheelpant (taxiing through grass). I had about 250 hours on the airplane and was a couple months from the annual when the incident happened. I was amazed how much more wear the tires had compared to what I had at the annual ten months before.
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  #7  
Old 08-06-2011, 07:23 PM
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Greg Arehart Greg Arehart is offline
 
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Pat,

I've tried to find a straight chuck at a half-dozen places here in Reno, and no luck. Can't even find it online!

Do you by chance know if Jerry is still selling his inflator? Link to his posts (I remember seeing them but can't find it in the search engine).

thanks,
greg
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  #8  
Old 08-06-2011, 08:18 PM
gasman gasman is offline
 
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Location: Sonoma County
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Greg, Go to a NAPA autoparts store and look for a duel tire pressure equalizer. In the kit there is a rubber hose with fittings that go from the inside wheel to the outside wheel on trucks. This item works great for servicing the tires through the 3/4 hole. The extension flexes just enough to allow the end to line up with the stem even if it is not in line with the 3/4" hole.
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  #9  
Old 08-06-2011, 08:30 PM
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Longez Longez is offline
 
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Arehart View Post
Pat,

I've tried to find a straight chuck at a half-dozen places here in Reno, and no luck. Can't even find it online!

Do you by chance know if Jerry is still selling his inflator? Link to his posts (I remember seeing them but can't find it in the search engine).

thanks,
greg
Greg,

Is this the straight chuck you were looking for?
http://www.toolsource.com/nptf-strai...-p-119941.html


Steve
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  #10  
Old 08-06-2011, 09:12 PM
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Greg Arehart Greg Arehart is offline
 
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Default

Gasman, thanks for the tip. I haven't been to NAPA (yet). Steve, that is indeed what I'm looking for.

Cheers,
greg
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