Stupid question about filling tires

[DanaRuns]

We are two women who just bought our first (used) motorhome. And the first problem I encounter is that I can't find anyplace near me to fill my tires with air! How do you find a place??? I'm in Southern California.

Sorry for the phenomenally stupid question.

[kalynzoo]

Pete's Tire is in your area, they are regularly at the FMCA Rallies. They have several locations and they are mobile. I'd give them a call for suggestions. Mobile Tire Repair is also in Irvine. I have no knowledge of the company, but they may assist and at least get you started with a company for other services. FMCA is having a Western Area Rally in January in Indio. Even if your not the club type of people (we certainly aren't) the rallies are fun and informative.

[Carrie_S]

Hi Dana,
Fellow woman Class A owner here. I was traumatized at first with the whole tire pressure subject and how anal to be about tire pressure. Anyway, I don't know what kind of a coach you have but I have one that has air bag suspension on it which means that you can use the air from your own coach to air up your tires. It's so convenient. Look up RV Geeks on you tube. Look up "How to inflate high pressure RV tires". It is an awesome tutorial and the rest of their videos are just as great. If you have an air bag suspension system you will not need to buy a compressor.

[DSDP_Don]

Note.....klm......The Sears units are made by Porter Cable. The Sears unit I have is no longer offered under the Sears label, but is now under the Porter Cable brand as posted earlier.

[klm]

Hi ladies. I'm a solo female fulltimer. Yup, tires can be a bit intimidating - but you can handle it - here's what I do: I have a tire pressure gauge that goes to a higher psi than a typical car one - easily found at any auto parts store. Always check your tire psi when they are cold (not directly after driving). To determine how much psi is required for your particular mh - that's another story - all based on tire/size/mh weight. most tire brands have a psi chart on their websites. Once you know what psi your tires need, and you check their psi with your handy dandy tire gauge - you might now need to add some air. I have a compressor that will go to 150psi - a compact unit I purchased from Sears. I had a poor experience with a previous Cable-Porter unit - but so far so good with the Craftsman.

[hershey]

Born To Travel wrote:
I carry this one in one of the storage compartments... Always have my own source of air.. http://www.lowes.com/pd_57655-30449-0200382_4294795218__?productId=4686711&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_do...

Exactly what I have....High psi and high rate of recovery and at Lowes you get the vet's discount which more than pays for the tax.

[pianotuna]

Hi Dana,

Fill the water tank, fill the fuel tank, pack what you would need for a week. Fine a truck scale. Drive on to the scale. Do one tire at a time if you can.

80 PSI may give you a harsh ride (or it may not).

DanaRuns wrote:
The sticker inside says all 8 tires (including tag axle) to be filled to 80 lbs. I have no idea how to weigh the load on each tire and calculate the optimum PSI.

[Celtic_Heart]

Dana..... We're neighbors of yours in Laguna. If you need a little help you could contact me and I may be able to talk you through some of the issues you've raised here on the forum.

Paddy Drumm
949-302-9090

[DanaRuns]

Thank you, everyone! 🙂 What a great source of information you guys are.

I'm going to buy one of those compressors. I hope they come with the necessary attachments.

The sticker inside says all 8 tires (including tag axle) to be filled to 80 lbs. I have no idea how to weigh the load on each tire and calculate the optimum PSI. That is beyond me. Lol! 😄 I hope that if I just fill them all to 80 lbs. PSI it will be "good enough."

[J-Rooster]

Any tire shop will be able to fill your tires with air!

[DougE]

I haven't thought about natural gas laws in a long time but since the volumes are given in SCFM they should be directly comparable. The 4 SCFM compressor would be producing about 1 actual CFM at 40 psig and the 2 SCFM compressor would be producing about .25 actual CFM at 90 psig. If you compare them both at a delivery pressure 90 psig then the 40 psig compressor does have about twice the output of the 90 psig compressor. This is very rough because I've ignored temperature change (no data or swag), efficiency changes at different pressures, etc. Were I to chose a compressor I would go for the highest rated delivery pressure quoted, no tank, and the best service cycle. You can burn up a compressor topping off 6 tires without allowing cool down time.

[Daveinet]

An answer to your question about CFM

CFM stands for Cubic Feet per Minute. So what that is talking about is air flow (not pressure) The more air it can flow, the faster it will fill the tires. What you will find is that as the pressure gets higher and higher, the air flow rate (CFM) rate goes down. The implication of this is that less CFM means it takes longer to fill your tires. The 2 ratings you gave in your post are impossible to compare, as the ratings are given at 2 different pressures.
SO you need to buy a compressor capable of pumping to 110 PSI. That is a minimum requirement. The CFM will tell you how fast it will fill them.

[edm3rd]

Dana, to add to my above post.

Have you found a sticker inside the coach showing air pressures ?
Can you tell tire size, and maximum pressure on the tire sidewall ?
Can you tell make, model, and year of your coach ?
Strongly urge you to get a compressor, but you need the above information to know how "big" a compressor you need.

Initially, acquire an accurate pressure gauge that will read the maximum pressure listed on the tire, even though you may need less.

If you post the make and model coach, along with tire size, I'm sure someone can give you "ball park" tire pressures (front is likely different from back) to use if you cannot find a sticker inside with recommended pressures.

With the above information, and until you get a compressor, you can do the following :

1. Air the tires up to maximum (from tire sidewall)at a tire dealer or truck stop.
2. Drive home, park overnight, and before the sun is on the tires, measure and let out air until you reach recommended pressures (either from coach sticker or from manufacturer or someone on this forum that has the same model coach).

[J_R2]

Dieselboss.com Most TA truckstops have shops that will check tire pressure for very little if any.

[RLS7201]

DSDP Don wrote:
Dana.....If you feel comfortable filling/checking your own tires, this is a great compressor that many of us use. It's available at Sears and has plenty of pressure to fill your tires.

The air chuck (filler) locks onto your valve stem so you don't have to hold it. It even has a gauge built in that gets you pretty close to your target pressure. You can check with a tire gauge when done.

It runs on 110 volts so you can even use it when camping, just start your generator. It has other attachments for filling things like balls and toys. Lastly, it's compact and fairly light weight (20 lbs) I stick it in an old pillow case and store it in my bay.

Ditto. I have had the same compressor on board for over 10 years. Meets the size, capacity & PSI compromise perfectly.

Richard