Where to fill air in dually rear wheels?

Truck Camper Magazine just did a whole article about maintaining tire pressure in dually tires: Truck Camper Magazine dually tire pressure article

Lots of talk about equipment but I still don't know what to do...

I have no problem reaching both the inner and outer tire valve stems with a truck style dual chuck (that has a fitting both on the end to push onto the inner tire valve stem and an angled fitting to pull onto the outer tire where the valve step faces inward). So I have no need for valve extensions, especially after reading the Truck Camper Magazine article and the problems some people have with them I would rather skip that complication.

My problem is where to find air with the truck style dual chuck.

People say that this is available at truck stops. I have spent a lot of time at Pilot / Flying J truck stops. I have walked around and never figured out where the dual chuck air fill up is located. One Flying J had RV lanes with the correct fitting, but other than that the air fill ups in front are automotive style not truck style dual chuck.

My truck is gas so I have never gone through the diesel pumps in back. Maybe the air fill is at the diesel pumps?

If so I don't look forward to lining up with the trucks in my little truck camper and trying to fill 6 tires, doing this with two 18 wheelers lined up in back of me waiting for the pump.

So my question is, everyone says truck stops have the correct fitting. Where is the air fill up at say a Pilot that does not have RV lanes?

Is the air fill up free, that I just line up with the trucks and fill up. Or do I have to request it inside somehow.

I have only added air to the tires once since buying the truck. I was in northern Minnesota where there were no truck stops. My air was low so out of desperation I went to a Dodge dealer and the service manager was kind enough to pull an air hose out to the driveway for me (since the truck camper wouldn't fit in the garage). Now I am leaving on a trip and the air pressure is a little low again and I have never solved this problem of where to find air. There are Pilot truck stops on the way to where I am going but I have never located the truck style air fill up at a Pilot.

It seems another solution would be to get an air chuck adapter like this: adapter on amazon

Then from what I read get a 1/4" male to male adapter to screw into the bottom. Then it could be used with any standard gas station automotive air chuck. But I think it is going to be tricky to hold the air hose on the bottom of the adapter with one hand and the top of the adapter into the tire valve with the other hand. And that is if there is enough pressure at the automotive air fill for the higher psi of the truck tires.

Or another solution would be to buy a small compressor. I would like to be able to carry a small compressor in the truck that plugs into the cigar lighter. Some advertise up up to 150 psi so it should be able to fill the truck tire. However, I can't find one of these with the truck style dual chuck.

Truck Campers

SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 13, 2017
One big issue with using a pressure gauge that you don't own (like in as truckstop) is, you have no idea if it's actually accurate or nor.. You don't know if it's been miss used or not whereas having your own (even if it is inaccurate and a lot are), at least the inaccuracy will be consistent time after time.

Milton is the best and mist expensive too.
egarant
Explorer III
Oct 13, 2017
Along with a portable compressor like the Viair, I also carry two Milton products.

The Milton S986 Tire Guage

And the Milton S-516 You need to put an air chuck adaptor on this product. I carry it in case I can swap out the air chuck at where I am trying to fill the tires.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2017
bobbolotune wrote:
SidecarFlip wrote:
Just another advantage of a TC, park just about anywhere.

Yep.

I can pull into any fast food place parking lot in the last town before the campground to pick up food to take into the campground. Might not be able to do that with a larger rig or a trailer.

Disadvantage is that I take a lot of **** in campgrounds. It seems everyone has some reason against the truck camper. Too small. Can't unhook like a trailer. Must be hard to load onto the tuck. I have thought about making a sign "If you don't want a truck camper don't buy one. I like the truck camper.".

Unless I run into someone else with a truck camper and find they are as happy with it as I am.

Not limited to a WW parking lot in a pinch either. We've 'camper' at Cracker Barrel after dinner before. Patronize the establishment and sleep in their lot. I even 'camped' in a Walgreens lot once. We have even 'camped' in rest areas on the Interstate. Can be a bit of an issue when parked between to idling big trucks however.

There is a stigma about truck campers being less than upstanding, it's BS.
bobbolotune
Explorer
Oct 12, 2017
SidecarFlip wrote:
Just another advantage of a TC, park just about anywhere.

Yep.

I can pull into any fast food place parking lot in the last town before the campground to pick up food to take into the campground. Might not be able to do that with a larger rig or a trailer.

Disadvantage is that I take a lot of **** in campgrounds. It seems everyone has some reason against the truck camper. Too small. Can't unhook like a trailer. Must be hard to load onto the tuck. I have thought about making a sign "If you don't want a truck camper don't buy one. I like the truck camper.".

Unless I run into someone else with a truck camper and find they are as happy with it as I am.
brholt
Explorer II
Oct 12, 2017
On those occasions I travel long enough to worry about it or when I go to the beach I just bring my Sears 120 volt compressor along and run the generator to power it.
SidecarFlip
Explorer III
Oct 12, 2017
bobbolotune wrote:
Kayteg1 wrote:
Side questions, years ago FlyingJ was famous RV stop as at the time diesel price was comparable, they offer small discount with RV card and had propane, dump and water.
Lately I stop at one and have not seen those utilities anymore.

Flying J acquired Pilot. It seems some Pilots are upgraded to Flying J services and others are not (and probably never will be because the property is too small)). My understanding is that since it has always been Flying J policy to allow overnight RV parking, now all Pilots allow it also (although I have stopped in some small Pilots and couldn't find a space to park).

I consider this one of the advantages of a truck camper that I can back into an automobile parking space so I can park in front in a Flying J / Pilot since I wouldn't be comfortable parking in back with the 18 wheelers. When I am driving on interstates I pretty much move between Flying J / Pilots. They have gas, really decent food, groceries, overnight parking, and coffee in the morning.

There is a small gas discount at Flying J / Pilot with the Good Sam card.

I recall there is also an RV card which for some reason I didn't get it, I think because you got a bill at the end of the month so you need to pay another bill rather than charging gas to your credit card.

Many Flying J's have propane and RV dump (I don't know about water). Pick up one of the paper location guide booklets at a Flying J / Pilot and it lists services at each location. I think there is also a PDF of the guide on the Flying J website.

Just another advantage of a TC, park just about anywhere.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Oct 12, 2017
On board air is nice to have but very expensive for what you get.
You live in Chicagoland. I'm sure there's no less than a dozen places in a short drive to can get air, but why not buy an air compressor for the house. $100 will get you something that will fill tires. $200 will get you a compressor that you can do the other 100 things they're handy for too.
zb39
Explorer
Oct 12, 2017
Except the FLY J in Rapid City, SD. I was told by management to leave along with 4 other RV's. They said the place was privately owned and the owner did not want RV's on the property. I asked if this was a change in policy for FLY J. He said no. Just this one. This employee actually drove a pick up out to my rig and the others to tell us to leave. I had just filled my tank at there pump about 20 minutes earlier. This happened in July of this year.

I have had a FLY J RV card for over 20 years. As a life member of Good Sam I can charge fuel at the pump while getting 8 cents off the cash price of diesel. I go there a lot. You can get access to an air chuck at the semi islands. They may have an air chuck at the RV islands also. I have more experience with the semi islands.
rider997
Explorer
Oct 12, 2017
Small 12v compressors like these Viair models are fine for filling your tires. They seem reasonably well built and are affordable.

33% duty cycle (20 minute continuous run time which is sufficient for filing a few high PSI tires from empty):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004B68XGC

100% duty cycle:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141KJTKQ

They also sell frame mount kits for a permanent installation.
bobbolotune
Explorer
Oct 11, 2017
Kayteg1 wrote:
Side questions, years ago FlyingJ was famous RV stop as at the time diesel price was comparable, they offer small discount with RV card and had propane, dump and water.
Lately I stop at one and have not seen those utilities anymore.

Flying J acquired Pilot. It seems some Pilots are upgraded to Flying J services and others are not (and probably never will be because the property is too small)). My understanding is that since it has always been Flying J policy to allow overnight RV parking, now all Pilots allow it also (although I have stopped in some small Pilots and couldn't find a space to park).

I consider this one of the advantages of a truck camper that I can back into an automobile parking space so I can park in front in a Flying J / Pilot since I wouldn't be comfortable parking in back with the 18 wheelers. When I am driving on interstates I pretty much move between Flying J / Pilots. They have gas, really decent food, groceries, overnight parking, and coffee in the morning.

There is a small gas discount at Flying J / Pilot with the Good Sam card.

I recall there is also an RV card which for some reason I didn't get it, I think because you got a bill at the end of the month so you need to pay another bill rather than charging gas to your credit card.

Many Flying J's have propane and RV dump (I don't know about water). Pick up one of the paper location guide booklets at a Flying J / Pilot and it lists services at each location. I think there is also a PDF of the guide on the Flying J website.