See more of the short version here.
I bought this to use with my 31 ft. Class C motorhome, but I found that it wasn’t really meant for that use.
In this case, the air line is too short, and the type of chuck (locked and not interchangeable) doesn’t work well with dually tires. I think that this product will work well for cars, trucks and other cars.
I want to make it clear that my bad experience with the product was caused by me picking the wrong product and then trying to make it do something it wasn’t meant to do.
The long version..
I bought this to try to get a better deal than the 400P Auto RV version. As soon as I inflated my front tire, it worked out great. Getting the tire from 70 to 80 psi took less than one minute. This is how it worked. However, when I tried to air up a tire on the inside of a dually, things went very wrong. In order to get to the inside of a dual, you’ll need an air stem extension. I had one. Even though the coiled line says it’s 30 feet long, you can’t get that far because it’s coiled. Because I had to pull it a little tight, I could get it to the back tires. I put the chuck on the stem extension and then let go of it to turn the machine on. In the back, I could hear air coming out. Grab the line and chuck it to get the tire off. When I did, the stem extension came out of the tire, and the tire drained. There was enough tension in the coiled line to break the tire’s tire stem off, s.
It worked out great. I took the inside dually off and went to Pep Boys to get the tire fixed. The longer, non-coiled air line and the new chuck I bought while I was there worked. That didn’t work out, either.
I tried to air up the rear tire again, but I let the compressor run for too long. At the same time, I was teaching my son how to do the same thing. It got very hot, which was not a surprise. The heat caused my brand new air line to break at the end near the compressor, and it popped.
The things I’ve learned.
With enough length, you can use coiled lines for your car. Clipped or screwed on, they’re going to put stress on your valve stems.
Because air compressors have duty cycles, they should never be used for more than they can handle. An automatic compressor that only runs when air is flowing will help keep the compressor from overheating.
Take a step up if you have a long car or one with double-tired tires and buy the more appropriate version of this product. It is called the Viair 40047 400P-RV Auto.
The total.
None of my money will be lost because I’ve exchanged the compressor with Amazon and my new 4009 RV Automatic version is on its way to me.
I lost a few hours of work in the Arizona sun, the cost of the tools I bought to try to fix the tire, and $20 to have it fixed. I did get my money back from the air line, but I wouldn’t have been mad at them if they didn’t.
I’m out $50 and hours of work because I tried to save $100..but I’m going to spend it anyway.
