12 Volt Emergency Flat Tire Inflator, Suggestions/Recommendations?

[Muleski]

Thanks SO MUCH, everybody for all of the ideas, suggestions and recommendations.
Very much appreciated!

 

[Mendieta]

We're about to acquire a car that has no spare, no space for a spare, etc. It was designed and sold originally with run-flats which are an absolute "non starter" for us. Not a fan of the performance, and truth be told, they can only be run flat for a short distance before being destroyed, in most cases.

So this car has great road tires {non road flats}, and it will have a set of dedicated winter tires{already have the wheels.} We often drive through some pretty remote parts of New England, at non busy hours {late night, for one}. Places where even cell service to call AAA are spotty at best.

My plan is to store a couple of cans of sealer, like "Slime" aboard, and now I'm in the market for an inflator. I don't need a commercial set-up, and it needs to be fairly small. I've been reading reviews of some....like the Slime line up...and so many get really poor reviews. As it total failure after using it once. Or motors burning out after 8 minutes. Etc.

This place is always a wealth of somewhat obscure knowledge. Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks!

I got this one. Easy to use, it measures he pressure, and I believe you can set he pressure you want before inflating. I didn't get a flat but i did use it to check and balance air pressure. Like a charm!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L9WSTEG/

Hope this helps! Cheers!

 

[DanoT]

It’s a mint 3 series wagon. My third, sixth in the family. Not sure how this would possibly work. Or how ugly it would be. I’m sure it would be effective.

One part of the equation is that I have full sized spares, unidirectional all season at home, at the ski and summer places. Both are about 225 miles from home.

What about carrying a donut spare on a roof rack?

 

[cosmoliu]

That day that I learned that "run-flat" means that you can go maybe a block down the road without ruining the sidewalls, I asked the tire store manager how he feels about the tire goop. He said that it is a bit of a hassle, but is not really any big deal to clean up and has never given a customer grief for having used it. So I now carry a couple of cans, the pump, and plug kit. Of course, I haven't had a flat (as opposed to a slow leak) since then, so I have no experience with the plug kit. I could probably plug a hole in a front tire, but I seriously doubt that I could accomplish that with a rear tire.

BTW, I was REALLY happy when BMW began offering a donut spare as an option on the X3. However, finding one at any dealership on the West Coast with that option and others that I wanted was an exercise in futility. I wound up ordering a built to order car from the factory.

 

[princo]

Something I'd like to point out is that most 12v portable compressors that plug into a cigarette outlet are usually limited by the fuse (usually15 amps) that typically protects that "accessory connection". So the compressors that use this type of plug are very slow due to that limitation as you won't get a good flow rate. The inflators that connect directly to the battery are a bit faster as they can draw more power. The type of connector is usually a tell tale sign of the inflator capabilities, so I'd look for those that come with alligator clips. For example, if you look at the compressors available from https://www.viaircorp.com/portables you will notice that the ones with the alligator clips have higher cfm (cubic feet per minute) values and thus can inflate the tire much faster.

 

[oldschoolskier]

Fix the car companies design issue. Mount a spare, see image below.

Personally, I find some of these design decisions based on dream perfect urban use only. As an example VW (2011) decided to stop showing what fuses do what in the owners manual. Fuses blows call VW for help, can't even id which non essential fuse to pull to limp back to civilization in an emergency. Do the car companies really believe the general population has really gotten so stupid that we must rely on others to solve simple problems.

BTW as a back country car anything german in my eyes is too complicated and deigned too close to the limits to be considered reliable without constant maintenance and fingers crossed. Though other manufacturers are following close behind.

https://images.carid.com/pages/spare-tire-carriers/roof-mounted-spare-tire-carriers.jpg

 

[François Pugh]

The 2nd one in this video.

 

[crgildart]

 

[crosscountry]

It’s a mint 3 series wagon. My third, sixth in the family. Not sure how this would possibly work.

Wagons had disappeared from their current product lines. What year was yours?

 

[Muleski]

Wagons had disappeared from their current product lines. What year was yours?

Yep. Have to go used and search.
This one is a 2006 328xi, six speed.
One owner, dealer maintained, low miles. I think it was a good find. Not a rust belt car. Big fan of the engine and drivetrain.

Not our first. Love them.

Looked at a nearly new BMW diesel wagon. Not for us. Nice car, though.

 

[weatherman]

Fix the car companies design issue. Mount a spare, see image below.

I see that setup on a daily basis here. It's very common with people who lift and upsize tires on their 4x4.

 

[KingGrump]

Do the car companies really believe the general population has really gotten so stupid that we must rely on others to solve simple problems.

 

[cantunamunch]

View attachment 142959

Cue internet posters who licked the posts on leaky ones and 'were just fine'...

 

[Dwight]

Thanks to this thread, I will probably purchase an air compressor. I assumed
they were a lot more expensive.