[Gwagensteve]

All credit for this goes to gregc. I even tried to talk him out of it, but after seeing what it was capable of, I was a believer.

Some history:

Gregc's been running an endless air setup since we built his car. It's awesome and delivers heaps of air.... the problem was getting it into the tyres. Greg used to run a 100psi airlocker pressure switch and no tank, and it was clear from listening to the cycling of the compressor with no tank to "soften" the delivery that nowhere near 6 cfm was making it into the tyres. Our guess was that not much more than 2 cfm was flowing past the valve.

Whilst this might not be a problem with a 215 or if we didn't vary pressure much, but it was annoying airing up 35 13.5's from 4psi to 20psi and listening to a compressor cycle.

Obviously too, it would be nice to air down even faster than the ARB deflator we've all been using allowed.

Greg's just "updated" his system by up-rating to 150psi and adding a 9L tank, so the bottleneck at the valve was going to be even more noticeable.

Greg investigated a bunch of commercially available high-flow valve cores, and discussed using air fittings etc on the rims, and then he came upon these little beauties:



They're a fluid transfer "dry break" coupling, available from enzed/pirtek

Critically, both the male and female couplers have spring loaded seals. That means the male can be fitted to the wheel, without the need for a bulky/complex female coupling.

So, he ordered one up and we did some testing on a scrap wheel/tyre, and it looked the goods, so we've both fitted them.

Here's one installed on my Walker





(We chose the dust cover in the most obnoxious colour on purpose)

And here's the inflator/deflator tool I've made.



It's the female coupler into a Tee, with a 30psi Floyd gauge on one leg, a ball valve on the other, and my choice of air coupling on the other.

The speed of this setup is just STUNNING.

Deflate a 35 13.5 from 20psi to 5 psi: 15 seconds.
Inflate back to 20 psi using my ARB compressor and 20l tank @ 150 psi: 30 seconds

No fiddling with stauns, pulling valve cores - just pull the dust cap, plug in and you're away.

We're both carrying conventional air chucks and flush plugs in the event we have trouble with a fitting or break one off, but they're neither heavy or bulky so it's hardly a chore. Obviously if you ran steel wheels you could use some pipe to protect the fitting tractor style. Greg's running his on steel wheels right up near the well so they are well protected.

I know this isn't for everyone, but if you're running big tyres and low pressures it might be something worth investigating. Re read those inflation/inflation times - they are hard to argue with.

Steve.

[buzbox]

That is a brilliant idea.

Patent it, put it on the market, and buy a rake.

[atari4x4]

you guys are always thinking outside the square.

[jonfromhamilton]

I agree, you should patent it and use the earnings to put an engine in the ute in your yard

[SierraDan]

I like it!

[Scales]

wicked idea dude, i rate it highly!

just as another option for people. I use one of these
http://www.ferretdeflators.com/
i get from 25psi to 15 in less than 10 seconds with one of these. basically the same as an ARB deflator but without a gauge.
But i dont have massive tyres though!

[Bennyzarb]

Wow that is amazing best innovation ever you will throw arb off the market for a wile I want some I am putting my order in now

[mrw82]

What is the weight of the male fitting? Is the wheel still able to be easily balanced. Or are you using them strictly for off-road use.

Great idea. I have thought plenty of times the valve core is the biggest restriction when I'm reinflating, but never considered a solution.

[Gwagensteve]

I haven't balanced a tyre on a 4wd since the 90's. They only weigh a few grams though, and I've put mine opposite the existing valve stem.

Steve.

[Gwagensteve]

Az code dump.


Steve.

[stockman]

:Good tech:

Bennyzarb wrote:

Wow that is amazing best innovation ever you will throw arb off the market for a wile I want some I am putting my order in now

On tick?

[Gwagensteve]

I don't think it's much threat to ARB. Not many people would be willing to drill and tap a dirty big hole in their rim and rock a brass fitting for the sake of a few seconds saved at the servo.

Steve.

[Bennyzarb]

No only all the comp trucks and weekend worriors I think

[Gwagensteve]

True. I will say though that we've been using the ARB deflator for years and I think it's excellent. It's by far the best solution for most users who don't have enough cfm for the valve to be a significant restriction for inflation.

Steve.

[sideways]

So Steve, how much did it cost you guys to do that?

[Gwagensteve]

It's not all that cheap. I think it's about $140 for all the fittings + valves, gauge tee etc. but time is money

Steve.

Ps the money is in the female coupling. It's $45 or something by itself.

[sideways]

Gwagensteve wrote:

It's not all that cheap. I think it's about $140 for all the fittings + valves, gauge tee etc. but time is money

Steve.

Ps the money is in the female coupling. It's $45 or something by itself.

Awesome, that's about what I thought it would cost.

I'm pretty sure we have a small pile of something very similar (but bigger ) on the farm, for tractor and machinery hydraulics.

[Joe]

I've got heaps of them fitting at my work, we use them on our vacuum system

[Matthew]

I was thinking of using large bore, 20.5mm valves as used on earth movers, but couldn't find any kind of rapid deflator.

Think I found my solution, thats if I ever get the 34s on the car.

[gregc]

Hi Folks,

A few more comments / answers to some of the queries raised above:

1. These are a commercially available item from Pirtek / En-Zed. I'm pretty sure we are running the smallest possible size at 1/4 BSP. I have seem them as big as 2" BSP - but obviously these are not feasible for running on the inside of a rim.

2. Whilst a ferret may be comparable in performance to an ARB Deflater, I dont think it is anywhere near comparable to one of these valves. The only 4wd product they are similar to is a monster valve (google it). FYI - on our test tyre (215x75x15) i think we aired up from 0-30psi in 7 seconds using a shop compressor.

Before settling on the valves shown above, I actually got my local pirtek to 'hot rod' my ARB deflater so I could attach a nitto coupling to it for airing up duties. Sadly it immedately blew out the rubber seals. But at the end of the day - it was only going to flow as quickly as a tyre valve without the core - which is not really all the fast.

In the end, we picked the Pirtek option because they were available off the shelf in melbourne and it was something we could play around with a single unit of rather than committing to the monster valves ($200USD approx).

3. The items requires for the installation are:
4 x 1/4-to-1/4 BSP male thread
4 x the Male valve (we are running brass - but they are also available in stainless)
4 x the dust caps (these are available in brass or stainless for more cost)
1 x the female coupling (we are running brass - but they are also available in stainless)
I also needed to buy a 1/4 BSP-P tap and the matching 11.8mm drill bit for my installation.
Obviously you can add valves and other fittings as required.

4. Performance Wise - How fast is it?
Stupid fast. Using my shop compressor 50L tank at 140psi I can air up a 35x13.5 tyre from 0 to 20 in 13 seconds.

Seriously - these valves will take more air faster than my shop rattle gun - i.e. they empty my air tank very quickly, must faster than an air duster and much faster than your tyre inflator will push air.

Is it a worthwhile mod? I think so. But I'm impatient and would rather be driving than spending all day airing up and airing down. If you have bought an ARB deflater to save a few seconds when airing down, or if you are investing in an air tank to save a few seconds when airing up, then this is definately the next step up again.

Cheers

[Gwagensteve]

I'll add some interesting tech about the inflator/deflator I've made.

My preferred air coupler is 1/4" Jamec-Pem. This is really only because these were the fittings my Dad set up his shop compressor with 20 years ago... and old habits die hard.

These days many people use Nitto or similar, and these look to flow more air than the small bore of my JP fittings.

However, I think there is an interesting side effect of running a slightly more restrictive air coupling. It means that I don't peg my 30 psi gauge when inflating. Even with 150psi in my tank, the gauge peaks at about 25psi when inflating, and IMHO it's because the JP coupling flows less air than the tyre coupling. It's nice to be able to run a large, accurate, low pressure gauge for both inflation and deflation. (and the same assembly of parts)

If the restriction was at the tyre coupling (say if you were using a very high flow coupling like a Nitto) the gauge might see much higher pressure when inflating.

Steve.

[matfan]

FYI That's not something you could get a patent on, especially after putting it up on a public forum.

[Dr_Snapid]

I want to see a video of inflation /deflation

[gregc]

Dr_Snapid wrote:

I want to see a video of inflation /deflation

It looks exactly like a tyre inflating / deflating with a standard tyre valve. Just 6 times quicker.

[neofitou]

This mod would be a little cheaper if you ran a standard clip on gauge (or inflator or deflator tool) on the standard valve rather than buying the T and the gauge, especially so if you already have one.

This would mean that you could use a nitto connection without worrying about damaging the gauge too.

[PurpleZOOK]

THIS GREAT MOD!!! GOOD work.

[SierraDan]

Your shovel has got to wear out soon!

[Beery]

So, after a decade, are you guys still using/happy with this setup?

A mate recently got a set of apex designs valves and I got proper jealous when we were airing down - I was still on the second tyre with my ARB deflator and he was done! They have a collar that bypasses the valve core and at our tyre size, (31's) It's literally under 10 seconds to get to ~5psi. However, they pretty expensive, vulnerable to getting snapped off (quite long and rigid) and airing up is still slow as it still uses the valve core, so this solution you guys have come up with has got my interest. My airing up gains might not be all that great as my compressor is only a single ARB, but any improvement would be good. Rapid airing down is enough for me to want to do it though.



The pics no longer work on this thread, but is this the type of fitting you are using? And the fitting circled in red is what you are installing into the rim, along with the male to male adapter?

[Gwagensteve]

Sorry, hektik at work at the moment so I don’t have much time to post.

Yes, that’s the fitting. gregc and I are still running these, and Jonno also runs them. we’ve both swapped them from our krawlers to the narrower tyres we’re now running. I’ve broken the male/male union off of one jammed against a log, screwed a flush plug in and kept truckin’. They can get a bit of debris under the seal from time to time but it’s no big deal.

Gregc and I now trailer so it’s less of an issue than when we drove to the tracks, but they’re still miles better to work with than normal valve stems.