Seeking advice on car tyre inflator for home use.

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Seeking advice on car tyre inflator for home use.

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mdf

mdf
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#3502665 13-Jun-2026 17:30

Power requirements for a pump depend on (i) volume of air you're moving and (ii) pressure you're inflating.

Car tyres run at roughly half the pressure of a typical bike tyre but are probably in the order of 20 times the volume.

So a small battery pump designed for bikes will easily deal with the pressure requirements of a car tyre, if you're just checking/topping up. Probably no way it will inflate it from flat, though I suspect if you have a flat tyre you're fitting the spare to go to the tyre shop.

The smaller battery pumps also run quite slow. Again, not really a problem if you're just aiming to top off.

I don't even have a battery pump - I check and top off my car and motorbike tyres with a foot pump.

tweake

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#3502667 13-Jun-2026 17:41

mdf:

, though I suspect if you have a flat tyre you're fitting the spare to go to the tyre shop.

i found that its not always the case. the pump got me out of a fair few tire changing situations, especially where its not a good place to change a tire.

obviously no pump is going to work if its a big hole in the tire, but more often than not its a slow leak.

Rikkitic

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#3502668 13-Jun-2026 17:47

I live rural. An overnight visitor had a flat in a rental car. Whatever we tried we couldn't change the tyre. The bolts just wouldn't come loose. I finally pumped up the tyre with my compressor, checked it wasn't immediately losing air, and told my guest to go like hell to the nearest service station. He made it without any problem.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

tdgeek

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#3502673 13-Jun-2026 17:55

Today I bought a https://www.bunnings.co.nz/ryobi-18v-one-high-pressure-inflator-tool-only_p0575934?store=9476&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15792555037&gbraid=0AAAAADL7rPrMGPlETGTYj1y6Moj_VAPjY&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIysT28cKDlQMVCyZ7Bx2z2iBGEAQYASABEgLzevD_BwE

I was going to get the $149 one but reviews were mixed, but as we all know reviews aren't a gold standard... 3.5 IIRC

The $109 one got better reviews... 4.6 IIRC

End of the day, they work. Seems the accuracy of the PSI can vary but if I want to top up a tyre to 32 who cares if its 31 0r 33, what I like is the 4 tyres will be the same

Given I got it today I haven't tried it yet, will do tomorrow

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