GEAR Tyre deflator comparison: Wildcard round
WORDS AND IMAGES BY WES WHITWORTH
If you caught our mega tyre deflator test last issue (it’s here if you missed it), you’d have seen that the new TJM deflator lead the way in quality, speed, accuracy, and price. With that test, we compared the deflators using a single tyre sitting on the back of my ute, just to keep things pretty scientific for the testing.
The next logical step was to put the ‘fairly basic’ TJM tyre deflator against the more ‘technical’ options on the market. Oh, and run it across all four tyres, instead of just the one, as multiple tyre deflation is where these other options absolutely shine; let’s face it, you’re not going to be letting down just the one tyre.
So, without any further ado, let’s put the two more technical deflators (and one rather simple one) against the winner of the standard run of the mill deflator, and see how they stack up. You’ll need to watch the video in the article, to get the full rundown from me but we’ll try and cover off the basics of what you need to know here.
WILDCARD ROUND
MEGA TYRE DEFLATOR COMPARISON
TYRE SPIDER VS INDEFLATE VS TJM QUICK DEFLATOR VS STAUN
We’ve found a winner of the basic deflator, but how does it stack up against the more technical options?
Watch this: Wildcard deflators go head to head…which one wins?
Testing Methodology
We’ll look at these deflators in a similar way as to how we did in the first comparo. Bear in mind, that these are all top-notch quality, so quality isn’t a factor here. I’ve scored the tests out of 10, and added up the following:
- Speed;
- Ease of use; and
- Price.
Where this test is different to the original test, is that we’ve run it across four tyres, on my HiLux, while it’s got weight on it – this makes it about as ‘real-world’ as we can get it.
Insofar as the tyres on the HiLux are concerned, I’m running Firestone M/T2 mud-terrain tyres, in 265/70R17 flavour – so 31.6-inches for the more old-school minded. I’m happy in testing these, as with newer dual-cab utes, this seems to be one of the more common ‘upgraded’ tyre sizes getting around.
The tyres started the test at 40psi, and we’re going to go down to 18psi (all double-checked via the same gauge we used to check pressures in our previous test). The thinking here is that this would give us a good indication with hitting what is between a solid sand driving pressure (14psi) and standard off-road driving (22psi).
The Results
At the end of the day and, no, this isn’t a cop-out, I don’t think there is an over-arching winner out of this lot, simply because it’s horses for courses. Each of the deflators will suit a different four-wheel driver, depending on what you get up to when you’re off-road. Have a look at the table here, to give you a bit of an idea on how each deflator did, and my thoughts on them below that.
TJM
The TJM Deflator is a nice and simple bit of kit. This style of deflator works well and has been floating around the back of four-wheel drives for years. They’re a bit of a pain in the knee in that you need to be crouched at each wheel as you deflate them one at a time. It’s simple, cheap, and works well. Probably best suited to the young folks (with good knees), or those that want to keep things simple.
Staun
The Stauns are an awesome bit of kit. By far the fastest and the simplest design. They are a bit of a pain in the neck to change their settings, with no way to gauge where they’re set without a tyre gauge. That said, if you’re a fisho that has a local beach haunt, or just do specific wheeling where you always go to the same pressure, this could well be the kit for you. Set and forget.
Clearview Tyre Spider
The Tyre Spider is a new bit of kit on the market and is holding up well against the others. It’s great if it’s mounted in your 4X4 and pulled out when you need it. It has the added benefit of being able to inflate and deflate your tyres, as well as having an included pressure vessel to speed things up when you’re airing up. It’s also great for equalising pressures across sides and tyres, which the others will not do for both inflate and deflate. These are a great bit of kit if you’re going to be doing multiple wheels across both your 4X4 and trailer/caravan and have the room to mount it.
InDeflate
The InDeflate is a quality bit of kit, that is similar in thought to the Tyre Spider, however, connects to two wheels at a time, and doesn’t have a pressure vessel. That said, it will inflate and deflate two wheels at a time, and also equalise the pressure between the two. This is especially handy when you’re running different pressures front to back. I’d recommend the InDeflate to anyone for a bit quicker and controllable tyre pressure duty, and they’re especially neat with the clip-on valve connections.
Wes’ final thoughts
All of the deflators are quality bits of kit; there’s no arguing that. They’re all well-built and do what they’re designed to do rather well. As I’ve said above, each of them suits a particular market, and it’s just a matter of working out exactly what you want from a deflator. Does it need to be able to inflate as well? Do you want to equalise pressures? Do you have shot knees? How often do you run different pressures / drive different terrains? These are the things you’ll need to consider, but for me personally, and the amount of work I do off-road to bring you lot of legends the random yarns from the middle of nowhere, the InDeflate is my weapon of choice, as it’s nearly as comprehensive as the Tyre Spider, yet in a smaller package and half the price.
If you caught our mega tyre deflator test last issue (it’s here if you missed it), you’d have seen that the new TJM deflator lead the way in quality, speed, accuracy, and price. With that test, we compared the deflators using a single tyre sitting on the back of my ute, just to keep things pretty scientific for the testing.
The next logical step was to put the ‘fairly basic’ TJM tyre deflator against the more ‘technical’ options on the market. Oh, and run it across all four tyres, instead of just the one, as multiple tyre deflation is where these other options absolutely shine; let’s face it, you’re not going to be letting down just the one tyre.
So, without any further ado, let’s put the two more technical deflators (and one rather simple one) against the winner of the standard run of the mill deflator, and see how they stack up. You’ll need to watch the video in the article, to get the full rundown from me but we’ll try and cover off the basics of what you need to know here.
WORDS AND IMAGES BY WES WHITWORTH
WILDCARD ROUND
MEGA TYRE DEFLATOR COMPARISON
GEAR Tyre deflator comparison: Wildcard round
TYRE SPIDER VS INDEFLATE VS TJM QUICK DEFLATOR VS STAUN
We’ve found a winner of the basic deflator, but how does it stack up against the more technical options?
Watch this: Wildcard deflators go head to head…which one wins?
Testing Methodology
We’ll look at these deflators in a similar way as to how we did in the first comparo. Bear in mind, that these are all top-notch quality, so quality isn’t a factor here. I’ve scored the tests out of 10, and added up the following:
- Speed;
- Ease of use; and
- Price.
Where this test is different to the original test, is that we’ve run it across four tyres, on my HiLux, while it’s got weight on it – this makes it about as ‘real-world’ as we can get it.
Insofar as the tyres on the HiLux are concerned, I’m running Firestone M/T2 mud-terrain tyres, in 265/70R17 flavour – so 31.6-inches for the more old-school minded. I’m happy in testing these, as with newer dual-cab utes, this seems to be one of the more common ‘upgraded’ tyre sizes getting around.
The tyres started the test at 40psi, and we’re going to go down to 18psi (all double-checked via the same gauge we used to check pressures in our previous test). The thinking here is that this would give us a good indication with hitting what is between a solid sand driving pressure (14psi) and standard off-road driving (22psi).
The Results
At the end of the day and, no, this isn’t a cop-out, I don’t think there is an over-arching winner out of this lot, simply because it’s horses for courses. Each of the deflators will suit a different four-wheel driver, depending on what you get up to when you’re off-road. Have a look at the table here, to give you a bit of an idea on how each deflator did, and my thoughts on them below that.
TJM
The TJM Deflator is a nice and simple bit of kit. This style of deflator works well and has been floating around the back of four-wheel drives for years. They’re a bit of a pain in the knee in that you need to be crouched at each wheel as you deflate them one at a time. It’s simple, cheap, and works well. Probably best suited to the young folks (with good knees), or those that want to keep things simple.
Staun
The Stauns are an awesome bit of kit. By far the fastest and the simplest design. They are a bit of a pain in the neck to change their settings, with no way to gauge where they’re set without a tyre gauge. That said, if you’re a fisho that has a local beach haunt, or just do specific wheeling where you always go to the same pressure, this could well be the kit for you. Set and forget.
Clearview Tyre Spider
The Tyre Spider is a new bit of kit on the market and is holding up well against the others. It’s great if it’s mounted in your 4X4 and pulled out when you need it. It has the added benefit of being able to inflate and deflate your tyres, as well as having an included pressure vessel to speed things up when you’re airing up. It’s also great for equalising pressures across sides and tyres, which the others will not do for both inflate and deflate. These are a great bit of kit if you’re going to be doing multiple wheels across both your 4X4 and trailer/caravan and have the room to mount it.
InDeflate
The InDeflate is a quality bit of kit, that is similar in thought to the Tyre Spider, however, connects to two wheels at a time, and doesn’t have a pressure vessel. That said, it will inflate and deflate two wheels at a time, and also equalise the pressure between the two. This is especially handy when you’re running different pressures front to back. I’d recommend the InDeflate to anyone for a bit quicker and controllable tyre pressure duty, and they’re especially neat with the clip-on valve connections.
Wes’ final thoughts
All of the deflators are quality bits of kit; there’s no arguing that. They’re all well-built and do what they’re designed to do rather well. As I’ve said above, each of them suits a particular market, and it’s just a matter of working out exactly what you want from a deflator. Does it need to be able to inflate as well? Do you want to equalise pressures? Do you have shot knees? How often do you run different pressures / drive different terrains? These are the things you’ll need to consider, but for me personally, and the amount of work I do off-road to bring you lot of legends the random yarns from the middle of nowhere, the InDeflate is my weapon of choice, as it’s nearly as comprehensive as the Tyre Spider, yet in a smaller package and half the price.