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After experiencing my first tire blow out which caused $4500 in damage to my truck, I was in a fairly emotional state and willing to spend some money.  During the process of changing to my under inflated spare, I discovered my current tire inflator was inadequate.  I went shopping for a better one and decided on the VIAIR 400P Automatic.  Automatic meaning it has a pressure switch and shuts itself off after the air hose is pressurized.

The unit comes with a coiled air hose, a nice tire inflator with gauge and a good quality storage bag. The storage bag has separate compartments for the compressor and air hose and holds everything nicely. It also has ample room if you wanted to put a tire plug kit or such in there. The unit is equipped with standard quick connect air fittings.  This would make using different accessories/hoses quite easy.

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Unfortunately in my case I wasn't able to use the supplied storage bag.  It's kind of big and I want to keep the unit in my truck even when not hauling the camper.  I found that it fits nicely under the back seat storage cubby....

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The only assembly required is to attach the supplied air filter.  The filter has 2 elements inside and even comes with extra elements if they should become too dirty....

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Now, onto a performance test.  The unit hooks directly to the vehicle battery with good quality clamps.  The instructions say to have the engine running during use, which  I did.  I deflated one of my truck tires to 0 psi and re inflated it to 75 psi.  The valve stem was pretty close to my wheel cover but I still had no trouble attaching the supplied inflator/air chuck.  I also carry a 4" valve extender just in case.  It was not needed for this test.....

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When I turned the unit on it took 6 1/2 seconds to "charge the hose" before turning off.  I then attached the air chuck to the valve stem and began inflating.  I stopped in 1 minute increments to record the current pressure....

1 minute,  19 psi
2 minute,  31 psi
3 minute,  42 psi
4 minute,  53 psi
5 minute,  63 psi
6 minute,  72 psi
6 minutes and 15 seconds to 75 psi...

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This unit doesn't have a 100% duty cycle so stopping every couple of minutes is probably a good idea.  I did notice that the supplied inflator gauge is about 2 psi off from my usual gauge.  Took about another 30 seconds to reattach and correct to proper pressure.

Overall this compressor has a solid well built feel to it.  It is a bit on the large side compared to some others.  The only negative I found was the supplied coiled air hose.  It reached the rear tires on my truck just fine but I think if I had tried to stretch it to trailer tires it would have been, well, a stretch.  It feels tight when you try to stretch it and I'm afraid if I would have pulled it much further than I did it would have kinked.  If you find this hose to be a bit short you could add a 2nd hose or switch to a different hose such as a 50' non coiled hose.  

All things considered I am very happy with this compressor.  There are less expensive options available in the VIAIR product line and others.  This one was a bit on the pricey side but I feel it is worth every penny.  Hope somebody finds this useful.....

          Erick

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Last edited by Big E
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Excellent review and photos. I was hoping you'd post a photo with something like a hand next to the unit for size reference but your photo where you stuffed it into the back seat cubby did fine.

I agree about coiled air hoses in this type of application. They are stiff and quite often become a nuisance when they catch on things like a tire as you pull the air chuck around to where it's needed.

Those inflate times were great but would be even more meaningful if you also included the tire size.

Looks like an excellent, professional product that should last a lifetime.

R&V Spiker posted:

Excellent review and photos. I was hoping you'd post a photo with something like a hand next to the unit for size reference but your photo where you stuffed it into the back seat cubby did fine.

Ask and you shall receive....IMG_1703

I agree about coiled air hoses in this type of application. They are stiff and quite often become a nuisance when they catch on things like a tire as you pull the air chuck around to where it's needed.

Those inflate times were great but would be even more meaningful if you also included the tire size.

LT 235 80 R17

Looks like an excellent, professional product that should last a lifetime.

 

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Last edited by Big E

Erick,

Great write up on the ViaAir

I have been looking at this ViaAir 400P for sometime for my 2013 truck. I have an ExtremeAire compressor that I installed in 2004 that is been flawless in my 1999 Truck. I went through several smaller (read as broke) units before installing the ExtremeAire. I am wondering if anybody has used one of these ViaAir products over a say 10 year period and how has it held up? The downside of the ExtremeAire is the amount of power it draws and associated $$.  

ExtremeAire Tech Specs:

- Continuous duty fan cooled motor
- 3/4 horsepower motor
- 49 amp draw @ 100 psi
- 1.5 cfm @ 100 psi
- Continuous duty up to 150 psi, Max pressure 200 psi.
- Can be mounted in any orientation
- 14" long, 6" wide, 9", tall

extremeaire_12_volt_compressor_8

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Last edited by Loren Jones

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