Air.

[Ulfthednar]

So far so good. 

I haven't found anything yet that really slowed this machine down.

However I was running a trail the other day that turned out to be a LOT of FUN up here in my big backyard.

I ran across something that I traversed readily the way I was going but made me think "lower pressure" and maybe a ground anchor would be handy.

It wasn't huge, but it was a slick rock face at a pretty good angle.

It was an easy roll through with a bit of gas at the bottom  going the way I was but going the other way it might be a bit of a pain.

Its the first thing I've seen where dropping the tire pressure might be beneficial.

The rest of the trail my tires did really well on at their current pressure.

I've got an emergency Co2 driven pump, but wouldn't want to waste the cartridges just to air up a few pounds.

Does any one run an onboard compressor on their ATV or has found an ATV sized portable plug in unit that works well?

Quote

 

 

[Dngrs1]

I'll be honest, I have a small tool kit under the seat but I don't think an air compressor would fit under there. 

[Ulfthednar]

I might be able to get a waffle, or two pancakes under mine.

Looking more for a hand or foot powered or one of those little portable plug ins that actually WORKS effectively.

It is too bad the average joe can't purchase the hot patch kits anymore. The kind you light the plate on and it sears to the casing.

[Code54]

We used a SLIME compressor today to air up a 31” tire that we punctured on the trail on the SxS - worked surprisingly well.  

[Mech]

Are you sure you can't get those hot patches Ulf ? They were banned her decades ago for use on road vehicles, but they were still available for use on tractors etc for a long time. I haven't  seen one for decades now, but then I haven't been looking, they might be available. They were good alright. I'll inquire at the local trye shops next time I'm in town. If I can get them I'm happy to send you a few. It'll be a few weeks though. You do have mail there do you ?

Air pumps.. yeah most of the plug in the cigarette lighter ones are rubbish but for infrequent use they would be ok. If you stripped one down of it's plastics, and used a seperate hose, you could with a bit of ingenuity mount one somewhere. Most of them don't have an air filter, or a sump on the crankcase, so it would be good to draw the air from the air cleaner housing at least. If you want a good electric pump though, have a look on a jappa car wreck that has air adjustable suspension. They have really nice solid powerful pumps, with sealed crankcases, and rubber mounts built in. I've got one here I've thought would be good to mount into a 4WD.

[Code54]

ARB also makes onboard air systems for trucks and Jeeps.  I have one on my Jeep, and it works great, but it would take up some room on an ATV and you mostly don't use onboard air all that much.  I personally run a compressed air tank on both my ATV and my SxS and keep a cheap SLIME compressor in the SxS box just in case we have a bunch of problems with several machines on a longer ride.  It honestly is overkill, but as they say, better to have and not need than need and not have....

[Ulfthednar]

"over kill" . .  not having overkill is why I want overkill.

Ive had a few very long walks in my day.

I have a C02 kit, but primarily want something to air up and down with.

Kinda been hoping Full size 4x4 tech might have downsized a bit.

I've got a "cheap junk" portable compressor. $25 one I bought years.

It's too big and clunky but it's saved my butt roadside or jobsite way more than I spent on it.

Got a $20 solar trickle charger that has prevented way more problems than I can guess at (it will fit on the atv)

My typical camping trips and such are 20 miles past the last campsite people use, sometimes more.

I usually don't see people when I go camping.

Which is why I want to have a few certain areas covered.

 

And yeah, the incendiary patches, they are still using them in other countries I know that.

And in heavy equipment. But . . "911" ya know. have to take all that kind of stuff out of the hands of normal people.

Thats why we can't find them, because this bull garbage run amok waste of a government we've allowed to grow out of control thought some sand potato might buy a bunch of the little trays and scrape out the ingredients and build a bomb that way.

Sad

 

[Code54]

When I say CO2 tank I am talking about a 20oz paintball tank, not the little silver puncture once canisters used for bicycles and pellet guns.  The 20oz tanks will fill several large tires from 0 psi without issue. Topping off a few pounds on ATV tires wont be an issue at all.   Also if you hold your tire pressure around 4-5psi on an ATV you will be fine 99% of the time without having to air up or down.  We normally run VERY far off the beaten path and can’t say I ever worry about changing the tire pressure.  We went 40 miles out this weekend and ran rocks to mud (and a little blacktop to get to the trail) and never changed pressures in any tire on any of the machines.   Normally airing down is a 4x4 truck/Jeep/etc thing - you are starting from a road where the tire is at 32 psi and when you go to the trail you drop down to say, 10PSI or whatever you want.  Then when you hit the pavement again you go back up to 32.  On an ATV you should already be at 4-6 so there really is not much room to air down and if you do, you will want beadlock rims or your asking for issues.  Hope this helps.

[Ulfthednar]

heh . . Well, here . . ATV are street legal. So I vary my tire pressure.

Also . . Some access points it take less time to reach them at legal speeds than it does to load up the trailer and atv.

Where I spent 40 or 50 miles this weekend took less time to get to than it would have to load my atv on the trailer then drive out there and unload it. 

But going by tire specific PSI specs and behavior on pavement . . I run within specs but on the distance on pavement I am going to get where I want to be? I add some air. its easier on the tires and drive train.

Also a lot less shimmy in the front end. and better stability on the pavement getting where I want to go . . all without stepping outside the SPECS printed on the side of the tire. Actually, staying well within those specs.

The tire pressure that works great on pavement (well below max specs) however, does not fare quite so well on the loose shale that I was climbing once I got off pavement. The pressure that works great on loose shale with these tires is about 5 psi lighter. right around 5 to 7 psi.

But when your scooting down pavement to get to your trailer and you hear that howling outta your tires and rear end because of the added resistance on your drivetrain . . and something finally goes "pop". . I hear people doing it all the time . .  grinding down the road whipping around pavement corners and you can hear their difs binding up on those soft cushy low pressure tires. A mile or two at low speeds and low pressure shouldn't hurt much . . but again . . ATVs arent just a weekend thing around here (thats not just me) we ride them all over the place, except the freeway.

Because here, we can go from point a to point b to get to "Point C" where we want to ride, without hooking up the trailer, throwing out ramps, loading the atv, folding ramps strapping the atv, driving to "point c" and reversing the process and then doing it all over on the way home.

I mean if I gotta take a picture of the tire specs I will . . . and nope, no signs of odd or uneven wear, either.

 

 

 

[Mech]

"And yeah, the incendiary patches, they are still using them in other countries I know that.

And in heavy equipment. But . . "911" ya know. have to take all that kind of stuff out of the hands of normal people.

Thats why we can't find them, because this bull garbage run amok waste of a government we've allowed to grow out of control thought some sand potato might buy a bunch of the little trays and scrape out the ingredients and build a bomb that way."..  Settle.. settle..

We're backwards here(which I like), I'll see if I can find any..  I bet India has them..

[Ulfthednar]

Wouldnt be surprised.

sheesshh. Used to buy em as a kid. "might' have tried them on a few little green army men . . .

but no one can prove a thing!

[Mech]

Lol...  I'll google you and check..

When I was an apprentice even the tube patches were heated on ones.. None of this glue on stuff..

[Ulfthednar]

well, we live in a world where chomos pose as security and grope granny for her scissors now and people take it laying down.

Folks used to be a lot more upright and less dependent.

LMAO . . . even the articles I am turning up the terminology is turned on it's head over the things.

My dad taught me how to use an actual vulcanizing patch when I started riding bicycles. I tore down and rebuilt my first bike when I was seven.

I always carried a patch kit somewhere on me as I would range pretty far from home and thirty miles away on a single speed BMX was pretty usual.

As long as I was home by dinner or had found a phone and called in. Before I got my license a 100 mile round trip was no big deal.

"Goatheads" . . . the bane of tires and bare feet. those things could take out a heavy wall tube (once they came out with them) and standard tubes didn't stand a chance. A bicycle tube without eight or ten patches on it (my dad was pretty annoyed when I came home with seven or eight holes one time - thats when he found the heavy wall tubes). but thats the same dad I remember showing me all sorts of tricks out in the woods on getting vehicles out of mudholes because winches were not an every day thing back then on family vacations either.

The early airless tires for bicycles sucked. I barely missed flying off a cliff in a hairpin turn down hilling as a teen riding on those things.

Took the airless tires off and threw them away after that.

Turnbull Canyon road. Probably all built in down there now.

Hell of stiff ride up but sixty and seventy mph downhilling was a blast.

That was before mountain bikes. We had Single speeds, BMX, ten speeds and beach cruisers. there were a few twelve speed road bikes out

I probably would have died long boarding . . except they didn't have longboards yet either.

No cell phones either.

So kids had time markers and strict warnings about being home by dinner time and all sorts of things a few years later were considered abuse rather than lessons in personal responsibility.

Yet most kids knew basic manners and if something was serious we could usually find a house and ask politely to borrow a phone to call our parents.

We carried pocket knives, heat set patches and a tire pump (the new clip on ones were just coming out and were beyond most kids allowances) bungeed on somewhere. They didn't have the nice little tire spoon sets back then either, so you learned to strip and mount a bicycle tire barehanded

Of course we had pooka shells and girl friends panties on our rear view mirrors back then. now they have car jewelry and face masks and reeking paper board trees on the mirror

Our trophies were bloody knees and not overgrown thumb muscles.

Now folks go out and buy all this ready built gadgetry and pre packaged meals and self inflators and think theyre savvy.

Salvation is a cell phone away.  

[Mech]

Lol.. I quite agree.. We went out in the morning with a "I'm going out", and were in trouble for not getting home before dark.. And yeah, during the day were were getting told off by strangers for riding(they were races really) bikes down the near vertical sides of volcanos or heading out, six little boys in a six foot dingy.. as the weather turned nasty.. haha.. They didn't stop us though, those strangers.. 

Now, because some people can't control their tempers and bash children because they are frustrated and angry people.... now we aren't allowed to smack.. slapping a hand before it touches the potbelly or pokes a screw into the mains plug is illegal. It's abuse.  Go figure.

As an adult I've still been, like you Ulf, heading out alone, on small boats without radios or flares or lifejackets.. and getting stuck somewhere over a night or two and coming home to find the authorities had been informed I was overdue.. haha.. only overdue to them.. I was quite fine. And I've had people tell me I should wait for the weather to come right, and that I absolutely shouldn't try crossing stretches of water, by people in nice yachts, far nicer and more seaworthy boats than my old things.. because it's too dangerous. And, it probably was dangerous.. but I read the signs, I only take calculated risks and I have contingency plans. Now everyone wants someone else to take responsibility and guarantee it's going to be a nice day and smooth seas.

And yup, the more dependent they all get on an experts opinion, the more incompetent and incapable to make decisions and do stuff they all become.  

Bottom line for me is, Ya gotta have fun. And strange thing, all the "dangerous" things, are the fun things..  It's like you say.. technology, "things", owning sh**, is not my idea of fun..  Doing things is fun.