Over
the course of the past year, we've been long-term testing one of
the coolest products on the market for four wheelers - the Power
Tank from Advanced Air Systems. We've known about the Power Tank
for a few years now and have always thought it was a neat idea.
But not until we actually got one of our own did we realize just
HOW neat it really is!
Let me back
up a step and describe what the Power Tank is. At a glance, the
Power Tank is simply a gas bottle with a regulator and hose on it
that can then be used wherever you would normally use an air compressor.
Fair enough. But the fact is, the Power Tank is a lot more than
that. It is a complete system, consisting of a brand new,
made in the USA, 5,10, or 15 pound air tank, a special SuperFlowTM
regulator, DuraThane hose, and various other accessories. Put together,
the Power Tank system is so much more than an off-the-shelf tank.
Last year, we
got our hands on the original, brushed aluminum Power Tank for testing.
At the beginning of this year, Advanced Air System released their
new for 2001 Power Tanks in gloss black, which you see in most of
the photos in this story. By the time the new black version arrived
we had already decided that we were going to keep our original Power
Tank as a spare.
So what do
you do with a Power Tank anyway?
Air Up Your
Tires
Probably
the main reason you would want a Power Tank is to provide air on
the trails. We all air down our tires for trail use before heading
out to ensure a smoother ride and better traction. At the end of
the day, of course, the converse is true; we need to air back up
for the ride home. Well, what happens if you're miles from a gas
station at the end of the day and your 35" tires are aired
down to 8 pounds? Most-likely, when you hit the road, if you try
to go near "normal" highway speeds, your tires won't balance
at all and your rig wheels will start hurling you all over the road.
Even if they don't, if your ride is long enough back to town, your
tires can heat up and actually begin to come apart.
What most people
do to prevent this is get some sort of onboard air, whether it's
an air compressor or other source. The problem with air compressors,
though, is that typically, they are not really designed for heavy
and long-term usage. For example, we have an ARB under the hood
of our Project TJ to run the front air locker. ARB will tell you
that it is not wise to run their compressor for more than a few
minutes at a time or the motors will burn up. We've seen it happen
and nobody wants a $200+ paper weight under the hood at the end
of the day. If you do cycle the ARB on and off within their specs,
it can take all day to air back up. We used to use the ARB to air
up the Project TJ when we had 32" tires. It took us almost
a half an hour to air up from 12 pounds! Other compressors, like
the Quick Air II run quicker but still can take a long time to use.
Enter the Power
Tank! We are running 35x12.50's and 35x13.50's on the TJ. The Power
Tank can have us aired up from 10 pounds to 30 pounds and on the
road in about five minutes...literally! Now that's fast! It will
surely make your friends jealous. But fear not! A 10 pound Power
Tank can air up several of your friends and still have a reserve
to get you back to camp and hit the trail again the next day. A
10 pound Power Tank can air up as many as twenty six 33" tires
from 10 to 25 psi.
What
can you do wiith a Power Tank? --->>>
RESOURCE |
Advanced
Air Systems
2214 Babson Drive
Elk Grove, CA 95758
Phone: 916-691-6806
www.powertank.com |
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