Tire
deflator history 101
When
I first started four-wheeling more than a decade ago, tire deflators
did not exist. If you felt the trail was difficult enough to air
down your tires you simply used the tip of a screwdriver to push
in the little stem and let the air come out. If you have ever tried
to do it this way you know that it takes almost forever to do.
In an effort to speed
things up guys started bringing valve stem pullers. This seems
like the fast way to do it. The air comes out fast, but you have
to screw the stem back in every time you want to check pressure
and it is very easy to let them go too far. Today there are all
kinds of tire deflators on the market ranging in price from $10
to 5 Billion (or whatever the government pays to have an onboard
deflation system on a Hummer). What is right for you depends on
how much you want to spend and how much work you want to put into
it.
Things that
make you go “Hmmm”
Last
year, someone stole my $10 tire deflators out of my Jeep. Two
weeks later we found ourselves at the SEMA show in Las Vegas,
NV watching a demonstration of “Staun
Tyre Deflators.” Our first response was “Hmmm,
those are kinda cool.” The word “Tyre” also
caught our eyes, as we listened to fast-talking Lee Davis, the
Australian who designed them ,tell us all about them.
The whole idea of the
Staun Tyre Deflators is that you can preset the air pressure you
want to run and then lock them so that you can rapidly air down
to that pressure every time you use them without having to fiddle
with a pressure gauge.
How do they
work?
Each
brass tire deflator comes preset at 18psi and can be adjusted
from 6-30psi. There is an adjustment cap and a lock ring to hold
the cap in place. Each ½ turn of the adjustment cap decreases
that setting by 3psi. Once you have set the pressure that you
would like to deflate to, you can tighten the lock ring to keep
them at that pressure for future use. You can also set the deflators
by using a tire that is already aired down to a desired pressure.
Simply screw the deflator onto that tire and turn the adjustment
cap in until air just barely escapes. You are now at the desired
pressure and can tighten the lock ring to keep them set there.
You will have to do this for all 4 deflators. Since each ½
turn of the adjustment cap is 3psi of air you can use this to
adjust to different pressures for different trails. I set mine
at 12psi and left them there. Staun can also manufacture the deflators
with custom valve settings.
Screw them
on and forget about them!
Made
in Australia and distributed by TJM
Products in the US, the deflators come in a set of four for
around $60 and include a handy storage pouch. You just screw one
onto each valve stem and forget about them. In about a minute
all your tires will be aired down to the right pressure and the
tire deflators will shut off. Other deflators on the market will
not stop and will continue to air down until the tire goes flat.
With the Stauns you don’t have to run around your truck
stopping your deflators and checking your pressures until you’re
at your desired pressure.
It is pretty nice not
to have to squat next to each tire and check it every few seconds
to see what the pressure is. With all this extra free time you
can disconnect your sway bar or help your friends air down their
tires. Just don’t forget to take the tire deflators back
off when they are done airing down your tires to avoid damaging
them. Because they are so easy to use, I have done this more than
once.
If you’re looking
for a no-brainer way to air down your tires – or tyres,
you owe it to yourself to take a look at the Staun Tyre Deflators.
Quick and easy to use, they’ll have you aired down in no
time.
Staun Tyre
Deflators are available in the US at www.4x4rockshop.com
Update!
Between
the time we received our Staun's for review and posting our story,
there have been a few improvements in the design. According to
Lee Davis at Staun,
"The main change comes from the change to the plastic
T piece. This is now what we call a T piston, which is machined
in brass instead of the cedal plastic. This allows us to machine
the brass at finer tolerances, therefore giving greater accuracy.
The chamber is 4mm deeper than the previous valve which allows
for a bigger adjustment range, now 6-35psi.
The valve shuts of much cleaner, with a crisp snap as is
closes at the preset pressure. This truly is a life time product,
there is nothing in the product that we see can fail if kept clean
and dry."