I am about to purchase a Side by Side UTV and this will be a first for me.  

I have some really good gear to carry, but the one item I want to get is a good reliable 12 v air compressor.

Can anyone tell me which ones are good and which ones are junk ?

I'm already guessing Harbor Freight & Tool might not be a good one.

Thanks in advance.

Agreed. Viair.

I bought a portable viair compressor and it lives in my old truck.  The truck needs tires aired up now and then, corroded aluminum rims seem to leak a little air rather than seal properly.



It does all 4 just fine.  



Run a search for the last thread on these and you will see people recomend longer jumper cables and stuff as well.



On a shortbed regular cab f150 from 1995 the stock portable air compressor can do all 4 tires.  It barely does all 4 tires though.

May not be the best but they offer different grades. I bought two and have never
had a problem and they saved my butt on a couple occasions and have proved
very handy. I keep waiting for one to stop working.......but even after a few years they
still work fine.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-100-psi-high-volume-air-compressor-69284.html

You may want to buy a tire plug kit also.

So those of you with Viair H models, do you feel that mounting the compressor under the hood is okay?   The user manual says it's okay, but then warns against heat and excessive moisture.  Plenty of both are present under the hood, lol.

 

I used a tank years ago when I hit the trails, but I always wanted a compressor.  They take up less space and they're more versatile.

True, but if you add a tank with the compressor you can do the same thing.



 

And you can run a smaller tank. This also gives you the ability to run air lockers almost indefinitely.

You folks are awesome.   I will be ordering the side by side on sunday and wait for it to be delivered.  

I appreciate the heads up on the compressor.  

Hi, I'm Ryan from VIAIR.  I noticed a small spike in our website visitors from this post.  Logged in just in case there's anymore questions about our products.  I don't want to get booted for promoting anything so i'll leave it at that.  And thanks to whoever recommended our products.  We're glad you guys like them!

Cheers.

Mounting it might allow you to keep it out of areas you want to keep open.



The little portable thing I have is slow compared to their larger setups that can be mounted.  I keep the little thing behind the seat of the regular cab pickup with a bench seat.  It is easy to get it out and take it with me if it needs to be used elsewhere.



Folks who off road and are always airing tires up and down, or who have other needs like blowing up inflatable pool toys or inner tubes for rafting or whatever, might decide to mount it in their vehicle.



Pirate 4x4 has a thread about a pump called a puma and lots of people over there seperated the motor from the tank and made it fit behind the interior body panels of their suv toys.  By hiding it their space in the back is wide open and many plumbed in places to plug in an air hose at the front and back of their vehicle.  Makes it easy to use on that specific vehicle.



It is a luxury to some extent since it is hard mounted to the vehicle, but if your vehicle has a winch and some serious mods an air compressor at a couple hundred bucks might be one of the cheaper mods.



On something like my jeep wrangler lots of folks mount the pump somewhat inside the vehicle and the tank lives under the vehicle.  Makes it easy to have a lot of compressed air on hand but no tank taking up valuable interior space.

If its only for use with an ATV or UTV then:


Most don't use more then 10PSI.  Vehicle tires are a different story.

I have a compressor mounted in the engine compartment of my Toyota FJ with it plumbed to a quick connect on my front bumper (Left of the winch control).  I have used it to air up my vehicle when coming out of the desert and lots of other things, very handy and convenient.