Do You Need a Single Piston 12v Air Compressor or a Double Piston Portable Air Compressor?

With this amazing spring weather now upon us, it’s the perfect time to do some beach driving! But unless you like the idea of getting stuck on the soft sand, you’re going to have to take your tyre deflator with you to lower your tyre pressures. And at the end of the day, you’ll need a 12v air compressor to re-inflate your tyres again! A quality portable air compressor prevents you from driving on flat tyres on the tarmac by letting you reinflate your tyres wherever you are. Here at 4WD Supacentre we sell the Thumper Air Compressor which is a single Piston 4×4 air compressor, and the Thumper Max Air Compressor which is a dual Piston 4WD air compressor. We often get asked what the different between the two portable air compressors is, and which is suitable for different scenarios.

THUMPER SINGLE PISTON AIR COMPRESSOR

The Thumper single piston air compressor is an excellent, reliable air compressor that’s designed to let you pump up your tyres whenever you need to. It’s designed with those who do occasional beach 4WDing in mind, and are running mostly standard sized tyres on their vehicle. This portable air compressor will pump up a standard 31 inch 4WD tyre from sand 4WDing tyre pressures to road tyre pressures in around 5-6 minutes per tyre. That means you’ll be done reinflating your tyres with your 4WD air compressor in about 20 minutes. It’s perfect for people who go onto the beach about once every month or two!

THUMPER MAX DUAL PISTON AIR COMPRESSOR

The Thumper air compressor’s big brother is the Thumper Max air compressor! This is a dual piston 4×4 air compressor that is designed for people who regularly go offroad onto the beach multiple times a month, and especially for those who run large oversized 4WD tyres. With its twin-piston design this air compressor can pump an insane 300 litres per minute, and will inflate a 33inch tyre from sand pressures to road pressures in under 3 minutes a tyre.

Even better, this ultra-clever air compressor has a built in pressure cut off switch, which means it can be used with the Adventure Kings 3 in 1 Ultimate Air Tool to give you thumb trigger activation of the air compressor. That’s important because your air compressor must be turned off to properly read your tyre pressures, so when you hold your thumb down, the air compressor turns on and pumps air into your tyre, and when you release your thumb off the trigger, the 4×4 air compressor turns off.

Of course even if you don’t regularly go onto the beach, and you haven’t fitted larger 4WD tyres, you can still benefit from the amazing features and speed of the Thumper Max portable 12v air compressor!

It’s not even just related to beach driving either – a quality 4×4 air compressor is just as essential if you’re out in the hills doing low-range 4WDing, or you’re touring around the country. If you’re in need of a 4wd air compressor for occasional use, the Thumper Air Compressor will be amazing. But if you want the ultimate in speed and features, then you just can’t go past the insane Thumper Max twin piston portable 12v compressor!