We’ve covered plenty of times before the importance of dropping your tyre pressures to gain extra traction when driving on tough terrain, this works by allowing your sidewall to sag and letting more of your tyres tread to elongate, in some circumstances, allowing you to gain an additional 250% surface area, and decreasing the downward pressure on the surface.

There are a number of added benefits to letting your tyre pressures down, including the reduced risk of puncture and the possibility of tearing your tyres sidewalls on sharp objects, like sticks tree roots, and parts of other broken vehicles.

So we will break down the do’s and don’ts of letting your tyres down with a Adventure Kings Kwiky Tyre deflator.

Before we start, lets identify the 4 main parts to the tyre deflator;

The first component is the gauge, this Bourdon Tube design uses solid brass for strength and durability, whilst the gearing of the movement is precise and not affected by temperature humidity or altitude, making sure that the pressure readouts are as accurate as possible, and will be the same no matter where you take your readings!

The second main component is the spindle, this is the part that threads to the outside of your tyres valve. The Kwiky Tyre Deflator uses brass to make sure it threads smoothly and seals tight on the valve stem for accurate and fast sealing onto the tyre. This component allows the valve core to be captured within and allows the air release valve to slide smoothly.

The third component is the valve core armature, this is the long thin steel shaft with a brass knurled knob on the end. This uses a clever valve core removal mechanism to internally remove and fasten your tyres valve core, completely captured inside the tool.

The fourth and most critical component is the air release valve, this part slides over the top of the spindle, and reveals a port that allows you to quickly release air from within the tyre, the secondary function of the air release valve, is to allow air to flow to the pressure gauge via the hose.

All together the components chosen are all high quality and work together easily to drop your pressures down extremely quickly and accurately!

There are 5 steps that must be completed in order, to make sure you have no troubles on the tracks.

STEP 1:

Thread the spindle section onto your tyres valve stem, making sure the threads are spinning freely and not cross threaded, and your release valve is set to the closed setting. Snug down the spindle to ensure a good seal with the valve stem.

STEP 2:

Press the valve core armature section all the way in, gently spinning to make sure that it seats correctly on the valve core within the valve stem. When proper contact is made the gentle rotation should stop. Gently screw the armature section in a counter clockwise direction, whilst maintaining pressure against the valve core. This will unscrew, the valve core from inside out. When the core is unscrewed, the armature will be free to extend out of the way of the airflow from the valve.

STEP 3:

Now the valve core has been removed you can check your tyre pressure with the gauge, making sure you have an accurate starting point. Slide the air release valve back revealing the exhaust port. This will allow air to rapidly exit. Make sure you periodically check the pressure of your tyre by sliding the air release valve back over the exit port.

STEP 4:

When the desired pressure has been reached, you can depress the valve core armature section back in all the way. Just like anything that is threaded, you should turn it counter-clockwise most of a revolution, to ensure that you don’t cross thread the valve core within the valve stem.

STEP 5:

Once you have snugged down the valve core, check the air release valve to make sure the valve core is properly re-inserted, if no air leaks you can remove the spindle by unthreading it, make sure to replace your valve caps to protect the seal from dust, sand and dirt from damaging the seal.

When its time to hit the road again make sure you have a way to re-inflate your tyres, we recommend using a Thumper MKII compressor or the Thumper MAX for the fastest reinflation times on the tracks!