Date:         Fri, 22 Nov 1996 23:44:43 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Austin <austins@ix.netcom.com>
Subject:      Re: Good AND inexpensive tire pump, where to find?

At 09:04 PM 11/22/96 -0600, you wrote:
>In my own Westy, lowering the pressure is no problem ;-), but
>pumping it up again (in the "field", far from a service station) is!.
>I've tried:
>
>Hand pump: Forget this. My arms are worn out before adding 10psi
>into ONE tire.
>
>12V Walmart (or insert generic department store name here) pump:
>Does pump the tire, but: 

Two alternatives that comes to mind: 1/ Buy an inverter and a 110V
>pump: Price >$100, way more than my student budget can devote to
>this. 
>
>2/ Buy a foot pump: Real cheap ($5-10) but do they work? Do they last?
>And how long would it take me to pump the tires from 20-45 PSI?
>I hate to buy potential junk that break on me when I really need it.
>
>3/ Pressure tank (3 or so gal): Too bulky to motivate its place during 
>extended trips, and how many tires does it fill on one "charge"? Less 
>than four is my guess. 

This is going to be really stoopid, but hey it's Friday:  how 'bout using
the engine as a pump???  I'm imagining removing all plugs, ground the coil
wire, disconnect the fuel pump, then screw in a long hose with a compression
test fitting at one end & a tire filling valve at the other.  It shouldn't
take but a couple of seconds of cranking to fill up a tire  ( & it's at
least 130 psi - could do road bike tires too!!!)  ???.   Comments  (be kind
- it's been a long week).

Austin