The kinds of tires that are on travel trailers and 5th-wheel should be inflated to the full psi so you get the max sidewall strength to carry the load of the trailer.<\/p>\n
We were on the road headed south when I noticed that the 80 PSI tires we had gotten a few months ago for our travel trailer were getting low.<\/p>\n
I’d recently written an article talking about the best portable tire inflators (click here to view)<\/a> and while the Slime 2X Heavy Duty Direct Drive Tire Inflator (click to view on Amazon)<\/a> was not at the top of my list, it was the one I ended up getting because it was the easiest to find.<\/p>\n In this review, I’ll go over the specifics of the Slime 2X Heavy Duty Direct Drive Tire Inflator. I’ll give my full honest opinion and review about how well it inflates large 80 psi truck and travel trailer tires.<\/p>\n Check Price at Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n The Slime 2X Heavy Duty Direct Drive Tire Inflator is perfect for most tires. From small cars to large heavy duty trucks.<\/p>\n It’s rated for large tires like the kinds you find on trucks, travel trailers, 5th-wheels, and most RVs. It’s the most powerful portable tire inflator Slime makes.<\/p>\n See Also: 5 Best 12 Volt Lithium RV Batteries Reviewed + How To Charge<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Let’s start with the basics. Included with the small portable tire inflator, you get a coiled 30-foot air hose with a built-in pressure gauge that reads from 0 to 150 psi.<\/p>\n The end of the hose has a screw-on Schrader valve that is compatible with your basic vehicle tire stems.<\/p>\n There are alligator clips that connect directly to your RV or truck batteries, which is a better option than a 12V plug.<\/p>\n A 12 volt outlet inside a car isn’t usually rated for high electrical output like what you need to power a strong tire inflator like the Slime 2x Pro.<\/p>\n It’s always better to connect appliances like directly to the battery so you don’t risk blowing a fuse or overloading wires.<\/p>\n The battery clamps are small but of good quality and have an 8 foot power cable.<\/p>\n See Also: Best Deep Cycle RV Battery (AGM, SLA, 12V, 6V)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n On the body of the portable tire inflator, there is a small metal handle that folds down you can use to carry the inflator around.<\/p>\n There are also two switches on each side near the front. One switch turns on a small flashlight that is built into the body of the inflator. The other switch turns on the pump.<\/p>\n See Also:\u00a0What Do I Need To Use Hookups At An RV Park Or Campground?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Finally, the Slime 2X Heavy Duty Tire Inflator comes in a plastic storage box.<\/p>\n Its quality is better than expected and it’s heavy duty enough that you can place it in the back seat of your truck or in the storage compartment of an RV and stack stuff on top of it.<\/p>\n The box is 11.5 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 7 inches tall.<\/p>\n There are also 3 extra air nozzles for other inflatables, like rafts and balls.<\/p>\n Even after stretching the hose out, it was still easy to put everything back inside the box, which is a big deal for this kind of thing.<\/p>\n Not all portable car accessories are easy to put back in their storage container.<\/p>\n See Also: Best RV 5th-Wheel & Travel Trailer Tires Review\/Buying Guide<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Slime 2X Heavy Duty Direct Drive Tire Inflator runs on 12V power. It’s advertised to inflate a regular car tire in 2 minutes.<\/p>\n I never got to test this feature since I used this to inflate my travel trailer tires from 70 to 80 psi, so I don’t know if it’s accurate.<\/p>\n But when inflating to a high pressure, it was pretty fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if it could inflate a car tire in 2 minutes.<\/p>\n If your RV or vehicle has a built in TPM (tire pressure monitor), the Slime is safe to use and will not damage the sensors.<\/p>\n The 30 foot coiled air hose is removable, which makes packing it up and getting it out much easier.<\/p>\n There is a smaller black air hose that comes out of the inflator with a 1\/4″ NPT female end that screws onto the green hose. It’s easy to use and doesn’t leak.<\/p>\n See Also: What Backup Camera Is Your RV or Trailer Pre-Wired For?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The end of the green hose has a standard Schrader end that screws on, it should be compatible with all tires.<\/p>\n Slime doesn’t specify what the max PSI of this portable tire inflator is exactly. The gauge goes all the way to 150 psi, but that doesn’t mean its max psi is 150.<\/p>\n It made it to 80 psi with no issues and didn’t sound too overworked, but I can’t say it can go any higher because I haven’t been able to test it on anything higher than 80.<\/p>\n It seems like it should be able to get up to at least 100 psi.<\/p>\n The set up is fairly simple with the Slime Tire Inflator. All you have to do is pull it out of the box and connect the green air hose to the black hose that comes out of the inflator.<\/p>\n When you screw on the end with the pressure gauge on the tire, it will let out a little air while you’re screwing it on.<\/p>\n This is a good sign that the core in the valve is being depressed, which is what you want. Keep screwing on the nozzle until the air stops coming out of the tire.<\/p>\n Hook the tire inflator directly to the battery of your vehicle.<\/p>\n In the instructions, it says to not run the vehicle’s engine when using the inflator but to have the key half turned to the accessory or “on” position.<\/p>\n Make sure your vehicle is in part and the emergency brake is on.<\/p>\n When you connect the Slime Tire Inflator to the battery, connect the positive wire first and then the negative one.<\/p>\n See Also:\u00a0Top 5 Trailer Brake Controllers For Campers & RVs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n You can now flip the power switch on the inflator and the motor should turn on. Note there are two switches. One is for the flashlight on the front and the other turns it on.<\/p>\n Once the tire pressure is where you want it, turn off the inflator. When you disconnect the Schrader nozzle from the tire, some air will be released.<\/p>\n To offset this, inflate the tire 1-2 psi over where you want it.<\/p>\n Always use another tire pressure gauge to check the final pressure as the inline gauge may be a little off.<\/p>\n Disconnect the portable tire inflator from the battery negative side first.<\/p>\n Important:\u00a0<\/strong>Do not run the Slime tire inflator more than 10 minutes at a time. Let it cool for at least 25 minutes in between long runs so it doesn’t overheat.<\/p>\n Not letting any kind of small portable air compressor overheat is important for its longevity.<\/p>\n If the inside components get too hot, they will wear down faster and even break. If you want your portable tire inflator to last, give it time to cool.<\/p>\n There is an auto shut off if it gets too hot, but it’s better to not let it get that overheated.<\/p>\n See Also: The Secret To An Unshakable RV: Top RV Stabilizers Reviewed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n I’ve used this portable tire inflator a few times now on both my RAM 2500 truck and my travel trailer with 80 psi tires.<\/p>\n So far it’s worked flawlessly and shows no signs of wear. When I first got it, my travel trailer tires were at 70 psi according to my JACO pressure gauge (click to view on Amazon)<\/a>.<\/p>\n It took about 2 minutes per tire to get to 80 psi, but it got there with no issues.<\/p>\n I inflated the tires one bar over 80 psi so the air that was let out when I disconnected the air hose wouldn’t make the pressure go below 80.<\/p>\n The pressure gauge on the Slime was actually very accurate, according to my Jaco tire pressure gauge. They both showed the same PSI both before and after inflating tires.<\/p>\n See Also: Mastering RV Setup: Our Guide to Using Andersen Levelers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n As far as noise goes. Any small portable air compressor is going to be loud and the Slime 2X Heavy Duty Tire Inflator is no exception.<\/p>\n It is pretty noisy and you have to yell in order to be understood by other people when it’s running.<\/p>\n I wouldn’t say it’s any louder than other kinds of portable tire inflators and there was no noise difference from 70 psi to 80 psi.<\/p>\n If you’ve been running the tire inflator for a long time and it shuts off and won’t turn back on, let it cool for at least 25 minutes.<\/p>\n This will reset the thermal shut off switch, which is usually the reason a tire inflator like the Slime 2x Pro won’t turn on.<\/p>\n If it doesn’t start, make sure the battery clamps are connected to clean terminals that are free of corrosion and dirt.<\/p>\n Also, make sure you are using the correct switch and not the flashlight one.<\/p>\n If the motor is running slower than normal, make sure the inflator hasn’t gotten too hot.<\/p>\n Also, check the vehicle’s battery to make sure there’s a good connection and that it’s at least 50% charged.<\/p>\n See Also: Best Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) For RV<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n If the inflator is running but the pressure gauge isn’t moving, make sure there are no leaks anywhere in the line or the tire.<\/p>\n If the thermal shut-off switch turns off the motor faster than usual, make sure the pump is in a cool shaded spot when it’s running.<\/p>\n The sun might be making it too hot. Let it cool down in a shaded area as well.<\/p>\n It doesn’t come with a Presta Valve adapter but you can purchase one separately (click to view on Amazon<\/a>) that will convert a Presta valve to a Schrader one which will make it compatible with this tire inflator.<\/p>\n Yes, this inflator has no problem inflating bicycle tires and since they are small and require a low PSI, it inflates them quickly.<\/p>\n The reason you don’t want to have the engine running when using the slime tire inflator is the alternator will put out an amperage that is higher than the inflator is rated for and it may destroy the compressor motor.<\/p>\n If the inflator motor isn’t running at full power, make sure the vehicle’s battery is charged over 50%. You can unhook the inflator and run the engine for a while to recharge the battery if needed.<\/p>\n Slime doesn’t have a direct replacement air hose but you can get a standard air compressor hose with a 1\/4″ NPT fitting like this one (click to view on Amazon)<\/a>.<\/p>\n It has the same screw on ends as the Slime tire inflator and it comes with a Schrader nozzle.<\/p>\n Slime doesn’t sell an extension air hose for its tire inflators.<\/p>\n If you get this air compressor hose (click to view on Amazon)<\/a> and this 1\/4 female coupling (click to view on Amazon)<\/a> you can add an extension between the tire inflator and the main air hose.<\/p>\n Yes, the Slime tire inflator can be hooked to any 12V battery.<\/p>\n Just make sure the battery doesn’t fall below 50% when you are using it.<\/p>\n If you have two 6V batteries wired in series,<\/a> make sure you hook the tire inflator to the same posts that your RV load wires are hooked to so you get the 12V output.<\/p>\nOverview<\/h2>\n
Slime 2X Heavy Duty Direct Drive Tire Inflator<\/a><\/h3>\n
![\"Slime](\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41uZBbtIi9L.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Slime](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-4-700x467.webp "\\"Slime")
<\/picture>What You Get<\/h3>\n
![\"0-150](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-7-700x467.webp "\\"0-150")
<\/picture>![\"Battery](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-5-700x467.webp "\\"Battery")
<\/picture>![\"Flashlight](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-14-700x467.webp "\\"Flashlight")
<\/picture>![\"Slime](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-2-700x467.webp "\\"Slime")
<\/picture>![\"Four](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-8-700x467.webp "\\"Four")
<\/picture>![\"How](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-3-700x467.webp "\\"How")
<\/picture>Specifications<\/h3>\n
How To Use The Slime 2X Heavy Duty Tire Inflator<\/h3>\n
![\"Connect](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-13-700x467.webp "\\"Connect")
<\/picture>![\"Connect](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-10-700x467.webp "\\"Connect")
<\/picture>My Review Of The Slime 2X Heavy Duty Tire Inflator For Truck & RV Use<\/h2>\n
![\"According](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-15-700x467.webp "\\"According")
<\/picture>![\"Slime](\"https:\/\/thecampingnerd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Slime-12-700x467.webp "\\"Slime")
<\/picture><\/p>\nWhat I Like<\/h3>\n
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What I Don’t Like<\/h3>\n
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Slime Heavy Duty Tire Inflator Troubleshooting Tips<\/h2>\n
Frequently Asked Question About The Slime Heavy Duty Tire Inflator<\/h2>\n
Is The Slime Inflator Compatible With Presta Valves?<\/h3>\n
Does the Slime Tire Inflator Work With Bicycles?<\/h3>\n
Why Shouldn’t You Run The Engine When Using The Slime Tire Inflator?<\/h3>\n
Is There A Replacement For The Air Hose?<\/h3>\n
Can I Get An Extension Air Hose For The Slime Tire Inflator?<\/h3>\n
Can I Hook This Up To My Travel Trailer’s 12V Battery?<\/h3>\n