for the original article visit: The Price of Inflation – The Ultimate Air CO2 Air System
 |
A familiar sight at any trail head these days is to see wheelers airing down their tires in preparation for the up coming run. They air down their tires to increase the contact patch of the tire with the terrain thus increasing traction. Of course when the trial ride is over and it is time to drive on the street again it is important to air up the tires before hitting the pavement at normal highway speeds. Many companies have built electric and engine driven air compressor systems to help with this task as well as in some cases to run air tools for doing trail repairs. These systems however are anchored to the vehicle and you are limited by how ever long the hose is as to what the range is on using the system on another vehicle. For the last several years companies have been converting CO2 tanks for use in airing up tires and running air tools. Ultimate Air is one of these companies and they sent us this excellent example of just such a system so we could try it out and give our verdict.
Â
 |
Ultimate Air offers a comprehensive line of CO2 air systems and accessories. The air systems come with several different options. The first choice to be made is whether you would rather have a system from the “XT” or “LT” line. The XT line has the Grip Guard handle system that is made of black powder coated steel and offers a convenient handle that will protect not only the valve but also the regulator system. The LT line uses a plastic handle that appears to be of the variety that is likely supplied to Ultimate Air by the company they purchase their aluminum cylinders from. Either handle type will work but the XT set up is more convenient and will also help to protect the gauges on the regulator.
Â
The next option involves the air regulator. Since the CO2 that is added to the tank is in liquid form there needs to be a regulator that will allow the liquid CO2 to expand and regulate the pressure output. This is another area that Ultimate Air gives the customer several options. Ifyou know for sure that all you will be doing with the system is filling tires Ultimate air offers the Express regulator. This gauge-less model is preset to have a 150 PSI output which is great for airing up tires. We wanted the ultimate in versatility so we had them send us their upgraded MultiForce regulator that has gauges and an adjustable pressure output. The advantage to this system is that with adjustable pressure the customer can also run a variety of air tools to help in a trail repair. Having personal experience with a trail fix using CO2 you will be surprised how effective this system will be at running an impact gun or air ratchet. Trail repairs can be one of the most tedious activities to deal with yet with this CO2 system not only can you speed it up with air tools but you can carry the on board air to which ever rig is in need of help.
Â
 |
 |
The last main option is the tank size. They every combo in both 10 and 15 lbs cylinder sizes. The #15 cylinder is 50% bigger than the #10 cylinder. This size difference means that the #10 holds 80 cubic feet of CO2 which will become 600 gallons of air while the #15 cylinder will hold 120 cubic feet of CO2 which will become 900 gallons of air. What this translates into is that with an individual fill time of only 58 seconds the #10 cylinder will fill a 35×12.50 tire from 5psi up to 30psi 12 times while the #15 cylinder will fill 16 tires. Ultimate Air has a detailed spread sheet that shows the fill time and number of fills for both cylinder sizes for many popular tire sizes ranging from 30 inch all the way up to 40 inch tires.
 |
 |
All of the systems available on the Ultimate Air page include the air tank with the regulator and handle that you choose as well as a powder coated mounting bracket, 25 foot air hose and an air chuck. Because we were planning on using our tank primarily in the support vehicle for the Salem City Schools Shop Krawler competition rig we opted to have the system sent with just a protective boot as it was not ever going to be mounted in the Jeep itself and there were several good storage locations in the Jeep hauler. Our system was the XT variety that included the MultiForce regulator and used a #10 cylinder. This was perfect for our needs as the #10 cylinder was more compact and will fit better into confined spaces. Assembly was a piece of cake with the detailed instructions and allen wrenches that were supplied with the kit. Once the tank was assembled we took it down to our local welding supply shop and had the system filled which should cost no more than 15 dollars. The speed and portability of this system combined with the reasonable roughly 300 dollar price tag make it a real competitor with the electric and even the engine driven compressor systems that are offered by the competition. The system also worked flawlessly on the everal occasions we have had to try it out at filling up tires. And hey, if you get out of the sport you can always use the CO2 system in a home built kegerator or to build a fill station for paint ball guns.
To Purchase Ultimate Air products visit: Ultimate Air CO2 Air Systems