Made a four-tire air-down/air-up kit for the Rivian

[SwampNut]

This isn't Rivian specific of course, I've made these for my Jeeps before. It lets you inflate all four tires after off-roading, and make them all equal pressure, while you sit in the air conditioned cabin and watch YouTube or something. I am in AZ and it's just no fun to babysit tires when it's 110 outside.

I had some of the parts on hand from doing air things before, and from having trimmed back on my air tools and keeping the connectors. The total cost without them would be around $100 without the auto air-down.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000R8LH3E
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07263PGCW
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D13V72Q
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X42MDFN
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CXJ81FP
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09SZ1PQTV
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073R7GG98
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B49V4H3P
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HF2LZJF
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011DF61YY
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BX3P96ZK

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[KBabione]

I get this for airing up...Will the Rivian also release air and air down to, say 25 psi, using the same hose by simply setting the compressor to 25 and hitting the start button?

 

[Tango45]

I too am lazy, this looks great. Just a question, if you'd indulge me: do you start losing pressure in the time it takes you to put the chucks on the four tires? I know you said plug it into the truck first or you'd lose pressure, but once you start plugging in the tires, do the remaining, unattached chucks start spitting air?

 

[SwampNut]

Most air chucks are closed flow, meaning no air escapes when they are not connected.

I know you said plug it into the truck first or you'd lose pressure, but once you start plugging in the tires, do the remaining, unattached chucks start spitting air?

Great that you asked, it made me go double-check those air chucks. The Amazon listing has changed to open-flow style which will spew air. They need to be closed-flow. Amazon product changes are so frustrating. But with the closed ones I have, no.

I get this for airing up...Will the Rivian also release air and air down to, say 25 psi, using the same hose by simply setting the compressor to 25 and hitting the start button?

I've seen this claimed and don't believe so. I can't make it do it. If it did, I wouldn't use those deflators in the video.

 

[Tango45]

Most air chucks are closed flow, meaning no air escapes when they are not connected.


Great that you asked, it made me go double-check those air chucks. The Amazon listing has changed to open-flow style which will spew air. They need to be closed-flow. Amazon product changes are so frustrating. But with the closed ones I have, no.

Whew, I thought I was going crazy or that I forgot how a simple chuck works!. I saw that you had some different ones in your video. I found these that seem to fit what you're describing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D13V72Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2NOFZGOKNP3PJ&th=1

Sound right?

Edit: Also, thanks for sharing this idea!

 

[SwampNut]

Hah, just updated the video to the ones you linked. It’s a good brand.

 

[CharonPDX]

I get this for airing up...Will the Rivian also release air and air down to, say 25 psi, using the same hose by simply setting the compressor to 25 and hitting the start button?

No, Rivian will only inflate with the compressor, never deflate.

 

[RivianRunner]

Whew, I thought I was going crazy or that I forgot how a simple chuck works!. I saw that you had some different ones in your video. I found these that seem to fit what you're describing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D13V72Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2NOFZGOKNP3PJ&th=1

Sound right?

Edit: Also, thanks for sharing this idea!

I strongly recommend NOT getting air chucks like these that only have a single locking clamp that engages only one side of the valve stem's threads to lock on. They will leak and they can damage the threads on your tire's valve stems.

For slick operation with almost no air leakage, and not having to worry about side pressure applied by dangling hoses, get locking air chucks with three to six locking jaws. You can thank me later.

I use the Morrflate system that came with this style (but mine are solid brass):

Haltec Locking Collar Air Chucks • MORRFlate by My Off Road Radio

However, if the exposed portion of your tire's valve stem is not very long, you might need to replace the valve stems with longer ones to use the Haltec chucks or move up to something like these one-handed ones:

LockNFlate® Locking Air Chuck – LockNLube

These are pricey but very nice, they have six jaws. The first option (Haltec Locking collars) require two hands to operate, but I don't find that a problem. There is almost zero air leakage.

Don't cheap out on the most important part of your tire filling system, the difference in operation between a chuck with 3-6 jaws and one with a single curved jaw is night and day. The single jaw cannot keep the chuck centered very well.

 

[RivianRunner]

I get this for airing up...Will the Rivian also release air and air down to, say 25 psi, using the same hose by simply setting the compressor to 25 and hitting the start button?

If you want to use the hose system for deflating, you need to add an air valve like this:

MORRFlate Slide Valve • MORRFlate by My Off Road Radio

Well worth the added cost. Just install it on the feed line that connects to your source of air. Ideally you have a pressure gauge installed too, so you can easily deflate to the correct pressure. I really like the JACO digital one:

Elite® Digital Tire Pressure Gauge - Professional Accuracy - 100 PSI (jacosuperiorproducts.com)


When I costed the price of assembling my own system using quality hoses and chucks (and a bag to store it in), there really wasn't any savings by assembling my own so I just bought one of the excellent Morrflate hose systems with pressure gauge and slide valve built in (Quad +).

 

[SwampNut]

There are a number of deflation options. I touched on one in the video; normal deflators on either all tires or the four-way system. Not sure which will be better. I already had all the deflators and parts to try it.

Another is to simply unplug the four-way kit and re-plug it to test, which I did in part of the video. Dirty and takes effort but zero cost. Not a big deal, I did it while testing things. It works because every time you connect it, the truck updates instantly. Another option would be a dump valve somewhere in the system and turn it on/off.

 

[CBRacerX]

Based on the latest change to the inflators, I am showing a total Amazon cost before shipping (if any) and taxes of $162.45 including deflators and hose crimping setup. Take deflators out and I'm at $134.53. IDK how that compares to a full commercial solution for inflation but there you are. Since this is Amazon, YMMV and costs change without warning

 

[NathanM]

FWiW I’ve been using the MORRFlate kits for many years and love it. You’ll pay a little more for the out-of-the-box convenience but not a lot more and totally worth it for me to avoid the expensive proto-typing to figure it out on my own.

Inflates via Rivian compressor great and deflates all four at once as well

https://morrflate.com/product-category/morrflate-multi-tire-air-kits/

 

[SwampNut]

The premade Morrflate system is $225. DIY doesn't really save much if you are buying all the parts and tools just for this job. It certainly made sense when I would have the hose clamp kit and some parts on hand. Since it's a simple build there's really no waste on figuring it out, other than I originally did waste some hose (that I had on hand).

For me another benefit is a perfect fit, but again, I'm not saying you should do this. It's not a clear "better" option.

 

[CBRacerX]

First - if I didn't mention it before, I love this DIY and the details in the post and video - cool project. Thanks for posting it. I'm probably going to go the DIY route myself. I do like the tire value connectors that the MoreFlate uses though....

Looks like you would need these two items totaling $249.99 from MoreFlate to use their product on a Rivan. Add $5 shipping and subtract a one time 5% discount coupon and you are at $242.49.

https://morrflate.com/shop/morrflate-multi-tire-air-kits/morrflate-quad-plus-4-tire-air-kit/
https://morrflate.com/shop/morrflate-accessories/morrflate-extension-8/?attribute_pa_fittings=rivian

 

[RivianRunner]

First - if I didn't mention it before, I love this DIY and the details in the post and video - cool project. Thanks for posting it. I'm probably going to go the DIY route myself. I do like the tire value connectors that the MoreFlate uses though....

Looks like you would need these two items totaling $249.99 from MoreFlate to use their product on a Rivan. Add $5 shipping and subtract a one time 5% discount coupon and you are at $242.49.

https://morrflate.com/shop/morrflate-multi-tire-air-kits/morrflate-quad-plus-4-tire-air-kit/
https://morrflate.com/shop/morrflate-accessories/morrflate-extension-8/?attribute_pa_fittings=rivian

You shouldn't need an extension hose to use the MorrFlate inflation system on a Rivian.

I would probably just hard plumb a female air fitting onto the MorrFlate manifold (remove the male fitting). A 90 degree elbow would allow the manifold to hang down off the male fitting on the Rivian, rather than exerting pressure by extending horizontal.

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