You can also convert them later. One of my 400s started life as a portable model.

Hell I'm using a tiny viair 85P that I had before buying the 4runner and its still fast enough that I've never bothered to replace it, that 400P should be plenty for tires

Honestly I actually prefer using mine instead of someone's onboard air with the ARB inflator because those you have to sit and hold a handle and watch a gauge to inflate, the smaller viairs have screw on connections and a pressure gauge that is visible so you just turn it on and then wait for the pressure gauge to get where you need.

I hate those ARB inflators and similar, its so much easier not having to stay crouched by your tire.

I see where you are going, squatting filling your tires just plain stinks, regardless if you have onboard air or a portable. You can simply add an adjustable pressure regulator to the head of your tire feed line for like $15 and add a screw or clamp chuck, then you wouldn't even have to turn the power off, just switch tires.

Yeah but then you can't get that sweet ARB sticker

They must like you I have never received a sticker.

I know how you feel haha... just get it;, I waiting too long before buying air because I spent too much time looking and researching air.

I have the 400P. I only bought it because I needed something for a big trip that was coming up fast and didn't have time to do OBA.

I ended up really liking it... so much so that OBA is on the back-burner now. Its already paid for itself and I found the versatility and convenience of a portable to be a big deal too.

I picked the 400P (regular, not automatic) over the 450P because of the air volume/CFM. Even though its a 33% duty cycle I can still fill all 4 tires before I get to that duty cycle limit, and end up getting it done faster too. Not too shabby.

I skipped the 440P because I wanted to keep the amp draw a bit lower and benefit from a reduce voltage drop.

I was even thinking of adding a small tank on board just so I can use the portable with it too but still haven't got around to that either.
OBA would be great but now I am running out of places to mount things under the hood...

I, too, have a teeny-tiny Viair, albiet the 88P. Was considering a 400P, but meh...not a priority I suppose. Also, comparing the 88P vs the 400P fill times for a 33" seems to confirm it's not worth the upgrade of 51 seconds savings/per/tire, for 15-to-30-PSI.

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5.6 CFM for $99.

Great thread i'm bringing back from the dead.

Those with Smittybilt Portable compressors still, how's it holding up so far? How long have you had it?


Those that stuck with ARB portable's instead of their on-board system. Are you still portable? Did you upgrade?


Looking forward to hearing some feedback. As much as I wanted the Twin CKMTA12, i think it will be overkill for my setup. I think i'm going portable....

You didn’t mention it but I have the ARB single under my hood and it’s held up great and works well if you’re just interested in tires and stuff like that. Also super easy to mount.

I've got approximately 50+ uses on a smitty, it fast and costs significantly less then ARB. The carry bag it comes in is cheap and will start to fall apart and the PSI gauge is off about 5 PSI. But over all it has worked out very well.

It's had double duty for our 4R on 285's airing from 15 - 38 PSI and on our van airing from 20-60 PSI, it can do all 4 wheels on either rig with out over heating.

Ive run the larger smitty (5.65 cfm) for about three summers now. Used it about 30 times and has ridden around in my trunk on a lot of rough rides.

Overall its fast, held up great and reliable most importantly. The compressor itself heats up quickly and the metal quick connects on the hose can get incredibly hot (vibration related?). Only real complaint is the carry bag is kinda cheap and ripping. Its a heavy unit (~25lbs) and probably overkill for most of us running 33s but nice peace of mind. Pretty happy with it for the price and would buy again.

Been running my 2781 for almost 1 year now, purchased July 2019. I'm airing my rig anywhere from 8-42psi at least 2x month, occasionally multiple times a week, still running strong and apart from setup times I think the actual airing time can't be much less than my friend who uses the ARB dual with a 1gal air tank, but he only goes to 32-35 from as low as 8.

Recently I cut the rubber hose and added a US coupling because I got sick of the screw on connection, never used the guage, always used TPMS. The connection at the end of the rubber hose does get hot, but the compressor always seems cool enough to put back in the bag. I'm looking at mounting it to the C4 battery tray on the passenger side of the engine compartment soon.

In April, I opened it up and added some silicon grease to the piston rings and cleared it out. Didn't have any reason to open it other than attempting at prolonging the life of the unit, performed perfectly, but another forum was suggesting that it increased speed and made it quieter. There was some black stuff in there that almost looked like parts of the filter, but the filter didn't look like it was missing any foam. Maybe got a little quieter, but didn't seem to make any significant difference in heat or speed.

The significant difference between this and the ARB in my opinion comes down to price and size, I think speed difference is negligible but that matters to some.