Time to take a closer look at the ARB Twin Air Compressor after the last year-and-a-bit of service…
Back in Issue 17 of Unsealed 4X4, we put together a massive 12V portable air compressor comparison and the clear winner was the ARB Twin Air Compressor. It was the fastest unit tested, and felt to be the best quality; but it was also the most expensive tested – coming in at $870. While that test provided plenty of data, we wanted to check back in after well over a year of real-world work to see how it was still performing. It’s lived in the back of my GQ Patrol, and has gone on nearly every Unsealed 4X4 trip including the Simpson Desert for the Big Red Bash. It also came in very handy at Christmas time – pumping up more than one of those cheap 10ft inflatable pools… hey, it’s an Aussie tradition!
This time around, we decided to conduct our test a little differently – by inflating the 35in Toyo Open Country II tyres from our ex-mines 76 Series LandCruiser ‘Project Rusty’. We used the times achieved with the 31in tyres from the initial test, to see how much PSI the 35in tyres held after inflating them for the same times. Why? Well, why not! And besides, we’d thrown out the 31in tyres… Doh!
CONCLUSION
To be honest, for a compressor that costs over $800 you would want it to be a quality bit of kit. As far as I am concerned, the ARB Twin Air Compressor is still the best air compressor on the market today. And I’m not saying that because they paid me to or because ARB advertises (I’m not even going to link the ARB website at the end of this article… THIS IS NOT A PAID PIECE). I am saying it because the results have been incredibly consistent. I am also saying it because, even after so many uses, not one single thing has gone wrong with the compressor or any associated accessories. That is money well spent as far as I am concerned if you (like me) depend on a reliable system to pump up your tyres… and cheap inflatable pools.
The ARB compressors are very good units, I have passed one on to my son, that was purchased in 1994. It has never had a real service but goes every time you open the box, no fuss at all. I would love to be able to afford the twin, but the budget is a bit tight. Good Luck to the people that have them.