I am a hypermiling junkie so I keep my tires perfectly inflated at max sidewall pressure (or more).
I just found the greatest tire compressor at Auto Zone. Roger Penske should brand these things and ship one with every Smart! It was ridiculously cheap. It's tiny. It hardly weighs anything. It plugs into the console 12v tap. It reaches all the tires. It takes 10 minutes to inflate a tire. But the absolutely greatest thing about it is it fits perfectly into the passenger side hatch by the tail light. That's right. A perfect fit. You close the hatch and forget about it. It's there when you need it.
Everyone who has a Smart should get one of these before they're discontinued.
(I had to futz around a bit to make it fit. If you get one, fold out the insulation pad, drop the hose and power cords into the hole first, followed by the rectangular compressor unit sideways into the recess. With the proper angle, it slips right in. The hatch closes perfectly. It's so amazing that I giggled.)
https://secure.slime.com/images/uploads/COMP-04.pdf
I just found the greatest tire compressor at Auto Zone. Roger Penske should brand these things and ship one with every Smart! It was ridiculously cheap. It's tiny. It hardly weighs anything. It plugs into the console 12v tap. It reaches all the tires. It takes 10 minutes to inflate a tire. But the absolutely greatest thing about it is it fits perfectly into the passenger side hatch by the tail light. That's right. A perfect fit. You close the hatch and forget about it. It's there when you need it.
Everyone who has a Smart should get one of these before they're discontinued.
(I had to futz around a bit to make it fit. If you get one, fold out the insulation pad, drop the hose and power cords into the hole first, followed by the rectangular compressor unit sideways into the recess. With the proper angle, it slips right in. The hatch closes perfectly. It's so amazing that I giggled.)
https://secure.slime.com/images/uploads/COMP-04.pdf
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Bruce Fromoz on -
I'm there. Thanks Rick!
-
Permalink Reply by 451 Kahn on -
dose the car not come with a pump that is under the pasanger footwall?
-
Is this a very early April fools or did you not even read your Smart manual... or did the smart center upon presenting you with your smart not go over the fact that the smart COMES WITH A COMPRESSOR AND "SLIME" all neatly wedged into the passengers foot well in a dense Styrofoam wedge??????????????????????????????????????
People learn about your cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bruce, go return the one you just bought at Auto Zone.... :-)
-
That one makes me nervous. I'll save it for a flat. Compare its replacement cost to the Slimer. Besides, I'm going to put a spare tire there.
-
they have permanent "slime" that you can put in all your tires that will seal up to 1/4 inch holes instantly that lasts the life of the tires. it's about $60 a gallon and you would need less than 8 ounces per tire, so you could treat 4 smart cars with one gallon. i'm thinking of doing this in the spring (i've already had 2 screws in my tires, one is still in) and split the cost with a few other local "smarties".
http://www.gemplers.com/product/G64511/Ultraseal-Tire-Sealant-Comme...
-
you can get slime in smaller bottles..... Food for thought though... it makes balancing the rims VERY difficult, I'd shy away from putting it in there on a permanent basis
-
when tires are removed or installed, they are on a horizontal device, any slime or goop will reside in the tire, it would be 8-9 ounces of liquid, tell the monkey before he changes the tire to be careful of goop and it's up to him if he gets gooped on.
the goop i recommend is dynamic, it's constantly "self-balancing", it's always trying to "get out" and seeking it's lowest point.
-
Its funny, I had a slow leak from a thorn in my front right that I got from driving around in sand washes to see if I could get the Smart stuck. I drove down to Auto Zone and bought a pressurized can of latex. I used it there in the parking lot. That was about 6000 miles ago.
-
Permalink Reply by Gary on -
1. Car has a compressor already.
2. If you put slime in your tires, the guy who puts new ones on at a later time (or dismounts to repair) will be MOOCHO mad about all that gunk on his equipment and his hands.
3. The tires/wheels will be out of ballance forever.
4. It works only sometimes...more likely you'll see where the slime squirted out of your flat tire.
-
Just to clarify:
"Slime" is a brand name product. It is green. It is designed to be inplace before a puncture occurs. It comes in unpressurised bottles and needs to be poured / squirted into the tire by first removing the valve. It does not upset wheel balance or cause a mess if used as per instructions. It works. I have it on a city bicycle and when the tire suffered a nail puncture, the slime came out a little as it plugged the hole. A tiny mess, no fuss to wipe it off.
smart do not supply "slime". The smart repair fluid is a bit different. It is in a can that screws onto the electic pump so is pumped in when a flat occurs. Years ago I used a product called "Finilec" to fix several flats on cars and motocycles. That worked well. It was in a pressure can and came out as a fuzzy white foam. These products usually dry inside the tire so it is important to rotate the wheel while it dries or you may get an out of balance wheel.
In the USA, I bought a supposed tire fix in a pressure can. It was a white, thin liquid that did nothing besides spray a sticky mess around the wheel arch as it came out of the hole. That sort of crap product gives the good stuff a bad reputation.
"Slime" is good as a long term material to have in a tire for when a puncture happens. It's a pity it costs a lot more in Australia than it does in the US... otherwise I'd use it in the smart. I've had one car tyre puncture here over the same period I've had countless (aka: I've lost count... somewhere between 10 and 20) bike punctures. It's like any insurance... you pay up front (for "slime") or you play the odds. The guy in the tire repair shop isn't you stuck with a flat on the side of the road in lousy weather or at night.
- 1
- 2
Welcome to
451 smart fortwo
Become a Member
or Login
smart Part of Racing History
2008 One Lap of America
