Very good post and I think I have some answers.

At 09:05 PM 11/22/96 -0600, you wrote:
>Derek mentions that lowering tire pressure for better traction.
>This is indeed standard procedure for the 4 and 6 wheel drive
>Scania TGB 30 and 40 heavy trucks I used to drive. It makes
>a great difference!

The reason I pound on people to lower their tire pressures when stuck is
that even *I* have trouble remembering to do it, and I am the king of stuck.
I get stuck and start thinking about every possible thing except lowering
the tire pressure. But lowering the tire pressure always gets me out.

I am going to put a sign on my 4,000lb winch that I keep under my back seat
saying, "Have You Tried Your Tire Pressure First?"

>In my own Westy, lowering the pressure is no problem ;-), but
>pumping it up again (in the "field", far from a service station) is!.
>I've tried:

I just ordered some little jobbies that make it even easier to lower the
pressure. You dial these things onto your valve stems, dial in a pressure
between 10 and 20 psi, and then drive off. As you drive, the tires deflate
to the preset value automatically, and then stop.

>Hand pump: Forget this. My arms are worn out before adding 10psi
>into ONE tire.

Right. Forget this option.

>12V Walmart (or insert generic department store name here) pump:
>Does pump the tire, but: 
>
>	Taking my four "small" LT195-75-R14 from 20 to 45 psi takes
>	40 minutes!!! (including "cool down" intervals for the pump
>	to keep it from smooking.) 
>
>	After 1 year of use (only maybe 10 or so of these cycles,
>	plus occational topping off) the pump performance seems to
>	have degraded significantly.
>
>The pump I'm talking about is the "250" psi 12v one. It comes in
>a dozen different outsides (with and without: pressure gauge, extra 
>12 V outlet, various color lights etc), but with the same pump inside. 
>Prices range from $9.95 to 39.95. Surprisingly I havent found any alternative
>to this pump. Any 12v "candidate" I've examined, regardless of brand name
>contains the same pump inside the varuious shape housings.
>
>Two alternatives that comes to mind: 1/ Buy an inverter and a 110V
>pump: Price >$100, way more than my student budget can devote to
>this. 

Right. This is the sensible route I am taking. I have a 1500/3000 watt
inverter I bought from CUC/Shoppers advantage ($350; lifetime warranty) and
I think I'm gonna try that 110Volt Campbell Hausefeld pump in Harbor Freight
(about $100), which puts out something like 4.2CFM at 40 psi, very respectable.

>2/ Buy a foot pump: Real cheap ($5-10) but do they work? Do they last?
>And how long would it take me to pump the tires from 20-45 PSI?
>I hate to buy potential junk that break on me when I really need it.

Bad idea.

>3/ Pressure tank (3 or so gal): Too bulky to motivate its place during 
>extended trips, and how many tires does it fill on one "charge"? Less 
>than four is my guess. 

Capacity for four tires requires too big a tank. CFM is the thing you are
looking for.

>Any other suggestions?

Yes, actually, for the VAST bulk of you, the answer is to buy 2 or even 4 of
the $19 12 volt jobbies at K-Mart or similar and hook them up *at the same
time.* It takes about 7 mins for my Ames Dept. Store $19 special to bring
one tire up from 15 psi to 40, so I bought a little pile of these. With
four, you can bring all four tires up in 7 mins. This is the answer folks,
goofy as it sounds. 

If you want to skimp, then just buy 2 of these. The second one adds
insurance against the first one breaking, as one of our folks pointed out
the possibility of this happening.

I am impressed with the Ames units I bought moreso than the Whitless units I
bought. Anyway, the thing is to shoot for compactness.

>/Martin and '82 diesel Westy. (2WD but never stuck so far! Had a close call
>in a river bed once. Now wiser)
>
>
>
>
>
___________________________________
Derek Drew                           New York, NY
drew@interport.net (main address for e-mail)
derekdrew@aol.com (alternate/backup, checked infrequently)