Affordable, reliable and easy to use. These are words I like to see when thinking about four-wheel drive accessories. And these 4×4 Tyre Deflators from Mean Mother tick all of those boxes.
What’s the story?
I’ve used screw-on-style tyre deflators before, and I love the concept of them. Screw the first one on, and by the time you’ve positioned the last tyre deflator, the first one should be done. No bending over, no hurting your backs and knees. Simple.
However, I stopped using them in favour of my ARB EZ deflator for solo trips and recently the Tyre Spider from Clearview when on trips in a larger convoy. Why did you stop using screw-on deflators I hear you ask?
Well, the particular older units (I won’t name) I owned previously were great when they worked, however, one day, in particular, they really let me down in the wrong way. We were driving on the now-closed Daniels Point Road in the Watagans, which used to be a serious 4×4 track… may it RIP.
I used my deflators to drop down to 16psi, which they had been set to. However, one of the deflators had been bumped around, and the adjuster changed positions. This resulted in me deflating the tyre to lower than 10psi (at a guess).
Well, on the first serious descent into a sloppy bog hole, I heard a familiar and very unwanted hissing sound. Yep, I’d done a bead in the worst possible part of the track. Covered in mud and fighting off leeches, we used an old used shotgun cartridge case a mate found on the floor of his 4×4 (no joke – good times) to scrape mud out of the tyre and attempted to reset the bead.
It’s times like those, that make you really love or hate a product. And right then, I decided to throw away those particular tyre deflators and use the valve removal style. They were just not a reliable solution for me. At the time.
What was the point of that rant?
Well, things have changed now, after I spotted the 4×4 Tyre Deflators Mean Mother are offering. I’ve used Mean Mother gear in the past, and have always rated it. I even gave their air compressor the Best Bang For Buck award after testing a wide range of air compressors for Unsealed 4×4 years ago.
This 4-pack of tyre deflators from Mean Mother offers something my old tyre deflators didn’t, and it’s genius. Where my old deflators you had to drop tyre pressure, and set them to suit the pressure you wanted, and then lock them off. The Mean Mother deflators have the pressure printed onto the side of each deflator. That means you can go from between 10-30psi, by simply twisting the adjuster to your desired tyre pressure for the terrain you are driving.
Best of all, they are tiny. The supplied carry case is the size of a credit card, so you can store them basically anywhere inside your four-wheel drive.
Another great thing, is they are such a simple design. Anyone could take them to pieces and clean them out in the event you drop them on sand or mud. They feel like a quality product too, and considering they are backed by a two-year warranty, I’m confident they’ll stand the test of time.
Tell ‘em the price
This is the bit that really surprised me, the four-pack of tyre deflators from Mean Mother cost just under $80. Now that is an absolute bargain.
For someone like me, that jumps from press car to press car, and then back into my own vehicle, having options for different scenarios is important. I still feel there is a place for my Clearview Tyre Spider, and EZ Deflator. But I’ll absolutely be bringing these Mean Mother tyre deflators with me on trips where I need to pack light. They are just so easy to use, I can’t find any negatives.
In Summary
I hate to gush, but I really like these tyre deflators from Mean Mother. Are they affordable, reliable and easy to use? You bet. Am I glad I have them? Absolutely. I’ll be following this story up in a year when I continue to put them through some serious testing.
