Sliders as Air Compressor tanks??

The main benefit would be having a buffer for running air tools, which require a larger volume of air at a constant pressure than most compressors can put out.
For airing up tires, 2.5 gal at 120 psi is roughly enough to fill one 33" tire by 10 psi (if you run 20 psi on the trail and 30 on the street, for instance).

 

Yeah I carry a decent Viair but want a powertank for quick fills

 

Right on. I have about 15 gallons @ 120psi to inflate four 33" tires by 15psi. I estimate one main square tube on sliders would hold about 0.75 gallons. Not enough to make a big difference for anything. I think the compressor would still kick on as soon as you pulled the trigger on an air tool.

 

Saw a commercial not too long ago selling a portable air compressor that looked like a cordless drill. I think it was called the dragon or similar. It looked like a good alternative maybe. Small and compact. I like the idea of a bumper/slider storage tank, but you will have to have more capacity to pump up big off road tires. My 3 gallon pancake compressor has to cycle several times to pump up a tire.

 

If you consider a CO2 tank for airing up, make sure you find someone in town who can fill it at a decent price.

It's like this, you can pay a larger cost for an air compressor that may take longer to fill each tire, but you don't need to pay to refill. Or you can put together a diy CO2 setup for half the price (of a top notch compressor) but you'll have to fill it every trip or every other trip and it will need hydrotesting at some point, but it can run air tools without an extra storage tank, and air up your tires super quick.

 

Definitely don't need to fill it up every other trip. In doing my research for a diy one, one can be built for ~$150 IIRC and depending on the size, last 10 fill ups.

 

Is 10 fill ups equal to 10 tires or 40 tires?

 

Well obviously that's going to depend on 1.) how long the trip is and how often you want to air up your tires, 2.) what size tank you have, and 3.) tire size/psi change. So while it can be variable that shorter trips with less airing up you may not need to refill for 3+ uses, if you go on a long camping trip or something you may have to fill it every other trip, even if only to keep it closer to full just in case.

An example via PowerTank


You can definitely put a kit together cheap, especially if you get a tank secondhand, so long as it is within hydro.

 

40 tires is what I meant, but that's just a ball park. Going off that chart, I'd guesstimate that my tires are closest in size to the 32x11.5x15 (my tires would even be a bit smaller since they're 255/80r17) and that nets 27 fill ups from 15psi to 35 psi with a 10 lb tank. Comes out to about 7 trips worth of filling up.

I wheel every 3-4 weeks, so that's 21-28 weeks worth of CO2. That's 2-3 tank refills a year, and maybe $30 a refill? Says it'll take ~20 seconds a tire vs 2.5 minutes, so that'd be worth it to me.

 

That's a great idea. I converted a York AC compressor to an air compressor on my 87 wrangler. I extended the front tubes behind the front bumper and used it as an air tank. It worked great! Your sliders will work great.