While tools that help you air down and up for off-roading aren’t considered vital, they should be, as they can be the difference between being stuck on the trail and getting home safely.
They can also help you with other things, such as blowing up pool toys or inflatable rafts for fun at the lake or river.
Find it online:
- MORRFlate Quad (125″ Wheelbase 4Runner/Tacoma): Check Price
- MORRFlate Quad (155″ Wheelbase Tundra/Full-Size Trucks): Check Price
- Adapter Kits: Check Price
- MORRFlate Extensions: Check Price
Table Of Contents
Why do you want to air down?
Having a way to air down on the trail is one of the most important things you can have while off-roading. Whether you are in a flat area with minor bumps or a rocky trail up the side of a mountain, airing down gives you numerous benefits.
For starters, airing down your tires instantly decreases the vibrations and bounces you feel while on the trail. Whether on a washboard road or a forest road, you are bound to notice how much smoother the ride is. This is also beneficial if you have passengers or valuables such as camera equipment with you. They will also not be thrown around as much, and the shaking will likely keep things in place better.
Hitting trails that aren’t easy and smooth?
While you may not notice it to be as smooth, you will see that you have much better traction. Airing down helps your tires get a better footprint, meaning more of your tire is touching the ground than when they are inflated correctly. This allows the tire to form better over rocks, allowing more grip and more ground connection when in areas of mud and snow.
When in areas where rocks are sharp, the tires’ ability to mold over the rocks allows the sharpness to take less of a hit on your tires. In the end, it’s ultimately wise to avoid them as much as possible, but when you have no other option, you can have more peace of mind going over them. This not only allows your tires to wear better off-road but also prevents cuts from happening.
When not aired down and traveling fast over small rocks where you wouldn’t think to air down, such as on washboard roads where off-road shocks such as KING, FOX, and ICON thrive, your tires take a beating, and those harmless-looking pebbles end up becoming a road of nails.
I found out the hard way when I went about 50mph over a light rocky section of road for a few miles. By morning, my tires had dropped from 39PSI to 25PSI. After unmounting the tires, I found over five small gashes. Luckily, I wasn’t far away from home, and the leaks were minimal, but it was a hard lesson learned.
Besides saving your tires from damage, smoothing out your ride, and helping with traction, doing so also helps keep the trail intact, especially when wet.
Having more traction means less chance of spinning on the trails, which causes ruts. Sometimes, people with fewer modifications to their vehicles go off the trail and create new paths, damaging natural resources.
This is how trails are closed down, and why multiple ones this year have been closed.
Do I need to air back up?
Obviously, if you air down, you’re going to need to air back up.
While you technically don’t need an air compressor for this (for example, near a gas station or town where you can get air), what happens when you aren’t? Or what if their air machine is out of service? Now you have an issue with getting your tires back up to pressure for pavement.
Not airing your tires back up for pavement means they will wear horribly, and if aired down too much, they are dangerous at highway speeds. You either won’t be getting home or will need to use someone’s compressor, assuming you went out with a group of friends. Otherwise, you’ll have to hope a random person is out on the same trail as you and is nice enough to allow you to use theirs.
It’s wise to have an on-board air system of some sort, whether it be ones like ARB that is mounted in the engine bay or one like a Smittybilt that is kept in a bag.
That way, if you have a small leak, you can fill the tire up on your way home as it slowly loses air, and not have to depend on others.
What is MORRFlate?
You’re probably wondering who or what MORRFlate is, and why you should look into them.
My Off Road Radio (MORR) is located in Northern California and covers everything from off-roading trails, to hiking, as well as radio classes (both online and in-person). If you are in California or visiting the area, whether to hike, wheel, or explore, be sure to check them out for information on just about everything off-road.
MORRFlate is a tire inflator and deflator combination built into one system. You will need an air compressor of some sort for airing up, but besides your source for air, it does everything else you will need.
The MORRFlate features multiple different ways to air up/air down your tires, and gives a variety of options on how to do it:
- Standard – Air up or air down all of your tires at the same time to the same exact pressure
- Various – Air up or air down tires to different tire pressures
- Singular – Air up or down one tire at a time
- Sharing – Air up from a spare tire
Needless to say, you have multiple options and ways to air up and down your tires, which is extremely convenient.
One of my favorite features is that the hoses do not kink.
If you have a hose of any sort, especially the ARB, you probably have noticed they only like to be put away in the same way, and when you go to use them, you have to allow them to “straighten” back out. This isn’t the case with the MORRFlate.
You can put it away however you like, in whatever type of storage, and when you go to use it, you don’t have to straighten it back out. Additionally, they are neon green in color, so they’re easy to find, whether sitting in the dark or out in the open.
The air chuck connection system is also extremely nice. You don’t have to worry about screwing on the air compressor hose, bending over and holding down the air gauge to fill up the tire, or airing down. You simply push the chuck over the stem and lock it on. Done.
Compatibility
One of the best things about MORRFlate is that it’s nearly compatible with every single air compressor on the market. If you have an ARB Compressor, such as mine, you can simply push the manifold into the ARB itself. Other compressors might not work with it 100%, but MORRFlate has the pieces you need to make it work. Regardless, you shouldn’t have much of an issue with this, and if you do, they have you covered.
MORRFlate has multiple sizes to fit your vehicle’s wheelbase. There is a 125” version and a 155” for those of you with a longer wheelbase. For the 4Runner, a 125” will work just fine. However, if you are someone with a four-door Toyota Tacoma with a 6’ bed, you’d want the 155”. They also make an 8ft extension if you need more length for something like a Sprinter van.
How does it work?
The airing-up and airing-down processes are basically the same. The only difference is that when airing up, you need the manifold to connect to the air compressor, while when airing down, you connect it to nothing.
You simply want to take your MOORFlate out of the bag and place the manifold in the middle of your hood or hang it off a bull bar on your bumper. You want it somewhere dead center, but it doesn’t have to technically be center as long as the hoses can connect to your vehicle.
Next, you want to connect the hoses to the valve stems via the air chucks. Yes, it’s that simple. No screwing down onto the valve stem or anything else along that line.
That’s it. Move the lever straight with the hose on the manifold and allow the air to release. When you are ready to check the tire pressure, simply move the lever to the right to stop the release and allow it to sit for five seconds to equalize the tires. Whatever your gauge shows you is what all the tires that the hoses are connected to are set at. If you have hoses connected to four, all four hoses are set to that; if two, then those two are set to it.
To air up, simply do the same thing as above, except have the manifold connected to your air compressor. When you put the lever straight, it will put the air into the tires, rather than take it out.
Update: MORRFlate now uses a push/pull valve rather than the OG red lever.
What’s New With V2?
MORRFlate has made a few modifications for version two that are different from version one.
New Manifold
For starters, the manifold has been upgraded to a smaller volume, made from 6061 billet aluminum. This means it’s smaller in your hands, making it easier to hold and lighter in weight.
New Bag
MORRFlate has also added a new bag to their setup, which is extremely convenient. Not only does this help store the hoses away with your other gear, but it also keeps things from possibly getting into the air chucks, such as dirt. There is also an outside Velcro pocket for extra attachments if you happen to own them.
I keep my ARB compressor attachments for pool tools and footballs there. The other nice thing about the bag is that it’s more than roomy, meaning you don’t have to put the hoses away the exact way they came in, for fear of them not fitting.
New Gauge
There is also a new gauge option that is available for the MORRFlate. While you can technically use any gauge with the MORRFlate, the accuracy of the MORRFlate gauge may be something you want to consider. The majority of gauges on the market will not read properly except beyond 50% of the total PSI.
This means that if you have a 100PSI gauge, it will only read accurately at 50PSI. If you run 40 PSI in your tires, you only want an 80PSI gauge to ensure you are at 40PSI. Below and above that, it will start to read incorrectly. The MORRFlate gauge, however, is accurate up to 300PSI. While that is overkill for just about everyone, it’s the confidence of knowing you are running your tires at the correct pressure for both off-road and on-road. You don’t want to risk popping a bead on the trail or under-inflating your tires on the highway, causing premature wear.
As someone who has to stand a lot for work, my back tends to get aggravated easily. As you could expect, constantly bending over to check tire pressures while airing up and down can cause it to tweak on me. Thankfully, MORRFlate has eliminated that issue for me as I spend roughly 15 seconds bent over now, total.
There are other ways to fill up your tires at the same time, such as drilling holes and adding connections for each tire in the wheel well areas, but if you are looking for a simple plug-and-play option that leaves you with fewer hoses and less time bent over, this is the kit for you.
What brand of sliders are on the red rig?
“The majority of gauges on the market will not read properly expect at 50% of the total PSI“. I’d replace “expect at” with “beyond”