You’ll hear the hissing sound of air releasing from tires at almost every trailhead as off-roaders lower their 4×4’s tire pressure before hitting the trail. When exiting the trail, you’ll often hear the sound of an air compressor as they add air to the tires to return them to street pressure. MORRFlate Multi Tire Inflation & Deflation Kits, a California-based company located just a short distance from the legendary Rubicon Trail, offers products designed to make the air up and air down process quick and easy.

The benefits of lowering a 4×4’s tire pressure off-road are numerous, and MORRFlate has created a line of products that make it easy to air down (and air up) tires.

Why Air Down Your 4×4’s Tires For Off-Road Travel?

Why do off-roaders lower their vehicle’s 4×4’s tire pressure when on the trail? Many factors, including the vehicle’s weight, payload capacity, tire load rating, and fuel efficiency goals might influence the pressure you’ll run on the streets (manufactures offer a handy placard in the door jamb for those on stock tires). Off-road, however, most of those get put by the wayside in favor of a smoother ride and improved traction.

Lowering your 4×4’s tire pressures for off-road use provides several benefits. By decreasing air pressure, the contact patch of each tire increases. This improves traction because more surface area of each tire is in contact with the terrain. Often referred to as flotation, this lower pressure significantly improves performance on surfaces such as loose dirt or deep sand.  Another benefit is a reduced risk of punctures, as the tires better conform to obstacles like rocks and roots. Finally, lower tire pressures provide a smoother ride for passengers, as the softer tires absorb the rough off-road terrain.

MORRFlate Air Hub AutoMagic Digital Air Controller

Founded by Tyler Laursen, MORRFlate’s guiding principle was to create products that aid off-road enthusiasts with the often-tedious task of inflating and deflating tires for a day on the trail. The company’s first product was a four-way tire hose kit. Since then, its product line has expanded into a wide range of handy tools.

One of the company’s newest products is the Air Hub AutoMagic Digital Air Controller. This device is an automatic air control system that makes tire inflation and deflation almost effortless. The Air Hub allows users to select the desired tire pressure, ranging from 2 psi to 125 psi. After setting the desired pressure using the buttons on the unit, the Air Hub automatically inflates or deflates the tires to the set level. This spares you from the time-consuming task of manual adjustments.

At the heart of the Air Hub is its patent-pending Set Your Pressure Technology, which enables users to set their desired tire pressure with a high level of accuracy. Navigating through the Air Hub’s features is easy, thanks to its patent-pending user interface design, which simplifies operation. The Air Hub is designed for universal compatibility, meaning it integrates with a variety of air sources. Whether using a MORRFlate air compressor or an alternative system, the Air Hub connects seamlessly through 1/4-inch I/M fittings. Moreover, its push-to-connect couplers make setup simple, whether you’re working with a single tire or multiple tires. Finally, the Air Hub’s universal approach ensures that it works with virtually any air hose configuration. It’s worth noting that the system requires an air source that delivers 1.25 cfm or more for single-tire applications.

Here you can see the Air Hub in deflation mode, displaying 11.5 pounds of tire pressure. The digital display provides a real-time readout of tire pressure as deflation is taking place.

More Features Of The Air Hub

Other features of the Air Hub include high-flow solenoids that make inflation and deflation quick and efficient, even in off-road environments and for single- and multi-tire applications. Additionally, the Air Hub has a lithium USB-C rechargeable battery, offering extended use on a single charge and ensuring that power isn’t an issue, even during long backcountry excursions. Furthermore, the Air Hub is portable and compact, featuring a collapsible metal hook and a hard-shell carrying case. It’s also important to note that the Air Hub is built for “rugged durability.” It is engineered to withstand harsh conditions, and its bumper guards provide protection against impacts and abrasions. Plus, the hard-shell carrying case, complete with an EVA foam interior, ensures that the device remains secure during transport and storage.

To inflate tires, you use the buttons on the Air Hub to set the desired psi, connect and turn on the air source, then open the slide valve.

The Air Hub Does The Work For You

We asked Laursen what prompted him to create the Air Hub. He says, “The Air Hub is the ultimate nod to walking the fine line between being efficient and being lazy. (At MORRFlate, we like to say that we are developing and selling laziness at times.) I have a bad habit of trying to maximize efficiencies in whatever I do. So, since I got my own street-driven rockcrawler, I’ve been trying to find ways to make my stops during airing down at the beginning of the day (I want to get on the trail and break stuff!) and airing up at the end of the day (I want to get dinner and grab a beer!) as quick as possible.

“The great thing about the Air Hub is that it does all the inflation and deflation work for you. You just hook it up, start it, and then you can get to all the other stuff you need to do, like locking/unlocking hubs, packing/unpacking recovery gear, eating your manifold burrito, and so on. Chances are, the Air Hub will be done before you are.

“Often, as off-roaders, we tend to measure the success of an air system based on how quickly you can air up or air down. The great thing about the Air Hub is that the speed of your system no longer matters. Since the Air Hub automates whatever air system you have, it’s no longer your time being used up for inflation and deflation. You now get to use that time to do other things. So, if you are talking about how much of YOUR time your air system takes, really, it’s just the setup and teardown of it… maybe two minutes?”

The MORRFlate TenSix Gen2 compressor has a 150 psi rating and can inflate up to 44-inch tires. It’s designed to inflate four tires at the same time.

TenSix Gen2 Compressor

MORRFlate also offers a range of air compressors, including the TenSix Gen2, a unit designed to inflate up to 44-inch tires. When inflating four tires at a time, this dual-cylinder compressor delivers 10.6 cfm at 0 psi and 6.5 cfm at 30 psi, with a 150 psi rating. It features a psi cutoff switch (80 psi on, 120 psi off), a thermal cutoff switch, and a purge valve for safety. The compressor operates with an 80 percent duty cycle at 0 psi, running for 45 minutes and resting for 10 minutes, making it suitable for 6-8 vehicles.

It’s a 12-volt unit, drawing 90 amps at peak and approximately 50 amps during normal use. The TenSix has external dimensions of 14x7x9 inches and produces 70-75 dB of noise at a 1-foot distance. The unit comes in a carrying bag with accessory pockets, and its threaded filter caps allow mounting in any orientation (except upside down). It includes a USA Standard, color-matched push-to-connect “universal” air fitting compatible with 1/4-inch Industrial, Auto, or Aro fittings.

It’s important to note that the Gen2 unit has features unique to MORRFlate. These include a stainless steel outlet hose that improves heat dissipation, and a purge valve that releases pressure when use is complete. Also, resized aluminum heat sinks upgraded from ABS plastic. Additionally, the cylinders are upgraded from mild steel to aluminum to increase heat dissipation, and there are new piston rings made from upgraded materials to decrease wear and offer increased heat resistance.

The TenSix compressor is not intended to inflate a single tire at a time. While you can use it to inflate one tire, if necessary, the duty cycle is limited to 8-10 minutes when inflating a single tire. Continuously inflating one tire at a time on an entire vehicle may damage the TenSix because it delivers a high volume of air and is optimized to inflate all four tires simultaneously.

The TenSix Backstory

Laursen said MORRFlate didn’t originally intend to offer air compressors. “When we started MORRFlate with the four-tire hoses, we didn’t anticipate getting into compressors. There are already good compressor companies out there that make great products, offer solid service, and do a lot for the 4×4 community. But we quickly realized that there was something more going on when combining airflow into four tires, rather than just one… compressors loved it. They ran faster and maintained lower temperatures.

“It turns out that in any vehicle air system, the restriction point of airflow is the tire valve stem’s valve core (Schrader valve). These Schrader valves have less than a 1/16-inch usable inside diameter to allow air to flow through them. This means they can only flow about 2 cfm of air (at the pressures we deal with in vehicle tires). So, compressors that push 5-6.5 cfm can have issues inflating one tire at a time due to bottlenecks and back pressure. However, those compressors run at 95 percent efficiency when inflating two to three tires at a time, which means that with the use of a four-tire hose kit, we can now actually make use of higher-flow air compressors. With 95 percent-plus efficiency doing four tires at a time, we can use upwards of 12 cfm of airflow now.

“So, we entered the compressor market and took a pre-existing design, modifying it with our own spec callouts to make it last longer and dissipate heat better than anything else out there. The result is the TenSix compressor. It’s optimized for inflating four tires at a time, with three times the duty cycle and lifespan of other “white-labeled” variants you see out there.”

MORRFlate’s Air Hub Quad 125 Hoses simply connect to the Air Hub and each tire’s Schrader valve. The kit includes two sets of hoses, one for each side of a 4×4.

Air Hub Quad 125 Hoses

Another cool product from MORRFlate is the company’s Air Hub Quad 125 Hoses. This set of air hoses allows you to inflate tires on a 4×4 with a wheelbase up to 125 inches. This hose kit is one of several available from the company, and all come with industrial-grade crimps and non-corrosive brass or aluminum fittings. The hoses are specially designed to meet MORRFlate’s specs. They won’t kink or hold a memory, and they will always lay flat, no matter how long they’ve been coiled. Furthermore, they won’t get brittle or freeze in cold temperatures, and they can handle up to 22 cfm of airflow.

We tested the MORRFlate system and found it easy and quick to use. The compressor made short work of inflating our Land Cruiser’s 37-inch tires and the hoses were pliable, even in snowy conditions at temperatures well below freezing.

Trail Testing During A Winter Trail Run

We had the opportunity to test MORRFlate’s TenSix Gen 2 air compressor, the Air Hub, and the Air Hub Quad 125 Hoses. Our primary testing took place at 5,500 feet above sea level during a winter trail run in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. We were driving our 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser fitted with 37×12.50R17 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires. The tires are mounted on Method Race Wheels 105 beadlock wheels.

At the trailhead, the Air Hub Quad 125 Hoses and the Air Hub made airing down incredibly easy. At the tire ends, the hoses simply press onto the Schrader valves. A collar locks them in place with a solid click. Easy to use universal push-to-connect couplers are used at the Air Hub ends of the hoses. To air down, we used the psi selector buttons to set our desired pressure, and the Air Hub did the rest. We recorded a time of 5 minutes, 6 seconds to go from 35 psi to 10 psi. The total time to unpack and install the components at a leisurely pace was 2 minutes, 15 seconds. One of the cool things about the system is that we were able to focus on other pre-trail tasks during air down, so our only time actually spent with hands-on, was miniscule.

At the end of our frosty foray, we reconnected the Air Hub and Air Hub Quad 125 Hoses and added the TenSix compressor to air up our 37s. The total setup time was around 3 minutes. Inflation time from 10 psi to 35 psi was 3 minutes flat. We appreciated that we could complete other post-trail tasks while the MORRFlate system returned our tires to street pressure. In fact, it finished its task long before we got a few things stowed for travel.

Following air down and air up, it only took around 3 minutes to repack the components at a leisurely pace. Our Air Hub’s battery had a 50 percent charge at the time of delivery. Even after using it for several inflate/deflate cycles, the battery level didn’t decrease.

We appreciate that the air hoses stayed pliable in the 15-degree temperatures. We also appreciate the round bag that provides storage for the hoses.

The Bottom Line

After testing, the owner of the Land Cruiser is impressed. He says, “I can’t believe just how fast the compressor is. I think if someone wants a fast setup that isn’t built in, the TenSix with the Air Hub and Air Hub Quad is the easiest and quickest way to inflate and deflate tires. It’s a game changer.”

Looking for an easy and accurate way to inflate and deflate your 4×4’s tires? MORRFlate is worth a look. For more information on the company’s product line, visit their website.