If you’re a surf fisherman, you know the problem all too well: You’re driving your car to the water when suddenly you’re stuck, tires spinning in the sand. The harder you push the gas, the more deeply ensnared you become. It’s a problem that arises especially when it hasn’t rained in a while, making the sand extra soft.
Momentum doesn’t help, either. Picking up speed before plowing into the sand is a recipe for disaster, since you’ll have little control over your steering, if any.
This is the kind of problem we like to solve at Reading Plastic. Keep reading to find out how we designed, prototyped and ultimately machined a successful solution for driving on sand.
Introducing the Tire Buddy Automatic Tire Deflator
We like to think that problems are how great ideas are born. Out of the problem of driving on the beach, we came up with a great idea: the Tire Buddy Automatic Tire Deflator.
Experienced fishermen will tell you that driving on sand is feasible only if you deflate your tires. Generally, tires should maintain air pressure of 30 psi, but when driving on sand, you need to adjust the tires to less than 20 psi. This makes the tires wider and better able to maneuver in the soft sand.
But deflating tires to the exact pressure you need is annoying and time-consuming, right? Not if we could help it.
We started to design a device that would screw directly into the tire’s valve stem, just like a valve cap, for automatic deflation to a target pressure of 15 psi. Even better, this device would deflate the tire in less than 30 seconds.
Our thinkers put their heads together and nailed down the design. Soon enough, we had a successful prototype, and before long we were rolling out the Tire Buddy Automatic Tire Deflator for widespread distribution in stores and online. Using CNC machining, we continue to produce this product with precision and efficiency.
Reviews of our product will tell you the Tire Buddy really saves time compared to deflating tires by hand, the old-fashioned way. Some diehard surf fishermen even purchase four of them to store in their beach buggies—so they can deflate all four tires at once and hit the water even faster.
Have an Idea? We Can Create Your Prototype
We think the Tire Buddy shows just what we can accomplish here at Reading Plastic, where our machining expertise is on hand to bring great ideas to life. If you have an idea for a new product, contact us today for a free quote on a prototype!
