Legacy Levelwind Retractable Air Hose Reel, 3/8 in. x 100 ft., PVC - L8310

Mounted very well and retracts wonderfully. The locking and unlocking of the house works just how I needed it to. It also looks great.

Very easy to mount. I like that as the hose retracts an internal guide moves the hose left and right which lays it down equally and you don't have one side with too much hose. The last 3' of hose are troublesome to retract and requires lifting the hose to remove tension and it will then retract. Other reviews have said the hose is poor quality and broke after a few uses. It's not the highest quality, but you need to take care of it like any tool. I unreeled the hose 40 times. 20 of those were pulled straight out and the other 20 were with the hose rubbing against a tractor bucket, work bench and an abrasive floor. Only minor scuffs were noticed as expected.

This is one of those things you didn't know you needed until you bought one. Tired of constantly looping, coiling, tangling and mishandling your airhose? Take an extra moment, dear reader, and learn from my mistakes.The hose reel is a little stiff at first; both the reel itself but also the hose. I put some lube on it (the kind electricians use) and it works great with no decay of any parts. The outer case is (I think) ABS plastic, and has withstood one 4 foot drop already (clumsy, not mount failure). The mount parts seem flimsy but do the trick. The hose shipped with the reel is just so-so quality, but more than sufficient for my needs. No rust on any metal parts so far, and it now gets use multiple times per week in summer and winter.I too have a nice 100% duty cycle air compressor that eventually got buried except for when I needed to buff glass, paint, air-up sports balls, or put air in tires. It was a balance between nuisance and need. While browsing, I saw product, and bought one. I ended up mounting it almost to the front part of the garage, between the two doors. WHY? so I can use it outside to blow grass off the driveway, air-dry my vehicles after a wash, and other sundry tasks. But lets start at the beginning.1. Find an easy access site for your air. Make note you'll be running air-hose *from* that spot, up (or behind) your wall, along (or behind) your ceiling, *to* your mount spot.2. Take a string and measure the run from your compressor to the anchor-point for your FIXED air-hose. (meaning, attached to or behind garage wall. Picture the compressor. Picture the wall with a female fitting. Hang a string between the two. Then put a loop or two in it for slack. Write this measured distance down.3. Do the same thing from the site you'll be starting your female fitting for FIXED air-hose, up wall, along ceiling, to your site for the hose reel. Add about two feet.4. Install a female fitting for your chosen hose size. You can buy them anywhere. Now, if your distance from this fitting to the hose reel is a convenient 25', you are set. Teflon tape the hose end, screw into female fitting, and run/anchor your hose. Anchor the female fitting near your compressor, and drop the other end near the hose-reel.5. You'll need to buy fittings to make the connection from the service line to the reel. I added in a valve, but it's not necessary if you use appropriate fittings.6. Mount your reel. Good to go.Looking back, I shoulda left space on wall to mount a water trap.Since doing the above, I've also put in a manifold so I can drop air to other sites in garage. Bear in mind, all fittings leak. The more fittings, the more leaks.Some shops do custom airhose work. Ask around.

I bought this reel in January, 2008, for about $120, and I hung it from the ceiling of my garage for easy access to my air line for almost daily tool use. I have it connected to my air compressor and pressurized (probably not the best idea) constantly. I use it for adjusting tire pressure, cleaning the garage/tools with the blower nozzle, running nail guns & air wrenches, etc, at least 5 days of the week. The reel works great, and the hose has held up without failing yet. The only gripe I have is that the reel has trouble taking in the last 10-15 feet of the hose when the temperature is below 70* or so. This is just due to the poly hose being stiff at lower temps, which has made me think of replacing it with a rubber hose with a coating to resist abrasion through the non-roller fairlead, but it's really a small issue.The only improvements I'd recommend would be a rubber hose option and a roller-type fairlead for smoother retraction of the hose.Bottom line: it's a good deal for the money I paid, but I'm not so certain if there isn't a better option these days - for the money.