digital tire gauge

[rap2cme2]

Need a good digital tire pressure guage. which one, how much to spend ? what features? any recomendations welcome.

[Looby]

1) Avoid anything by ROADGEAR® -- they're pure crap.

2) The most important feature is a good chuck that seals quickly & reliably.

3) I have yet to find a digital gauge with a satisfactory chuck.

A gauge that bleeds off a lot of air every time you use it is worse-than-worthless.

[John E Davies]

If you buy a $10 gauge you can expect $10 results, meaning that they tend to be harder to use and the accuracy is not guaranteed. I use a high quality armored round gauge with extension hose - $38 from Amazon. Griots Garage carries the exact same gauge with a hokey vinyl soft case for $60....

Look for a gauge that reads to a tenth of a psi. The reason is that if it reads only to the nearest pound, one tire might be 31.5 psi and the others might be 32.5 psi, and the gauge would read the same! You definitely want to be able to get your tires very close to the same pressure for best handling.

I had to change the battery in mine after maybe eight years of use - it is easy and uses a cheap button cell. The lighted display tends to use up the battery, but it is nice in a dim garage or at night.

Accutire MS-5510B Racing Tire Gauge : Amazon.com : Automotive

Accutire MS-5510B Racing Tire Gauge : Amazon.com : Automotive

I used to use high quality mechanical (dial type) gauges, but they are fragile and you never know if they are reading correctly. If you drop one, it may start reading three or four pounds off. Not good. The digital gauges are pretty much bullet proof.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

[rasterman]

I happened to notice that consumer reports did a comparison of a bunch of tire gauges. I couldn't tell you what they picked as a winner, but the most interesting detail to me was that quality is all over the place, even within brands. So if you hear about a good one, make sure you learn which model it is, going by brand alone is not good enough.

[Shadow 1100]

I bought a Slime it reads in 1/2 pounds also, I had a accutire battery went out on me 8 yrs. old. Mine is a straight on and of don't like the ones with a 90 or so bend.
Sears has a nice one but it was to much for me, it talks has a flashlight etc. I have a Slim

I think the ones sears are Accutire but it's up to you.

[dianer]

I want one that looks like Dr. Who's sonic screwdriver!

[rap2cme2]

Originally Posted by John E Davies

If you buy a $10 gauge you can expect $10 results, meaning that they tend to be harder to use and the accuracy is not guaranteed. I use a high quality armored round gauge with extension hose - $38 from Amazon. Griots Garage carries the exact same gauge with a hokey vinyl soft case for $60....

Look for a gauge that reads to a tenth of a psi. The reason is that if it reads only to the nearest pound, one tire might be 31.5 psi and the others might be 32.5 psi, and the gauge would read the same! You definitely want to be able to get your tires very close to the same pressure for best handling.

I had to change the battery in mine after maybe eight years of use - it is easy and uses a cheap button cell. The lighted display tends to use up the battery, but it is nice in a dim garage or at night.



Accutire MS-5510B Racing Tire Gauge : Amazon.com : Automotive


I used to use high quality mechanical (dial type) gauges, but they are fragile and you never know if they are reading correctly. If you drop one, it may start reading three or four pounds off. Not good. The digital gauges are pretty much bullet proof.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Thanks I like the bleed feature of this one. Is it a screw or button you push

[Sequoia225]

Originally Posted by rasterman

I happened to notice that consumer reports did a comparison of a bunch of tire gauges. I couldn't tell you what they picked as a winner, but the most interesting detail to me was that quality is all over the place, even within brands. So if you hear about a good one, make sure you learn which model it is, going by brand alone is not good enough.

Looks like the 2 most recommended on Consumer Reports are the
Accutire MS-4400B
Accutire MS-4021B

Slime did the worst of the 14 they tested - digital 20074 and Dial type 20048 did particularly poorly.

They noted that keeping the guage in the glove box can lead to mis-readings, as it doesnt work as accurately as if it is at room temp.
They also note that nitrogen in tires still escapes - though slightly slower than air.

[John E Davies]

Originally Posted by rap2cme2

Thanks I like the bleed feature of this one. Is it a screw or button you push

It's a spring loaded push button, and it's slow. That is good for when you are close to the desired pressure, but for faster bleed, you can push the chuck on and off the stem to release more air.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

[OldStyle]

While I like the racing one shown above, I was looking for one to carry in the glove box. None of the digital ones I tried had the bleed feature and were a pain to reset to "0" when rechecking for desired pressure.

I settled on this one from Slime. It's not digital but seals great and has a relief button. I like it even though I wanted digital.....

Link to gauge

Link to gauge