Tire gauges' "accuracy"

[1cargarage]

Hello boys and girls,

I have been in the market for a 'high-end' tire pressure gauge for a little while now, but have not pulled the trigger on any specific offering due to the fact that I have no idea how to gauge (pun) the reliability of a pressure gauge. There are a few nice looking ones on Amazon, and I know I could easily unload my wallet on the Snap On truck. In many of the Amazon reviews, buyers say things like "GREAT gauge! Very high quality and very accurate!"

I don't know of any way to calibrate or measure the accuracy of a tire pressure gauge, and even my chemistry professor came up with no method that didn't require a lab and sophisticated equipment. How can someone claim their gauge is "accurate" with any credibility? I think these persons' rationale equates shiny & expensive to precision, accuracy, and quality.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Recommendations?

Thanks in advance

 

[pacmktg]

Here is my humble opinion from selling these for 30 years. Buy a unit with a standard round pressure gauge from a reputable company like Coilhose or Milton, then use it to measure all other gauges like a pencil gauge to it.

My opinion is not to waste your money at Snapon as people like Coilhose makes their gauges.

 

[jkwilson]

Look into what drag racers buy. They are very picky about tire pressure.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/gearbox-tire-pressure-gauges-tested

 

[MemphisR32]

I have a 0-60psi Longacre I use for the track car and motorcycle and have been very impressed with it. Its my go to for pressure reference. I have an analog version which holds the pressure and have a bleed down button. Cost me around $60 at the time and does everything I need it to.

 

[Dave455]

The digital ones seem to be fairly accurate, but they don't last any longer than any other bit of electronic equipment.

The type with a round gauge and moving needle seem to be long lasting, but they also seem to lose their calibration the quickest. I once tried 3 new ones on the same tyre and they were all giving different readings. The better the quality the less the problem, but this type seem most prone to losing their accuracy if they get knocked!

The pencil type seem to be the most accurate, and hold their accuracy well, but I stil look after mine and don't bang it around. I bought a new Snap On one about a decade ago, and checked my old pencil style gauges against it. All but one were within a couple of PSI but they were mostly decent makes (Dunlop, PCL - old British made).

Both my newer round gauge / pointer type were way out!

In the U.K. it's easy to get the accuracy checked (send 'em off to any calibration lab) but the easiest thing is to check yours against a gauge with a calibration certificate! Every aircraft engineer will have one, and if they've got their own calibration setup you can probably get yours checked for a coffee!

 

[dsp1]

I like and use Tanner and Intercomp tire gauges. I have a few of each and have used them for years. They are all still within 1-2psi of each other.

 

[TomB19]

Here is my humble opinion from selling these for 30 years. Buy a unit with a standard round pressure gauge from a reputable company like Coilhose or Milton, then use it to measure all other gauges like a pencil gauge to it.

I like the round gauges too, although mine are all off-brand. They are way more precise than stick or digital gauges.

Do you mean something like this? Milton S932.

 

[garfieldzzz]

If you want to get the possibly best one you could buy a MA Horne gauge. But you need to be willing to spend about 400$

This is what the top spec race teams use.

http://www.zoomzoomtown.com/product...orne-professional-digital-tyre-pressure-gauge

They keep their accuracy easy for years as they get used a lot every day during a whole year of testing and racing.

 

[zkling]

You want the ultimate? Either pay top dollar for a specific built unit or buy a class 1A or better gauge and build one. The Joe's racing one is nice for $20, but it the common china made grade B gauge. Realize that almost all of the common tire gauges in the sub $100 range are all class B gauges or lower and thus you are stuck with their inherent tolerance.

I ended up buying a class 2A gauge and built a small manifold for checking pressure of misc shop gauges.

 

[Stuey]

I really like my Joes Racing gauge:

http://toolguyd.com/joes-racing-tire-pressure-gauge-review/

Don't know of ~$25 is what you were looking to spend. This gauge isn't "high end," but it's leaps and bound better than <$10 ones I've used.

 

[domain]

http://www.intercompracing.com/pressure-gauges-pressure-gauges-c-35_36_38-l-en.html

 

[Wizzard]

Surprisingly I have found those silver/gray colored digital $10 gauges from WalMart to be very accurate when compared to other gauges...however they don't last. My go to gauge now is a $40 liquid filled Longacre. Like mentioned anything below $100 will be roughly the same. hth

 

[ttpete]

I have a digital Longacre and an analog Michelin. I got the Longacre on ebay when I saw it was mispriced for less than half of retail, and so did a bunch of others.

 

[signcrafter]

I had a thread on this a few years back, took a while searching to find it.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162851&highlight=pressure&showall=1

I ended up making a manifold with some good quality gauges and a shrader valve I got from mcmaster-carr to test the tire gauges. I have a few decent quality tire gauges now and will test 2-3 of them and compare them to the gauges on the manifold and see if one reads off from the rest. Figure if there is an odd man out is the bad gauge.

 

[Bobioz1]

You didn't specify what type of tires you wanted one for, but if you mean car and light truck tires get a PCL Air Technology Accura 1. About a $100. Had one for 5 plus years and has been dead on with every TPMS system that I've tested.

 

[risc]

IMO, consistency is more important than accuracy. I don't really care if I have 31.5 or 32 psi in my tires but I care if I have 31.5 psi left and right or that I liked how my tires felt at 28psi the last time I was at the track.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I have a lower end Longacre and a Joe's and they are spot on with each other. I don't know that I would be using them on a top fuel dragster, but they work great for my daily drivers and offroad toys. Between the two, I like my Joe's better.

 

[RedRabbit]

I personally use a Milton pencil style gauge. Cheap, reliable, and convenient.

 

[AmishFury]

I personally use a Milton pencil style gauge. Cheap, reliable, and convenient.

this.... i can get them at rural king for $6, made in USA, the head isn't plastic, it's the same kind that my dad always used

and as far as accuracy... it is in agreement with nearly every gauge i've checked it against

 

[Shadowdog500]

I personally use a Milton pencil style gauge. Cheap, reliable, and convenient.

I use the same milton pencil gauge and never had a problem. it was always accurate when I checked it against a known pressure.

Here is a review of tire pressure gauges done a while ago. Suprisingly the milton didn't test well. http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/eng5242

Chris

 

[czgunner]

Interesting information.
For my job as an auto tech, I'm more interested in an inflator/gauge combo.
I don't want to derail this thread, so maybe the O.P. can post if that applies to their needs?
I currently use the Blue Point inflator/gauge and it seems to work pretty well.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Hello boys and girls,

I have been in the market for a 'high-end' tire pressure gauge for a little while now, but have not pulled the trigger on any specific offering due to the fact that I have no idea how to gauge (pun) the reliability of a pressure gauge. There are a few nice looking ones on Amazon, and I know I could easily unload my wallet on the Snap On truck. In many of the Amazon reviews, buyers say things like "GREAT gauge! Very high quality and very accurate!"

I don't know of any way to calibrate or measure the accuracy of a tire pressure gauge, and even my chemistry professor came up with no method that didn't require a lab and sophisticated equipment. How can someone claim their gauge is "accurate" with any credibility? I think these persons' rationale equates shiny & expensive to precision, accuracy, and quality.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Recommendations?

Thanks in advance

How accurate do you need your tires to be that you need your pressure gauge checked in a lab?

If you are that serious get a fluke pressure calibrator for $3k to check your tires.
Or send your pressure gauge to NIST to get a calibration curve done on it.

I have access to pressure calibrating equipment, and actually made a correction chart for my old milton tireflator. Ive used that as a comparison when checking new stuff at home.

Chris

 

[straightcut]

I was having tire gauge issues myself after losing a U.S. made analog gauge when my vehicle was stolen. I bought a $10 Chinese made gauge at O'Reilly's, but didn't like the poor quality. A friend had a vintage Sears analog gauge that I liked, so I bought a matching gauge off eBay. When comparing side by side, the read several pounds different. Not needing to spend big money on a tire gauge for my daily driver needs, I bought a 60 psi U.S. Gauge like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/U-S-GAUGE-COMPANY-0-60PSI-1-4-INCH-PRESSURE-GAUGE-/310788916648?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item485c7685a8, then added a straight Milton tire chuck:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K1UQJMW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I can't tell you (yet) if it's accurate, but it is well made. Until proven otherwise, I'm going to assume it's accurate. Incidentally, this one measures between the two Sears gauges - so it's gotta be right. Right?