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Tire Pressure Gauges - NOT the junk ones

Golfs everyday

Golfs everyday

Autocross Newbie
Location
USA
yirayira said:
How was the accuracy of the cheap gauges?
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Not very good. They were off by 0.5 to near 1.3psi, but they were consistently off repetitively so not entirely useless.

Pen type I previously compared with my good gauge wasn't too bad but with only lines in 2psi increments I can't really measure accurately. I keep the pen type in my car for emergencies only to see if it's off by a big amount when the TPMS light comes on. Plus, it's measuring running temps so only good to compare with other corners of the car. Usually I can feel the car is loosing air from a corner long before the TPMS light comes on though.


gti_1789 said:
What is the need/are the benefits to checking your tire pressure daily?

Also this is probably a dumb question but don’t you lose a little bit of pressure every time you check? So if you check every day you’re more likely to need more air sinner? Just curious...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I think you read my post wrong. I don't measure daily.
 
Chogokin

Chogokin

Autocross Champion
Location
So Cal
Car(s)
GTI Sport | Audi A3
SkyeC

SkyeC

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Bay Area
Car(s)
18 GTI SE
I’ve been using Longacre analog tire gauges with the bleed valve for 20+ years. Never had a problem. Important to always use the same gauge as there will always be a bit of a variable from gauge to gauge at this price point.
 
T

TechGuy32

Ready to race!
Location
My Place
Tire pressures change with temp so pretty much any gauge with a +/- 1 PSI accuracy is going to work fine for street vehicles. If you track your car and have sensitive tires then maybe you'd need something more accurate but my Accurite gauges have served me well for many years. IME most drivers can't feel less than a 2-3 PSI change in tire pressures on the street and most tires typically have a ~ 6 PSI cold setting range.
 
Tooly

Tooly

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Kelowna, BC Canada
Car(s)
2018 GTI Autobahn
I use an Intercomp liquid filled gauge with bleed valve and it works great, has for years.

https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/icp-360067

Recently bought a Dewalt 20V inflator that tells you the current pressure and lets you set the desired pressure and then it fills the tire until the pressure is achieved. Tested with my Intercomp gauge and the Dewalt is dead on accurate. No need for gas station air pumps anymore.
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
southpawboston

southpawboston

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Somerville, MA
I've had the same cheap $10 digital gauge since high school in the 1980s. It has moved between 11 cars since then. I have no idea how accurate it is, and it only reads in 0.5psi increments, but what amazes me most is that it is still on the original battery.

Now you guys have given me the itch to replace this gauge with a new one. Don't know if that's good or bad.
 
shortyb

shortyb

Autocross Newbie
Location
Upstate SC
Car(s)
Felon Taxi,Dad Wagon
The Fed said:
Tell me, people, how do you know your gauge is accurate?
Click to expand...

You get it calibrated at the Michelin testing lab just down the street from me :D.

Added a Longacre digital (52-53003 Semi-Pro, black hose) to my old Intercomp liquid filled analog. Needed something to help these older eyes. Took both over to the lab a neighbor work at recently and put them on a multi-$$$$ pressure calibration machine. Pretty cool how it works doing several cycles at different barometric pressures and temps. Both gauges were within a .027 psi of each other and the benchmark pressure on average at middle scale (30 psi). Good enough for me. Ironically, my old as dirt Milton pencil type is only about 1/2 psi off from these. i'd say most gauges are accurate enough for general use, the more expensive on the scale will read in tighter resolution and accuracy, especially the digitals to the .1 gradations.
 
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Cliff p.

Cliff p.

Drag Racing Champion
Location
El Paso, TX
Car(s)
'17 Golf R DSG
I actually use a Schwalbe digital pressure gauge that I used for checking tire pressures on my road bike. It works fantastic.

Edited for mfr name correction.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
D

danall

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
USA
My pencil gauges didn't fit too well with my aftermarket wheels so after a bunch of research i bought a semi-high end Longacre (forgot model number).

That gauge is 2- 3 lbs off from all my other gauges so i don't use it. I compared it to my 3 pencils and one digital, plus 2 other pencils my friend had. The Longacre was the outlier of them all. Perhaps i just got a bad one but I think a person is better off taking the same money, buying a half a dozen pencils, comparing them and throwing out any outliers, you would have at least 4-5 good ones.


Oh yes, in terms of accuracy i visited 3 different tire shops and asked them if they have a reference gauge that they knew was accurate...(so i could check mine) they all looked at me like i was from another planet.
 
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