Tire pressure gauge

[530ktm]

We all know it is important to keep tires inflated properly. I have 3 different gauges that are all decent and accurate, I thought. One is digital, one is a pencil style and the other is a larger type. I get 3 different readings that range up to 8lbs. How does anyone really know what pressure they truly have in the tires and what gauges do some of you use?

[TDI-Minnie]

I have the same problem and the TPMS shows a different number still.
So, I go with the TPMS because I like to see all matching number on the display and if anyone ever challenges that I had my tires inflated correctly, it'll be in the OBD.
I do have one tire gauge that matches the TPMS, but it only goes to 50psi.

[Cooperhawk]

I have driven over the road since I was fifteen, (sixty years), and let me tell you that you are being way too anal about pressure. Pressures will vary if the sun shines on one side, an exhaust warms a tire, ect. Set them to manufacturers recommended pressure and then just monitor them. If one suddenly is way out of whack check it with a gauge. Otherwise don't fret so much.

[Mentor]

We should all use a manometer to set the pressures withing 0.1 psi

[530ktm]

Originally Posted by Cooperhawk

Set them to manufacturers recommended pressure and then just monitor them. If one suddenly is way out of whack check it with a gauge. Otherwise don't fret so much.

Well that is kind of my point here. If one devise says you are at 90psi and another one says you are at 82psi and then another one says you are at 86psi then how do you know which is correct? I understand sun and temperature affects the pressure but you need to start somewhere with a correct reading.

[CampingCajun]

I have 2 of the standard truck type gauges & the one I use to fill tires with has a round 150psi gauge attached to the air hose (all 3 are within 2 lbs. of each other). The TPMS is 1 lb. off so that is close enough for me.

[IC2]

Here's a temperature compensating gauge, accurate to 1/10th pound - cheap at $399 (plus shipping of course) : Longacre Temp Compensated Tire Gauge 53050

Use the link and 'drill down' for other Longacre choices, all better then Wally Worlds junkers. I'm currently using a Textron digital which matches my commercial Schrader along with the TPMS on the tow vehicle and the add-on TST system installed on the 5er and look for significant rolling pressure and temp variations on the trailer instead of hair splitting set accuracy.

[Mr_D]

I bought a certified gauge at Napa, never use it to check the tires, just to check the other gauges I have.

[krivanj]

I have three Accutire digital gauges I have bought over the years. They all look different but each one measures within 1 psi of the others. In science, we have accuracy and we have precision. Since we do not know the true pressure, we cannot see how accurate we are. But if all three gauges measure the same, we are precise, and that leads to confidence we are close to the actual value.
Since all my gauges read almost the same, I trust anyone of them. By the way, I originally had a Milton, supposedly the best, it read the same as the Accutires. One day it showed a tire at 115 that was supposed to be 100 psi. I re-measured with an Accutire and saw 100, as I thought it should have been. I called Milton; they don't make their own gauges any more. I bought a rebuild kit for it and it still always reads 15% higher than my others.

[Gary RVRoamer]

From what I read, outside of laboratory grade instruments the expected accuracy is plus/minus 3%. And you shouldn't expect a gauge that gets knocked around a lot of maintain its accuracy, whatever it may have been initially.

I too have found my Accutire digital gauge to be consistently quite accurate.

[Ted Lambert]

Originally Posted by Mentor

We should all use a manometer to set the pressures withing 0.1 psi

[Koop]

No one is more unsure of the actual time than a man with two watches.