Comments on: Dealmonger: A Heavy-Duty Tire Gauge for $11 on Amazon

By: Evan N.

Evan N. — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 06:02:39 +0000

Check Pep Boys for one similar, they call it the “4×4 Tire Gauge.” About 11 bucks like this one. Also has a bleed valve. I think it’s also from Accutire, but has a red hose and red rubber dial protector.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:03:36 +0000

The calibration on the air pressure gauges can be all over the board, even within the same manufacturer/brand/model. I have a very accurate digital gauge, but I have some tricky applications, like motorcycle tires, were the digital gauge will not fit. I also carry an additional guage in each of the motorcycle tool kits. So, this is what I have done in the past. Once a found the right design, I bought 3-6 of the same gauge, tested them one at a time until one was close to my calibrated gauge, and then returned the rest. It was much easier than attaching a tag or sticky to each one with the +/- correction.

By: HS

HS — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:46:00 +0000

I’ve got one very similar to this that I got at Wal-Mart, only difference is that mine’s blue and it has a slightly different tip on it.

As much as I like the bleed valve and hose for flexibility, I find that it’s incredibly inaccurate (usually 4-7 psi low versus other gauges) and difficult to get a good measurement. YMMV, but since the one in the picture is so similar to mine, I’d imagine they’re probably made by the same manufacturer and branded differently.

To be honest, the best tire gauge I’ve used is a cheap little $3 dial that I got years ago. The finish is flaking off and it doesn’t have a bleed valve or anything, but it’s always within 1 or 2 psi of calibrated gauges.

By: nrChris

nrChris — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:25:59 +0000

My first thought was about the digital ones–I always presumed that they were cheap and inaccurate. Anyone have any opinions on the usefulness of the digital gauges?

By: Nate Bezanson

Nate Bezanson — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:40:29 +0000

For the price, I wouldn’t be picky. Agreed. Now I’m curious about the relative accuracies of the various gauge styles. I have a few cheap digitals, one or two dial style like this, and several of the stick type. I just need a source of known-precision air pressure, and I could do some testing.

By: Chuck Cage

Chuck Cage — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 17:29:39 +0000

Nate: One other point. Trucks carrying large loads often use tires that pressurize to sixty PSI or more.

By: Chuck Cage

Chuck Cage — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 17:28:32 +0000

Nate: Point taken, but in many people don’t keep separate gauges for different apps, and this’ll work for both apps. And I’d imagine that at $11, most people would be interested in the flexibility over its ultimate accuracy, ironic though that may be considering the gauge’s name.

By: Nate Bezanson

Nate Bezanson — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 16:29:10 +0000

Appropriate for bicycles or something that runs at 70-80 psi, perhaps. The usual car tire pressure of 35 psi is so low on the scale, you’re not using most of the gauge’s range and therefore aren’t getting much useful resolution out of it.