Tire Gauge?

I also use an AccuTire bought at Sears for $8 on sale. It works fine. My
old dial type ceased to be accurate when I dropped it, and my pencil types
never were accurate. YMMV

WW

 

Most guages now have a long recess in the chuck to let it fit more
easily over the tire valve.

All electronic tire guages are highly accurate, virtually dead-on, and
are cheap from places like AutoZone, Pep Boys, Checker/Shuck's/Kragen,
and Wal-mart.

Pencil-type guages are the most rugged, provided they're made of metal,
but some are chrome plated, and you can't always check with a magnet
because many good guages are made of brass rather than steel. Plastic
guages are prone to cracking where the chuck fits into the tube if the
chuck is pressed in rather than screwed on.

Dial guages can be as accurate as pencil guages, but when Consumer
Reports last tested guages, in 2/1993, all of the least-accurate guages
(off by +- 4 PSI average) were of the dial type, and no pencil-type
guage erred more than +- 2 PSI. The most accurate pencil-type guages
have shims at the end of their coil spring for calibration.

Some good brands of mechanical guages are Schrader, Acme (not the
Company that sold junk to Wiley E. Coyote), NAPA, Tru-Flate, and Camel.

Some tire dealers, like Discount Tire, give out OK pencil-type guages
for free.

 

Most guages now have a long recess in the chuck to let it fit more
easily over the tire valve.

All electronic tire guages are highly accurate, virtually dead-on, and
are cheap from places like AutoZone, Pep Boys, Checker/Shuck's/Kragen,
and Wal-mart.

Pencil-type guages are the most rugged, provided they're made of metal,
but some are chrome plated, and you can't always check with a magnet
because many good guages are made of brass rather than steel. Plastic
guages are prone to cracking where the chuck fits into the tube if the
chuck is pressed in rather than screwed on.

Dial guages can be as accurate as pencil guages, but when Consumer
Reports last tested guages, in 2/1993, all of the least-accurate guages
(off by +- 4 PSI average) were of the dial type, and no pencil-type
guage erred more than +- 2 PSI. The most accurate pencil-type guages
have shims at the end of their coil spring for calibration.

Some good brands of mechanical guages are Schrader, Acme (not the
Company that sold junk to Wiley E. Coyote), NAPA, Tru-Flate, and Camel.

Some tire dealers, like Discount Tire, give out OK pencil-type guages
for free.

 

If you take a dial guage apart it becomes obvious how to recalibrate it.
There's a
cog there, push it to the far end so that it unlaches from the gear, turn
the spring
to the next tooth, and let the cog re-engage. Repeat until it's accurate
again.

Ted

 

If you take a dial guage apart it becomes obvious how to recalibrate it.
There's a
cog there, push it to the far end so that it unlaches from the gear, turn
the spring
to the next tooth, and let the cog re-engage. Repeat until it's accurate
again.

Ted

 

The Snap-On one is like this (virtually never leaks) and is made of
brass as well.

That's a long time ago, dude.

But don't the stick type guages lend themselves more easily to being
misread (which can make the reading way off)?

 

The Snap-On one is like this (virtually never leaks) and is made of
brass as well.

That's a long time ago, dude.

But don't the stick type guages lend themselves more easily to being
misread (which can make the reading way off)?

 

That isn't quite accurate, Daniel. The stick type gauges have a
considerable friction component which a decent Bourdon tube gauge
will not have. The friction in a stick type gauge can vary a lot with
moisture, temperature, wear, mechanical deformation, etc. The Bourdon type
has its weaknesses too, I'll admit.

I have not seen a good quality stick type gauge in a long time, and have
certainly looked for one. Paid rather dearly for a supposedly good tractor
type gauge (because it is supposed to be resistant to water which is common
in tractor tires), and it wasn't very good either.

These little cheapo stick type gauges you pick up for a few dollars at parts
stores or Walmart are about as accurate and dependable as Stari Arbat
watches.

 

That isn't quite accurate, Daniel. The stick type gauges have a
considerable friction component which a decent Bourdon tube gauge
will not have. The friction in a stick type gauge can vary a lot with
moisture, temperature, wear, mechanical deformation, etc. The Bourdon type
has its weaknesses too, I'll admit.

I have not seen a good quality stick type gauge in a long time, and have
certainly looked for one. Paid rather dearly for a supposedly good tractor
type gauge (because it is supposed to be resistant to water which is common
in tractor tires), and it wasn't very good either.

These little cheapo stick type gauges you pick up for a few dollars at parts
stores or Walmart are about as accurate and dependable as Stari Arbat
watches.

 

It is quite accurate as stated. Good gauges are better than bad gauges,
period. There's no manufactured product that MBAs can't entice the Chinese
to make a little cheaper and a little shittier.

Nevertheless, they exist. I own a few.

No debate there!

DS

 

It is quite accurate as stated. Good gauges are better than bad gauges,
period. There's no manufactured product that MBAs can't entice the Chinese
to make a little cheaper and a little shittier.

Nevertheless, they exist. I own a few.

No debate there!

DS

 

For the archives, along with others' reports:

I checked Autozone's, Pep Boys', and Wal-Mart's selection. I ended up with
a dial gage with 1-psi increments, ranging from 0 to 70 psi, fairly easy to
read, with purge valve and large-headed chuck. The large chuck makes all
the difference: I can fit it on my tires' valve stem, with no leakage, very
easily. It "remembers" the pressure, so when you remove it, the last
pressure reading still shows. (Press the purge valve, and it returns to
zero.) The gage is made by Campbell-Hausfeld in China. It retailed for
about $13. Pep Boys wanted about $4 more for a comparable gage.

I just tried it out, and it makes life *a lot* easier. I don't need valve
extensions to use it easily. I'm keeping it.

Dunno how the calibration will last, of course, but I appreciate the many
other posts that talk about this.

My tires seem to lose about 2 psi a month, summer and winter. Of course I
only check after the car has been sitting all night. I try to keep them at
about 28-28.5 psi on my 1991 Honda Civic LX, 160k miles. This is above the
spec of 26 psi, but I am experimenting, per many posts in the archives on
overinflating tires a bit, at the sacrifice of a smoother ride but better
mileage.

Thanks folks for all the input. It's a seemingly rinky-dink thing but I've
never had significant uneven wear on this car's tires, and hopefully,
following the protocol above, I never will.

 

For the archives, along with others' reports:

I checked Autozone's, Pep Boys', and Wal-Mart's selection. I ended up with
a dial gage with 1-psi increments, ranging from 0 to 70 psi, fairly easy to
read, with purge valve and large-headed chuck. The large chuck makes all
the difference: I can fit it on my tires' valve stem, with no leakage, very
easily. It "remembers" the pressure, so when you remove it, the last
pressure reading still shows. (Press the purge valve, and it returns to
zero.) The gage is made by Campbell-Hausfeld in China. It retailed for
about $13. Pep Boys wanted about $4 more for a comparable gage.

I just tried it out, and it makes life *a lot* easier. I don't need valve
extensions to use it easily. I'm keeping it.

Dunno how the calibration will last, of course, but I appreciate the many
other posts that talk about this.

My tires seem to lose about 2 psi a month, summer and winter. Of course I
only check after the car has been sitting all night. I try to keep them at
about 28-28.5 psi on my 1991 Honda Civic LX, 160k miles. This is above the
spec of 26 psi, but I am experimenting, per many posts in the archives on
overinflating tires a bit, at the sacrifice of a smoother ride but better
mileage.

Thanks folks for all the input. It's a seemingly rinky-dink thing but I've
never had significant uneven wear on this car's tires, and hopefully,
following the protocol above, I never will.

 

I remember when a Parker Tru-Flate was a quality product. A bit
difficult to use, but generally accurate.

Where does one find a "quality" one then? Many of the dial-type
or digital readout gauges tend to be more accurate than the easy
to find pen-type gauges.

 

I remember when a Parker Tru-Flate was a quality product. A bit
difficult to use, but generally accurate.

Where does one find a "quality" one then? Many of the dial-type
or digital readout gauges tend to be more accurate than the easy
to find pen-type gauges.

 

I have three tire gauges:
A $5 El Cheapo metal pen-type with a plastic plunger
An expensive all-metal pen-type that's 40 years old
A $30 dial-type that's new and has been coddled since I opened the package.

All three read within a pound of each other.

 

I have three tire gauges:
A $5 El Cheapo metal pen-type with a plastic plunger
An expensive all-metal pen-type that's 40 years old
A $30 dial-type that's new and has been coddled since I opened the package.

All three read within a pound of each other.

 

True, but the results were so consistent that I doubt they've changed
much over the years. Their previous evaluation was published around
2/1987.

They are harder to read than dial and digital guages, but I don't see
how they could be misread by more than 1 PSI, and that's only when the
markings are in 2 PSI increments.

 

True, but the results were so consistent that I doubt they've changed
much over the years. Their previous evaluation was published around
2/1987.

They are harder to read than dial and digital guages, but I don't see
how they could be misread by more than 1 PSI, and that's only when the
markings are in 2 PSI increments.

 

However - my experience is that they don't always shoot to the same
point every time - even the good ones.