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Tire Pressure Gauge

Started by Mooseherder, April 12, 2017, 03:02:17 PM

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Mooseherder

My experience with several different gauges is that they aren't accurate.  Getting different readings while using doesn't give me confidence in several gauges I own.  My atv tires require 6 lbs and my Truck tires require 80 psi. 
Anyone have a trusted gauge you could recommend?  I'm more concerned with the higher tire pressure usage gauge.

Den Socling

I'm always skeptical of cheap gauges. I don't like the type that push out a shaft. Digital gauges should be accurate and they aren't expensive anymore.

Kbeitz

I had a tire blow up on my because of a gauge.
I was putting air in a BIG tractor tire in the winter.
Water got in the gauge and it was frozen.
I keep putting air in the tire wondering why It wasn't filling up.
I put my head between the tire and the fender to see if I could
hear air going in when it blew up. smiley_hydrogen smiley_hydrogen
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

Den Socling

You're lucky that your head wasn't damaged!  :o

red

Just monitor your TPMS light
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

sandhills

I don't have a digital gauge but will say I won't buy a "cheap" push out one.  I read an article in Stock Car Racing magazine years ago that had pictures to go along with it showing a tire blow up, Kbeitz you're lucky to be alive.  A guy in a tire shop 10 miles away from here ended up in the hospital from an atv tire, psi is just that, so figure the square inches x the pressure.  Just my .02. 

LAZERDAN

Amazon.com: Accutire MS-5510B Racing Tire Gauge: Automotive
https://www.amazon.com/Accutire-MS-5510B-Racing-Tire-Gauge/dp/B000BNS7Y2

Try this one it's got good reviews    Lazerdan

Larry

Quote from: red on April 12, 2017, 09:20:10 PM
Just monitor your TPMS light

A few weeks ago Kathy's TPMS light came on.  I checked the tires and adjusted the pressure a small amount.  I thought the weather change had possibly effected the sensor.  The light went off.

Last week the light came on again.  Checked the tires and all good.  Light still on.  Put a piece of black electrical tape over the light and told Kathy she wouldn't be bothered by the light again.  She discovered my repair and was not impressed.

So.....a trip to the Honda dealer and they replaced all four TPMS sensors for the paltry sum of $500.  All is well in our household again.

Anybody want a no longer needed tire pressure gauge? :D
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

LAZERDAN

TireMinder High Precision Digital Truck and RV Gauge with Replaceable AAA Batteries and 5 Year Warranty
This one has good reviews too                Lazeran

LAZERDAN

Well Larry I think the tape was a GREAT Idea, sensor, sensors who needs sensors.                                           Lazerdan

Magicman

So they all 4 went bad at the same time??  Sounds like some parts changing, and the problem was probably the spare in the trunk. 

Sorry, I have very little confidence in most mechanic's troubleshooting ability, but they are gonna blame it on the computer anyway.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Den Socling

Here's a story about tire pressure monitors. The spare on my 2005 Tundra was always leaking. Every few months the warning light would come on. I finally got tired of that and told the local tire shop to take the tire off and clean the rim. They couldn't get the gut out and ruined the monitor. They didn't sell them and put a rubber stem in. That left my warning light on. I put up with it all winter and finally got a new monitor installed a week or so ago at a different shop for $53. The light was still on. The new tire service guys said 3 of 4 monitors on the truck were now dead. The batteries all go kaput after 5 or 6 years. Mine lasted far longer than expected. So I could spend another $159 or, maybe the electrical tape trick!

red

TPMS is the only way a driverless vehicle knows there is a flat tire.
Honor the Fallen Thank the Living

gspren

  Back in January I got an E-mail notice from Subaru that I had a low tire, I knew it before I saw the E-mail but was surprised at what they know.
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

DelawhereJoe

My wifes mini-vans warning light came on one day so she stopped into the wawa that she was near to add air to the tire. Well the high quality valve stem was made from aluminum and rotted out at the bottom of the valve stem cap, as soon as she put the air chuck to the stem it snapped right off. In the next 3 weeks the others did the same thing.
WD-40, DUCT TAPE, 024, 026, 362c-m, 041, homelite xl, JD 2510

Ljohnsaw

My 2005 Tundra has the stupid TPMS.  When I bought the truck used (at CarMax), it was lit - the truck had only 18k miles.  Toyota "fixed" it by replacing the one bad sensor but said when CarMax put the new (cheap) tires on it, they broke it.  So I when back to CarMax and they covered the cost.  Then another went out and they covered that.

Several years later, the light came back on.  When I got a new set of tires, I told them to just put regular valve stems in.  They said they were not allowed to do that.  Now the sensors have replaceable batteries and whenever they replace the tires, they replace the battery.

My light stays on now... :-X

I found a web site that shows where to disconnect the system and ground it out so it doesn't light up the light.  Its behind the glove box.

To top it off, I have to instruct any shop (including tire stores) to NOT set the tire pressure to the door sticker.  I run my tires at max pressure so they wear properly and because I actually use my truck to haul stuff.

Remember the Ford Explorer Exploder a ways back?  True story.  We just bought a used 1998 Exploder.  Had Firestone tires on it.  Took it back to the dealer for something or other.  The tires had a tire pressure printed of something like 36psi.  The dealer dropped them down to the door sticker - 26psi.  We took a long trip at highway speeds - but nothing bad happened.  Then the news came out the following week about recalls due to the blowouts.  Duh - under inflated tires!  From that point on, I don't let anyone adjust my tires.  And I only run Michelin now.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

snowstorm

you shouldnt be using the same gauge for atv tires as you would truck tires. a low pressure gauge for the atv. a low pressure gauge will only read to 20 psi or so. i have a couple bridgeport truck tire gauges. a little pricy but stand up well

Czech_Made

I use mechanical gauges.

Nice and dandy to have a display, but it jsut another EDITED BY ADMIN piece of whatever to change batteries in - and you know they go out always n the worst moment.

Mooseherder

I have low pressure gauges and high pressure gauges and know the difference.  As mentioned in my post it's more important getting one that is accurate for Truck Tires.  I'll check into a couple of the suggestions.  Trying to avoid buying another gauge to go in the can't trust it category.  I currently own a minimum of 5 Pressure gauges. 

Larry

Quote from: Magicman on April 12, 2017, 10:46:35 PM
So they all 4 went bad at the same time??  Sounds like some parts changing, and the problem was probably the spare in the trunk. 

That did cross my mind.  I did hear the non-replaceable battery in the sensor is only good for 5-6 years and we were well past that.  Don't know if that is true or internet legend.

I've found when it comes to maintenance on Kathy's car its best to keep a very low profile.  Pay somebody else, don't ask questions, and hide out in the shop. :D
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Magicman

I did not think about the battery and was not aware of the non-replaceable twist.  I will soon need tires on my F250 with over 57K miles, so I will have to consider the pressure sensors.   ::)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Larry

The way I understand the sensors is they have a molded in battery with an average life of 100,000 miles or 7 years.  Life is somewhat dependent on how one drives.  Kathy bought her Honda new in 07 and it has 130,000 miles.

Most sensors can be tested for remaining battery life.  Smart money is to test the sensors when replacing tires. How come I didn't do that? ???  If one tests low battery life, replace all of them. 

I imagine after market sensors may be cheaper but I wonder about quality.  I checked into putting them on my trailer tires a while back and the price was pretty high....more than what I wanted to spend.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Magicman

I have a TireTracker TT-500 that I use for the camper and sawmill.  Lifetime warranty and free shipping.  Metal valve stems have to be used.  I had one sensor to go bad so as per their instructions, I sent the entire package back for testing and calibration if necessary.  It came back with a new sensor.

I am pleased with the tracker and also with their service.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Kbeitz

I sure hope my old stuff last my life time.
I don't want any of the new JUNK.....

Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

btulloh

A couple years ago I did a lot of casual research on tire pressure gauges.  I had six or seven mechanical gauges ranging from a high-end dial gauge down to some of the stick-type gauges.  I tried to keep a gauge handy including one in each vehicle.  One day I started comparing them and found that no two agreed, and the range of readings was pretty wide.

Poking around on various websites and forums it seemed that the general consensus was that digital gauges in general were more trustworthy than mechanical gauges.  Like most things though, the more opinions and "data" I read, the more the consensus seemed to diverge, although it seemed like the digital gauges - even the cheaper ones - seemed to win out.

I threw all the mechanical gauges away and now use one digital gauge.  The one I use came from NAPA.  I don't really like the way it operates, but it's supposed to be accurate.  There are some websites that rate these things.  Prices is not always an indication of accuracy.  There are some low cost gauges that rate high on the accuracy scale.

I find it hard to believe that a good quality dial gauge wouldn't be accurate and dependable though.  Nothing I read led me to one of these that could be considered the gold standard, but that doesn't mean there isn't one out there that qualifies.

It would be nice to have something to check calibration and verify accuracy, but that would require a gauge known to be accurate.  (Perhaps someone from U.S. Department of Air Gauge Standards could chime in with some help on this subject.)

For now I'm using the one digital gauge, so at least I don't have any disagreement.  A man with one gauge always knows the tire pressure.  A man with two is never quite sure.  (Old Chinese proverb)



HM126

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