Best Pressure Gauge?

[Carolina Jeeper]

Here is one of my pencil gauges with a calibration adjustment. Very accurate (when calibrated) and durable.

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[roaniecowpony]

I see the Longacres racing gauges and inflators have good reviews. Anyone have one of their products?

 

[roaniecowpony]

Thanks for all the replies.

I ended up frustrated with all the information after reading about pretty much all of the available gauges. Nearly all are made in China. Even the name brands like Longacre, ARB, etc.. As I would expect, given some thought. And the reviews ran from great to a small percentage having terrible luck. And virtually none had accuracy data/claims.

So, I found some good deals on new 2.5" Ashcroft gauges, made in USA, stainless, ASME Grade 1A +/- 1% of full scale. I bought a 0-60 for the Jeep/cars and a 0-100 for my truck. I will piece together the fittings and air chuck as they are very inexpensive.

 

[Vinman]

I have at least 4 Accugages and 2 ARB gauges, all within 1/2 lb of each other. I had a generic parts store dial gauge but tossed it after discovering it was off by 8 psi.

https://www.amazon.ca/Accu-Gage-60X...ocphy=9001315&hvtargid=pla-587295486452&psc=1

 

[roaniecowpony]

I have rounded up all the pieces (online) to make up the 2 gauges for right at $100. While they are not provided with NIST certification, they are good-guy, real industrial high grade gauges that should be more than adequate and hopefully the last gauges I buy for $50 ea. I was just flat tired (pun) of all the Chinese hit or miss quality. I had some supposedly "best" little digital gun style gauges that lasted about 2 or 3 years. Turned out to be more junk. Frankly, the pencil style gauges are the only ones that have lasted. I've had a handful of dial style that eventually died from one problem or another.

 

[4a4c55]

I see the Longacres racing gauges and inflators have good reviews. Anyone have one of their products?

When I was racing, I bought a Longacre gauge. I loved it. The face was glow-in-the-dark plastic, and it was super accurate. I used it for more then 25 years. I dropped it once at the track and it hit a stone just right to smash the lens. Longacre sold replacement lenses, so I was back in business for about eight bucks.

I smashed it again back in October by packing it into my ammo can such that the chuck pressed against the glass ... I didn't even notice until last week. Looks like Longacre (which used to be a cool local company) got bought out by some nationwide conglomerate of racing brands. And they don't sell lenses anymore.

And their pricing is weird. I ended up buying a new rubber cover (because my old one is torn and rotten) a new head for $45 shipped and taxed. I'll just transfer my old hose and chuck and bingo.

In the year that's passed (LOL!) what did you end up buying?

 

[roaniecowpony]

When I was racing, I bought a Longacre gauge. I loved it. The face was glow-in-the-dark plastic, and it was super accurate. I used it for more then 25 years. I dropped it once at the track and it hit a stone just right to smash the lens. Longacre sold replacement lenses, so I was back in business for about eight bucks.

I smashed it again back in October by packing it into my ammo can such that the chuck pressed against the glass ... I didn't even notice until last week. Looks like Longacre (which used to be a cool local company) got bought out by some nationwide conglomerate of racing brands. And they don't sell lenses anymore.

And their pricing is weird. I ended up buying a new rubber cover (because my old one is torn and rotten) a new head for $45 shipped and taxed. I'll just transfer my old hose and chuck and bingo.

In the year that's passed (LOL!) what did you end up buying?

I built up 3 gauges using Ashcroft lab gauges above. I built one in 0-100, 0-60, and 0-30 psi. They are trustworthy. But it was uncanny how accurate even the cheapest cash register gauges were when I checked them against the lab gauges.

 

[4a4c55]

I built up 3 gauges using Ashcroft lab gauges above. I built one in 0-100, 0-60, and 0-30 psi. They are trustworthy. But it was uncanny how accurate even the cheapest cash register gauges were when I checked them against the lab gauges.

Oop! I didn't realize that post was from you. The Ashcroft gauges look pretty sweet ... but they're even more expensive these days.

Indeed, the parts counter gauges aren't so bad. Usually, high accuracy and low precision ... and that's often good enough.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

A lot of the ones at big box stores are incredibly WAY off. I was surprised.

I have a Joe's Racing analog gauge that was expensive for me but seems to be pretty accurate. I also have an AstroAI digital tire inflator with digital pressure gauge. The AstroAI one is pretty close to the Joe's racing one. I know you said you don't want a digital one, but I really like the AstroAI digital one.

With both of those, I find my Jeep's TPMS reads about 2 or 3 psi higher. I believe the Jeep is off...but who knows.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

My current gauge which I use often, / on various vehicle, is a Joes Racing 32307 (0-60) PSI Tire Pressure Gauge.

I like the tire tread that surrounds the gauge and protects it / cushions it a bit if the gauge is inadvertently dropped.

I purchased it in 2018. Continues to be very accurate even though it is 4+ years old and has seen lots of use and a bit of banging around lets say in the shop.

Yes, I do every month of so, compare it's readings to readings of other gauges I have, so I know it is still quite accurate.

As most probably know, there is a knack so to speak in using each tire pressure gauge. Feel lets say is different with each brand you use...

As for me, I prefer a tire pressure gauge that allows me to overfill and then press a release button to slowly and in a very coordinated way, bring down the psi to exactly where I want it.

When you buy a pressure gauge I suggest you buy one with a air relase button. Not all gauges have one.

I do not care for air pressure gauges that save the reading and then you have to release the reading with a button push.

No, not interested in a digital display as I find them harder to read, especially in bright lighting.
.

 

[roaniecowpony]

A lot of the ones at big box stores are incredibly WAY off. I was surprised.

I have a Joe's Racing analog gauge that was expensive for me but seems to be pretty accurate. I also have an AstroAI digital tire inflator with digital pressure gauge. The AstroAI one is pretty close to the Joe's racing one. I know you said you don't want a digital one, but I really like the AstroAI digital one.

With both of those, I find my Jeep's TPMS reads about 2 or 3 psi higher. I believe the Jeep is off...but who knows.

Just my experiences, I bought a few of the really cheapo "Slime" brand gauges from the parts store register, one pencil type, one digital (key fob size). I also had a couple old digital gauges that were bought years ago, along with the Grit Performance deflator/gauge I bought for the jeep. I tested them all against the 3 Ashcroft lab gauges. All of them were accurate within 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. My test was just a simple comparison using a tire inflated to a desired pressure. I did this on my truck at around 30 psi and deflated to around 15 psi. This range was chosen because some of the gauges had range limitations.

BTW, I believe the ARB deflator/gauge is the same as the Grit. Probably from the same source.

I looked at all the Longacre and Joe's gauges, etc. But I wanted a gauge that had a traceable calibration, mainly for my "experiment". I mean how else could you tell if your gauge is accurate
unless you get a certification?
What I found out is there are many accurate gauges out there.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

I have been happy with this gauge from Amazon. Its digital and will has a bleeder.

https://a.co/d/dLyFDJ2

 

[roaniecowpony]

A lot of the ones at big box stores are incredibly WAY off. I was surprised.

I have a Joe's Racing analog gauge that was expensive for me but seems to be pretty accurate. I also have an AstroAI digital tire inflator with digital pressure gauge. The AstroAI one is pretty close to the Joe's racing one. I know you said you don't want a digital one, but I really like the AstroAI digital one.

With both of those, I find my Jeep's TPMS reads about 2 or 3 psi higher. I believe the Jeep is off...but who knows.

I haven't quite figured out if there is some altitude number cruncher in the vehicle side of the TPMS. Since the tire sensor is enclosed in the tire, it can't provide anything but an absolute pressure. But functional tire pressure simply differential pressure (ambient vs tire). So, in theory, if you inflated your tires to 35 psi at sea level, using TPMS, when you got to the top of Pikes Peak, TPMS would read 35 psi (if there was no onboard altitude compensating cruncher). What have you Colorado folks seen on TPMS when you make extreme altitude changes?

 

[roaniecowpony]

At the top of the mountain the gauge pressure in the tire will not be the same as it would be at sea level.
Altitude and temperature affect tire pressure and my Accutire gauge agrees with the TMPS readings.
Lots of credit goes to the maker of the TMPS that is that accurate.

So, in general, have you seen that TPMS indicated pressure goes up as you go up in altitude? (Bourdon tube type gauge pressure would show an increase in tire pressure with increased altitude, at roughly proportional and opposite to the decay in atmospheric pressure with altitude.)

If I fill my tires to 35 psi (using a Bourdon tube analog gauge) at ~6500 ft in Big Bear, after crawling on a trail up there, they will be roughly 3 psi lower when I get to sea level, using the same gauge (at roughly the same temperature)

 

[Aussicon]

Recently been thru this. I found the Accu-Gage to be very accurate and ended up buying three different versions of it.

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